Rebuilt Patriot 4-6-0 No 45527 Southport waits to leave Liverpool Lime Street with an express for Hull in May 1952.

Peter Kerslake says "Recorded within the depths of Liverpool Lime Street station, 45527 Southport has been well turned out by the shed staff at Edge Hill Depot but there appears to be an accumulation of ash which the driver or his fireman is clearing from below the smokebox door on the front footplating and bufferbeam. This ash, probably overlooked by the shed staff, would prove a hazard for the footplatemen once on the move with the risk of it blowing back into the locomotive's cab".
Photo: Kenneth Field/Rail Archive Stephenson