5305 was built by Armstrong Whitworth at Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1936. It spent most of its career based in North-West England. After nationalisation in 1948, British Railways renumbered it as 45305.
BR motive power depot allocations since 1948.
| Date Arrived | Depot |
| January 1948 | Crewe South |
| August 1948 | Northampton |
| September 1949 | Crewe South |
| February 1949 | Warrington Dallam |
| November 1950 | Crewe North |
| January 1951 | Edge Hill |
| May 1956 | Holyhead |
| September 1956 | Crewe South |
| November 1957 | Crewe North |
| May 1958 | Longsight |
| September 1958 | Crewe North |
| November 1960 | Longsight |
| November 1960 | Workington |
| March 1962 | Willesden |
| November 1963 | Chester |
| August 1965 | Springs Branch Wigan |
| December 1967 | Speke Junction |
| May 1968 | Lostock Hall |
45305 survived to the last month of steam on British Railways 1n August 1968 and was planned to be used on the Fifteen Guinea Special (1T57) which ran on 11 August 1968 but on the night before the trip it was failed with a collapsed firebox brick arch and had to be replaced by engine 45110.
45305 was sold to scrap merchants Albert Drapers and Sons Ltd. of Hull.
45305 became the last locomotive on the scrap line of Drapers of Hull, who broke up 742 former BR locomotives and the owner decided to preserve the locomotive.
Albert Draper was, at the time, the president of Hull Kingston Rovers Rugby League Football Club, and it was his fond wish that 5305 would one day head a special train from Hull to Wembley, where he hoped the club would be playing in the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final. In 1980 Hull Kingston Rovers beat beat city rivals Hull 10-5 in the final of the 1979-80 the Challenge Cup but there is no record of 45305 hauling a train to Wembley.
45305 was put in the care of the Humberside Locomotive Preservation Group and based at Hull Dairycoates motif power depot where it was eventually brought up to full main line standard in LMS livery steamed again in 1976.
In 1984, 45305 was named Alderman A E Draper by the Mayor of Hedon, Bill Tong. A.E. Draper was twice Mayor of Hedon and the Hedon coat of arms is on the nameplates. However, for reasons of authenticity, the engine does not always carry these nameplates.
In 1984 the locomotive was recorded as taking 27 minutes 6 seconds for the 26 mile journey between York and Leeds. It is unlikely that this time has been beaten.
45305 worked over the West Highland Line between Fort William and Mallaig, continuing the class’s particular association with Scotland.
The locomotive left Hull Dairycoates in April, 1992 on the closure of that shed and went to RAF Binbrook in Lincolnshire.
45305’s boiler certificate expired in December 1994 and it was out of service until August 2003 when it returned to service, this time in BR guise as 45305.
It arrived on the GCR 20th November, 1996 and was returned to service in 2003. In April, 2005 the Mayor of Charnwood, Mike Jones, welcomed the Lord Mayor of Hull, John Fareham, to the Great Central Railway to re-name the engine Alderman A E Draper using the plates used when the locomotive was first named in 1984. The locomotive remains in the ownership of A E Draper and Sons and is in the long term care of the 5305 Locomotive Association, the successor to the Humberside Locomotive Preservation Group.
On 4 February 2006 45305 Alderman A. E. Draper collided with a rake of six carriages at Loughborough Central, damaging the locomotive and one of the carriages. At the time 45305 was moving slowly but because the cylinder drain cocks open to allow admitted steam to dispel water from the cylinders the drivers line of sight was impaired. An investigation by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) found that the driver (aged 73) was not wearing spectacles at the time of the accident, despite it being a requirement on his medical certificate to do so when driving.
After suffering buffer beam damage in the accident, 5305 spent 2006 in use at the GCR before being withdrawn for repairs, which were completed in October 2010. 5305 has now returned to service complete with a new 10 year boiler ticket and renewed mainline certificate. Although it remains firmly based at the GCR it continues to operate on main line duties from its base at Tyseley, Birmingham.
In 2013, 45305 worked the Liverpool to Longsight and return leg of the Fifteen Guinea Special to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the ending of steam on British Railways on Sunday 11 August. This trip also allowed the ghost of 1T57 to finally be put to rest.
45305 continues to visit other heritage railways and was transported on a Moveright International low-loader from the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway in 2015 to Ilford for wheel turning maintenance. While leaving Ingrow Station, the loader came into contact with one of the antique metal poles on the gates, ripping it out of its foundation. Later on the journey, the same vehicle hit a traffic light knocking the unit over.
45305 remains based on the GCR and is main line certified with a boiler certificate which is valid until 2020.
In 2017 the boiler was lifted off the frames at Loughborough to facilitate repairs to the ashpan and weeping firebox stays. It passed an out of frames steam test at the beginning of November 2017.
The aim is to have the locomotive running again on the GCR in January 2018.
The aim is had been to have the locomotive running again on the GCR in January 2018 but this did not prove to be possible. After the fitting new firebox side plates and fitting new stays prior to hydraulic a and steam testing it was hoped the locomotive would be back in service in August 2018. This date was later revised to October 2018.
The locomotive passed its insurance test at the end of October 2018 and returned to traffic in the following month.
Whilst the locomotive was out of service for boiler repairs in October 2019 the opportunity was taken to re-bore its cylinders, fit new pistons and rings and apply new whitemetal bearings to its crossheads.
In November 2019 the locomotive returned to the main line when it hauled the Polar Express from Birmingham Moor Street to Tyseley.
The boiler certificate is due to expire at the end of 2020 whilst the main line ticket is due to expire in July or August 2020. The 5305 Locomotive Association are however hopeful that a years extension to run on the main line will be obtained as a lot of work had been done on the boiler.
In September 2020 it was reported that the boiler certificate had been extended to October 2021.
Blackbirds took advantage of the engine being out of traffic during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2021 to build a nest in the cab of 45305. When it was discovered that there were eggs in the nest the locomotive was withdrawn from the planned roster in early June 2021.
The locomotive was taken out of service in October 2021 and it is anticipated that the boiler will require substantial work before it is ready to be steamed again.
| Home Base | Current Status | Owner |
| Great Central Railway | Under overhaul | Owned by A E Draper and Sons and is in the long term care of the 5305 Locomotive Association |
- 44767 (LMS 4767 & BR 44767)
- 44806 (LMS 4806 & BR 44806)
- 44871 (LMS 4871 & BR 44871)
- 44901 (LMS 4901 & BR 44901)
- 44932 (LMS 4932 & BR 44932)
- 45000 (LMS 5000 & BR 45000)
- 45025 (LMS 5025 & BR 45025)
- 45110 (LMS 5110 & BR 45110)
- 45163 (LMS 5163 & BR 45163)
- 45212 (LMS 5212 &BR 45212)
- 45231 (LMS 5231 & BR 45231)
- 45293 (LMS 5293 &BR 45293)
- 45337 (LMS 5337 & BR 45337)
- 45379 (LMS 5379 & BR 45379)
- 45407 (LMS 5407 &BR 45407)
- 45428 (LMS 5428 &BR 45428)
- 45491 (LMS 5491 & BR 45491)
Preserved British Steam Locomotives 