Black Five 45305 at Oxenhope

London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 No. 5305 (British Railways no. 45305). In preservation, it has carried the name Alderman A.E. Draper, though it never carried this in service. It was at Albert Drapers spur of the moment decision to save one of the many locomotives his business, Albert Draper and Sons Hull, was scrapping, that saved this engine for posterity.

 

 

5305 was built by Armstrong-Whitworth of Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1936, works No 1360. She spent most of her life based in North-West England. After nationalisation in 1948, British Railways renumbered her 45305.
45305 survived to the last month of steam on British Railways, She was even a candidate for the well known Fifteen Guinea Special which ran on 11 August 1968 but sadly the night before the trip she was failed with a collapsed firebox brick arch and had to be replaced by sister engine 45110. And she was withdrawn from service at Lostock Hall shed in August of the same year.

 

45305 was sold to scrap merchants Albert Drapers and Sons Ltd. of Hull. The owner of the scrapyard, A.E. Draper saved the engine, merely because it was the cleanest engine in the yard. The locomotive is still owned by the scrapyard but is looked after by the 5305 Locomotive Association.
5305, restored to original LMS livery was steamed again in 1976. In 1984, 5305 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 the 1986 season 5305 worked over the West Highland Line between Fort William and Mallaig, continuing her class's particular association with Scotland.
5305's boiler certificate expired in December 1994 and she was out of service until August 2003 when she returned to service, this time in her BR guise as 45305. Since then she has also had a mainline certificate and has been based on the preserved Great Central Railway in Leicestershire.
After suffering buffer beam damage at a 2006 Gala, 5305 spent 2006 in use at the GCR before being withdrawn for repairs, which were completed in October 2010. 5305 has now returned to service complete with a new 10 year boiler ticket and renewed mainline certificate.
In 2013 she worked the Liverpool to Longsight and rtn leg of the Fifteen Guinea Special to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the ending of steam on British Railways on Sunday 11 August.
Now resident at the KWVR.

 

 

 

Many thanks to Wikipedia for much of the above notes.

 

http://www.kwvr.co.uk/