Rebuilt Patriot 4-6-0 No.45514 Holyhead stands at Birmingham New Street Platform 6 waiting to depart with a London to Wolverhampton express in 1950. Rebuilt Patriots worked regularly on the Wolverhampton trains around this date. In the mid-1950s the 1.55pm express from Wolverhampton to London Euston had a 79 minute schedule for the 82.6 miles from Rugby, the fastest timing on the London Midland Region at the time. On 28th October 1954, 45514 achieved a net time of 76 minutes with a ten-coach load on this service.
Photo: A.W. Croughton/Rail Archive Stephenson