An ex-Southern Railway Maunsell 'N' class 2-6-0 No. 31837 cautiously brings a very modest freight down the 1 in 36 incline into Ilfracombe in the early 1950s. This gradient, the steepest to and from a main line station in Britain, reflects the need for only short and light descending trains, particularly as Ilfracombe was a terminus! 31837 was built at Ashford in July 1924 as SR No. 1827 and was withdrawn in Sept. 1964.

© Raymond McCarthy-Eddie Johnson Archive