This film records a specially chartered train in the Manchester area in the very early 1960s involving one of the last surviving ex-Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway 2-4-2 tank locomotives, BR No.50850 (formerly LYR No.675, built Horwich Works 1899, rebuilt 1911). The opening sequences are of Newton Heath locomotive depot. The No.1 engine shed on the LYR, where almost forty years after its legal demise, some LYR locomotives built over sixty years earlier could still be found. Ex-LYR 0-6-0...

This film records a specially chartered train in the Manchester area in the very early 1960s involving one of the last surviving ex-Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway 2-4-2 tank locomotives, BR No.50850 (formerly LYR No.675, built Horwich Works 1899, rebuilt 1911). The opening sequences are of Newton Heath locomotive depot. The No.1 engine shed on the LYR, where almost forty years after its legal demise, some LYR locomotives built over sixty years earlier could still be found. Ex-LYR 0-6-0 BR No.52271 (built 1894) manoeuvres off shed, while a Fairburn LMS-type 2-6-4T is seen raising steam in the background. The front end of 52271 is then seen in close up, and the engine reverses away with its cylinder cocks open. A very clean 2-4-2T No. 50850 moves forward, followed by a close up of its extended coal bunker showing prominent rivet heads which are piled high with coal. The rear of the engine can be seen followed by a view of its chimney. A fireman is seen inserting the 'bag' of the adjacent water column into the side tank. Several railwaymen stand around while the engine takes on water during which the 'bag' sprouts several leaks. Supplied, 50850 moves onto the turntable. The concrete coaling plant in the background. There is a close up of the turntable, which is seen turning, and 50850 comes off, sporting the reporting number C701 on the smokebox door, and passes an 0-6-0. On a distinctly grey day enthusiasts are then seen eagerly ascending the cobbled approaches to Middleton Junction Station in order to rendezvous with their train, and upon arrival, they climb aboard. 50850 approaches and is coupled up under the gaze of a loco inspector wearing a bowler hat (then still a badge of middle railway management). There is a brief shot of the Middleton Junction station sign before 50850 is seen pulling away bunker first and carrying a sign inscribed RVRES. The 4-coach train is assisted in the rear by 0-6-0 52271 (seen on Newton Heath shed earlier). The entire train is then seen climbing the single line branch in semi-rural surroundings. This particular spot is the half mile Werneth incline up to Oldham which was closed to passengers in 1958. At 1 in 27 this constituted the steepest portion of railway line to carry a regular passenger service in the British Isles (cf 1 in 38 on the Lickey Incline above Bromsgrove). At the summit (Werneth Station) the 2-4-2T detaches and runs round its train with at least five young boys crammed into the cab. It has clearly lost some of its initial polish. There is no further sign of the 0-6-0, which must have also detached, as the 2-4-2T takes its former place in order to work the train back down to Middleton Junction. Historical Notes: The precise date of this event was 17 September 1960, and it was sponsored by the Roch Valley Railway & Engineering Society). Although there is evidence of recent re-ballasting of the track, this stretch was later closed in January 1963. No.50850 was destined to be the last of 330 ex-LYR 2-4-2Ts in service and was retired in September (?) 1961. The class leader, LYR No.1008 of 1889, which differs in several major resects, is preserved in the National Railway Museum at York.