48151 (LMS 8151 & BR 48151)

48151 just after leaving Dent Head Tunnel - May 1989.jpg

8151 was built in 1942 by the LMS at Crewe Works.

BR motive power depot allocations since 1948.

Date ArrivedDepot
January 1948Grangemouth
February 1948Wellingborough
July 1955Canklow
January 1963Staveley Barrow Hill
April 1964Edge Hill
March 1966Northwich

It was renumbered as 48151 by British railways after the 1948 nationalisation of Britain’s railways.

48151 was withdrawn from service at Northwich in January 1968 and sold to Woodham Brothers at Barry for scrap. It arrived at Barry in September 1968 and remained there until November 1975 when it was purchased for preservation.

48151 was based at the Yorkshire Dales Railway (now called the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway) for a number of years but its restoration was not completed there. It was then bought by David Smith and after its heavy restoration was completed in 1988 it was certified for mainline use and is today operated by West Coast Railway’s working steam charters across the UK visiting places never visited before by an 8F.

In November 1995 48151was loaned to Tunstead Quarry at Buxton to haul a 975-ton train of hopper wagons for a special train out of Tunstead.

In December 2000 it worked a special one off freight train along the Settle and Carlisle line from Hellifield to Ribblehead Quarry where the hopper wagons were loaded and it then worked the loaded train on from Ribblehead Quarry to Carlisle.

In 2014 48151 made its first operational visit to a heritage railway when it visited the Mid Norfolk Railway at Dereham for their West Coast Railways steam gala.

Also in 2014, it worked its first train over Shap since the end of steam in 1968.

48151 has been given the name Gauge O Guild.

48151 remains is based at Carnforth which is the northern base for the West Coast Railway Company. It is main line certified but is currently out of service awaiting an overhaul.

It is main line certified and was overhauled at Carnforth prior to a light engine test run at the end of November 2017.

Home BaseCurrent StatusOwner
West Coast Railways – CarnforthOperationalDavid Smith
48151 passing Warrington Dallam – Early 1960s
48151 at Warrington Dallam – Early 1960s
48151 on Stockport Edgeley shed - August 1966.jpg
48151 on Stockport Edgeley shed – August 1966
48151 at Winwick Junction, Warrington – April 1967
48151 on Bolton shed August 1967
48151 on Stockport Edgeley shed towards the end of steam on BR
48151 in Woodham’s scrapyard at Barry – c1972
48151 in Woodhams scrapyard at Barry shortly before it left – August 1975
48151 at Embsay on the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway – February 1976
48151 with Hudswell Clarke 1822 at the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway – October 1976
48151 haulin a train from Buxton to Derby at Great Rocks junction – October 1987
48151 at Coalville Open day – June 1988
48151 just after leaving Dent Head Tunnel - May 1989.jpg
48151 just after leaving Dent Head Tunnel – May 1989
30850 lord Nelson next to 48151 at Steamtown, Carnforth – September 1991
48151 at Nethertown on the Cumbrian Coast – October 1991
48151 at Carnforth - June 1992.jpg
48151 at Carnforth – June 1992
48151 at Steamtown Carnforth – October 1993
42700, 48151 and 58850 in the Barrow Hill roundhouse – July 2000
48151 near Normanton with a train from Skegness to York – February 2007
48151 Gauge O Guild heads 70013 Oliver Cromwell (running as 70048 The Teritorial Army) on the Help for Heroes special. 48151 replaced 46115 Scots Guardsman which had failed. – March 2010
48151 Gauge O Guild heads south through Winwick – July 2010
48151 Gauge O Guild passes Locomotion at Shildon – October 2010
48151 being turned at Scarbrough – August 2016
48151 hauling a steam tour from Chester to Carlisle on the leg from Hellifield approaching Helwith Bridge – May 2019

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