61306 Mayflower

61306 was completed in April 1948 by the North British Locomotive Company. Though built to an LNER design, it was delivered after nationalisation to British Railways.

Motive power depot allocations.

Date Arrived	Depot
April 1948	Hull Dairycoates
May 1948	Hull Botanic Gardens
June 1959	Hull Dairycoates
June 1967	Low Moor

It was withdrawn from service whilst based at Low Moor, Bradford in September 1967. It was one of the last three B1s working, which were all withdrawn that month. All of the three had been based at Low Moor. Steam ceased in the Leeds and Bradford area at the end of September and Low Moor depot closed. 61306 hauled the last steam hauled portion of the Yorkshire Pullman from Bradford Exchange to Leeds on the day it was withdrawn from service.

61306 was the last B1 locomotive to run on the Great Central Railway line to Marylebone which it did in August 1966 a month before most of the line closed.

61306 was privately purchased for preservation at Steamtown Carnforth in February 1968.

At Steamtown it was painted into LNER Apple Green Livery, given the number 1306 and the name Mayflower. 1306 would have been its allocated running number had the LNER not been nationalised (most ex-LNER BR numbers being the LNER 1946 numbers with the addition of 60000), while the name Mayflower came from a scrapped BR-built Thompson B1, numbered 61379.

In 1978, it moved to the Great Central Railway in Leicestershire, where it remained until 1989, when it was taken out of service for a ten-year overhaul. Scheduled to return to Hull Dairycoates, the sale of the site meant that it moved to the Nene Valley Railway.

It was sold privately in 2006 to the Bowden family and it moved to their company, Boden Rail Engineering Ltd, in Washwood Heath, Birmingham. In 2013, 61306 returned to steam wearing its original BR Apple Green livery and operated by West Coast Railways from their base at the former Steamtown Carnforth.

In 2014, 61306 was sold by the Boden family to David Buck, and moved to the North Norfolk Railway. It had been undergoing preparations there for full mainline running, operating the Cathedrals Express.

After the discovery of a cracked axlebox before its intended appearance on the main line the engines bottom end is undergoing attention at Carnforth. The boiler has been sent to Adam Dalgleish Engineering in Stockton. These action are to ensure the reliability of the locomotive for the whole period of its boiler certificate.

The boiler underwent hydraulic and steam tests at Carnforth in December after the boiler had been extensively rebuilt by Northern Stean Engineering (formerly Adam Dalgleish Engineering). At Carnforth the locomotive was fitted with new cylinders and valve liners and the axleboxes were re-metalled.

A return to steam in the early part of 2018 is anticipated. It will then have a new ten year boiler certificate.

In late September the locomotive was being painted in apple green livery in readiness for returning to the main line. The locomotive was however not ready to haul its planned main line introduction in October 2018.

At the end of November 2018 the locomotive undertook a light test run on the mainline and this was followed by a loaded test run in early the following month. It did not return to the mainline in December 2018 as planned.

Early in February 2019 the locomotive operated its first main line service piloting 35018 British India Line from Carnforth to Carlisle over Shap and returning via the Settle route.

Mayflower was scheduled to haul an excursion in early March which was cancelled when the locomotives boiler failed.

In June 2022 it was announced that the locomotive along with Steam Dreams Rail Company had been acquired by the Crewe based Locomotive Services Group owned by Jeremy Hosking.

At the end of October 2022 the locomotive started undergoing running in trials on the Severn Valley Railway.