Great Eastern Railway designed Holden/Gresley 'B12' class 4-6-0 No. 61580. Built by Beyer Peacock Ltd. of Manchester in January 1924 as LNER No. 8580 and withdrawn in March 1959.

A fine view of 61580 at Retford Station in July 1954. The 'B12s' have a convoluted history that begins in 1911 with S.D.Holden's original design for the GER. Rebuilding and experimentation with feedwater heaters, poppet valves and larger boilers had mixed success, the larger boilers giving the best results. The preserved 'B12' No. 61572 illustrates the class in its final form.
Note in the background a fomer GNR 45ft bogie full brake of the Howlden period dating from around 1900 - the glass in the doors is as dirty as are the wooden sides!

© Ken Widd-SA Collection