Ex-LMS Fowler '7F' class 0-8-0 No. 49659. Built at Crewe in April 1932 as LMS No. 9659 and withdrawn in March 1957.
The leaden influence of the Midland Railway's inadequate axle bearings lingered on with Fowler's 'Austin Sevens' although all 175 were built not at Derby but Crewe. The L&NWR's 'Super Ds' were an infinitely better machine, proven by their much longer lives in service. Skelton Junction on former CLC metals, is the scene for 49659 slogging westbound on a murky November day in 1953.

© Ken Widd-SA Collection