Building up the National Collection The BTC years: 1948-62

摘要

A perusal of the history of some of the main line steam locomotives that are today in preservation shows that some of them have led a bit of a nomadic existence since being saved from scrap, moving from one preservation site to another over the years. This is particularly the case for some of those saved from Barry scrapyard over 30 years ago, one or two of which remain unrestored even yet. What may not be realised by some as they gaze at National Collection locomotives in all their glory today, is that -contrary to what might be expected for items in the care of a national body - some of these locomotives too had a bit of a nomadic existence in the 1950s and 1960s before their current status was assured. The background to the creation of what came to be known in later years as the National Collection is outlined briefly in the article entitled 'The National Collection - the wilderness years', published in Steam Days in September 2020, and this follow up is in fact a prequel. When the British Transport Commission (BTC) came into being in 1948, it inherited a small collection of locomotives already housed in the old Queen Street museum at York, a London & North Eastern Railway initiative. In addition, there were others set aside by the London, Midland & Scottish Railway and mostly kept at its works at Crewe, Derby, Horwich and St Rollox. As the British Railways era progressed, other locomotives were withdrawn and put into store awaiting restoration for preservation. To provide storage space before museum accommodation became available, various locations were utilised, the tables within this feature listing locations and their occupants - the criterion for inclusion is that within the BTC years (1948-62) each locomotive had a least one period where it was yet to find a place in a museum or other permanent preservation site. On that basis I excluded most of the York Museum locomotives, City of Truro being an exception as it did have a short period of storage, back at Swindon, before going into Swindon Museum. The end point of the lists is 31 December 1962, the date on which the BTC ceased to exist and the British Railways Board came into being, and a date with some significance in terms of the future of the collection. With the exception of Gresley 'A4' Pacific Mallard, there were no more locomotives put into museum accommodation for a number of years after this.