East Lancashire Railway - Steam Department

30/04/2026

An update on our running fleet as we head into May!…

LMS ‘Pug’ 11243 has returned back to the railway today after a successful trip away to our friends at the Severn Valley Railway. The loco completed just over 200 miles over its six running days there! - A couple of jobs including lapping the right hand clack valve and the left hand water valve were sorted and the loco made ready for three days in service during our Day out with Thomas event this weekend. The keen eyed amongst you will notice the Pug is now facing South for the first time!

34092 ‘City of Wells’ is in traffic as a core member of the fleet, our volunteers set on with cleaning the cladding and front end a couple of weeks ago following its weathered appearance at Legends of Steam III.

32 ‘Gothenburg’ has passed its annual cold and steam boiler exams, and has also been repainted into its Thomas blue for this year’s events starting this weekend.

L&Y ‘A Class’ 52322 has had a busy start to the year operating a number of service days and dining services, the loco remains in traffic but will be stopped briefly in the middle of May for a washout and annual boiler exams.

L&Y 752/LMS 11456 ran during our Legends of Steam event and also remains in traffic. We are hoping to announce this year’s L&Y running days following how popular they were last year, so the loco will be making appearances at those and other running days whenever possible.

Standard 4MT 80097 is waiting on springs to arrive for the piston packings, once these have arrived the Bury Std 4 group will reassemble the front end of the loco and make it fit for traffic for the Summer season.

15/04/2026

Legends of Steam III - What a memorable weekend! 🤩

Just a few of the many people that make our events at the ELR what they are, full of laughs, teamwork, and putting on a show for the railway to be very proud of. Thank you to every single volunteer and member of staff for their efforts in making the event a very successful few days, here’s to the next one!

08/04/2026

02/04/2026

14/03/2026

A huge congratulations to Phil Johnson who has passed his practical Firing assessment today on L&Y 52322! 🎉🥳

Phil joined us at the ELR with many years of experience from the Llangollen Railway, and it’s a pleasure to see his passion for steam carrying on with his Son, Tobi, also being part of the steam department as a Cleaner learning the skills required to become a Fireman 🔥

Well done Phil! Pictured here this time last year with 34081 by Tom Peacock 📸

13/03/2026

Big end machining is well underway!

For this overhaul LMS ‘Jinty’ 16407 / 47324 has had all brand new big end brasses cast, these are now being machined to fit into the straps which have been welded up and machined back so that everything will sit perfectly and parallel.

Once both halves on each side fit the straps, they will be machined in the lathe to fit the big end journals 👍

10/03/2026

An update on ELR projects and the running fleet at Baron Street Locomotive Works 🛠️

Overhauls and Restoration

34081 ‘92 Squadron’ - The loco is now looking more like a kit of parts with the left hand side cladding all removed, as well as various other components removed for storage. Matt has been busy getting the superheater elements ready for removal.

LMS ‘Jinty’ 16407 / 47324 - Work on the boiler has started after other jobs took priority in December/January, this includes tapping and fitting brand new crown stays which are being CNC machined.
The Tuesday volunteer gang have been busy machining the final parts of the right hand crosshead after aligning the slide bars. Liam has begun machining the big ends to fit into the straps, once they fit they can be bored and fitted to the crank axle. The bottom end really isn’t that far off at all now!

Running Fleet

‘A Class’ 52322, L&Y 11456, ‘Jinty’ 7138 are the main service locomotives at this moment in time whilst other members of the fleet have work carried out in the quieter season.

34092 ‘City of Wells’ - The loco was stopped during the Santa Season following a defect with one of the main steam pipes. We have now sourced some replacements which will be tested and fitted. Once this is done the loco will go on test to check the repairs carried out to the front truck following its lift.

32 ‘Gothenburg’ - A new eccentric casting that has been sat on the shelf has been machined ready to fit to the loco next week, it has got one more booked appearance in its MSC Grey livery before the Thomas season.

Standard 4 80097 - The Bury Std 4 Group are busy with the loco’s piston and valve exam, as well as some other Winter jobs including new piston packings being machined by Bill B.

‘Pug’ 11243 and Barclay 1969 are also in traffic. The former will be made ready for its holiday to the SVR soon with some cleaning days and a couple of small jobs to sort on it.

We would also like to give massive thanks to the Beet Family and the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Rly for the loan of Ivatt 2MT 46441 over the Autumn and Winter period, the loco was welcomed back to the ELR like it hadn’t been away, and we very much hope to see it again in the future!

📸📸 Liam Barnes

27/02/2026

Today we said farewell to a massive influence in railway preservation - Richard Greenwood MBE.

Richard’s life was devoted to preserving and saving a variety of steam locomotives, three of which are currently operational at the ELR, cherished and maintained for Richard’s legacy to live on.

One of which is L&Y/LMS 11456 which will be operating the steam services at the ELR tomorrow (Saturday 28th Feb) - A great tribute and testomony that this 145 year old locomotive continues to operate with us at the ELR.

25/02/2026

Our shed pet ‘Pug’ 11243 is off on its travels! Looking forward to heading to our friends at the Severn Valley Railway in April 😃

23/02/2026