LMS Patriot Class 5551 The Unknown Warrior
No.5551 The Unknown Warrior is a replica LMS Patriot Class steam locomotive which is under construction at the in the Midland Railway – Butterley's West Shed.
The locomotive is a replica of the final 'Patriot' class locomotive to be built, No.5551. The original locomotive was built in May 1934, and withdrawn in June 1962. Unlike the original engine, which never received a name, the replica will be named "The Unknown Warrior"; the name was chosen by public poll.
All of the original un-rebuilt LMS Patriot Class locomotives were withdrawn by November 1962 and the whole class was withdrawn by December 1965 with none of the engines surviving into preservation.
Original engine
The original 5551/45551 was built at Crewe Works in May 1934 and unlike many other members of its class which were given names, it alongside nine other class members was not named. Sheds that it was allocated to over the years included: Crewe North, Carlisle Upperby, Camden, Willesden and Edge Hill. Edge Hill was the last shed it was allocated to, being transferred there in June 1961 and remaining there for twelve months until withdrawal.It was also one of thirty four members of its class to be kept in its original unrebuilt condition prior to its final withdrawal in June 1962, its final working life was twenty eight years and one month. It was later cut up for scrap in October of the same year at its birthplace Crewe Works.
Replica
Overview
The LMS-Patriot Project, a registered charity in England and Wales, is constructing a replica locomotive at the West Shed, an engineering base for the Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust, at the Midland Railway – Butterley.The project was inspired by the success by the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust which built the LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado, and it was decided to construct another long lost class of engine, in this case the LMS Patriot Class. Like Tornado, The Unknown Warrior is being built with differences as the plan is to run the completed engine on the mainline, so one main difference being the modifications to the tender so that more water and less coal can be carried. It is also planned to have an entirely British-built boiler constructed for the engine which is ongoing.
the project engineering update showed that the engine has had its wheels fitted and also the brake system, pistons, valves, motion plus boiler are all being worked on. In November it was announced by the group who were building "The Unknown Warrior" that there had been a few problems arising with the Royal British Legion who were supporting the construction of the engine, and with deep regret it was announced that the RBL could no longer support the loco group which also meant that the RBL's crest above the engines nameplates would have to be removed. A new set of crests would be placed above the engines nameplates as a result but the RBL will still support the patriot project and vice versa as its still planned for the completed engine to be known as "The National Memorial Steam Engine".
In October 2018 the Llangollen Railway, where the locomotive had been assembled to date, announced that they were no longer able to build 5551, the decision being made due to the length of the list for the railways own locomotives that needed overhauls and repairs undertaking alongside other new build loco projects at the line including 6880 Betton Grange. The locomotive is currently at PRCLT's west shed on the Midland Railway near Butterly, An invitation to tender had been sent to four contractors who have expressed interest. The Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust being chosen as they were deemed to best fit the requirements of 5551's board. Construction of the engine's boiler is now being undertaken at Heritage Boiler Steam Services Ltd in Liverpool.
Name, number and liveries
The original 5551/45551 never carried a name during its career under LMS & BR ownership, a competition was set up to choose a name for the new engine with examples of nameplates being: Patriot, Hero, Remembrance, Wilfred Owen, British Legion and The Falklands. Alongside names based on regiments, the military & war heroes there were other names entered into the competition which included: Henry Fowler, Winston Churchill, Sir Edward Elgar, Fred Dibnah, Robert Riddles, Baby Scot, Jack Mills, Crewe & Llangollen.Following a public vote to decide on the engines' name, the engine was named "The Unknown Warrior", after the tomb in London which holds an unidentified soldier who was killed on the battlefront during the First World War. It was also decided for the engine to carry the Royal British Legion's crest above its nameplates. Following a request by the RBL their crest had to be removed from the engine, a replacement crest was unveiled during a recent event in Crewe.
The liveries that the original Patriots wore included: LMS Crimson Lake, LMS Black, BR Black & BR Green. For a while during the locomotive's construction, the engine wore crimson lake on the left side of its cab and BR Green on the right, this being to give an idea to the public of what it would look like in either livery when completed and running. It was announced in November 2016 during the Patriot Group's annual meeting at Crewe Heritage Centre that the first livery that "The Unknown Warrior" would wear on completion would be LMS Crimson Lake, with the three remaining liveries applied at later dates.
Project launch
The project was formally launched at the Llangollen Patriot Gala in April 2008, by the project's first commercial sponsor, John Buxton, Managing Director of Cambrian Transport. The Frames Appeal was also announced at the gala and a membership scheme was later launched.Project milestones
Construction
Frames
On 31 March 2009, two frame plates were cut at Corus Group plc Steel, Cradley Heath in the West Midlands. Measuring 39 ft in length 4 ft high and 1 1/8 in thick, the frame plates were then taken to the Boro Foundry, at Lye, West Midlands, for machining and drilling, before being taken to the Llangollen Railway Works where assembly is in progress. The dragbox has been fitted to the frames, the front buffer beam fitted, the bogie bolster has been cast and has been fitted, all five of the five frame stretchers have been cast and are fitted to the frames.Wheels
In September 2010, the first driving wheel was cast at the Boro Foundry, using the pattern made for LMS Jubilee Class 45699 Galatea. The two classes share the same size 6'9" driving wheels. The six new driving wheels have been cast by The Boro Foundry Stourbridge and machined and assembled by the South Devon Railway, who machined and fitted the plain axles, crank axle, tyres, and crank pins. The six driving axle boxes have been cast by Johnson Porter of Stourbridge, machined at FHT Southam Warwicks and final machined and fitted to the wheels at Tyseley Locomotive Works.Cylinders
The three cylinders have now been cast and machined and were fitted to the frames during January 2015. This is the first use of polystyrene patterns, for locomotive cylinders which were cast at Coupe Foundry Preston and machined at Harco Engineering of Brierley Hill. The motion girders, motion brackets, cylinder covers and slidebar have now been fitted and sandboxes fabricated.Bogie
All the components for the bogie have been manufactured and it is being assembled at Tyseley Locomotive Works with completion scheduled for November 2015. The remaining wheelset was assembled by the South Devon Railway in Buckfastleigh Devon. The locomotive has become a 4-6-0 now that the bogie is completed.Tender
An ex LMS Fowler tender that remained at Woodham Brothers Barry Scrapyard and was later stored in the ex EWS wagon depot, was secured for use with 'The Unknown Warrior'. The first tender provided the group with the three wheel-sets they needed for the engine's new tender as well as two sets of axle boxes, the other four not being usable due to damage alongside the salt air at Barry Island causing corrosion. The springs despite being exposed to the elements and salt air were fit for reuse and were removed for refurbishment at Rowan Springs in Rotherham. The frames, however, were in very poor condition so they alongside the other unusable parts were cut up and sent for scrap.The Project later purchased a second tender from the East Lancs Railway, Bury. The frame plates were in good enough condition to be used along with two of its axle boxes,. Alongside the acquisition of the second tender which provided the society with two more usable axle boxes they also now had two spare tender wheel sets for use in the future when required. The remaining two axle boxes need to be either acquired from another donor tender or manufactured from new. New drawings have also been produced to help in the construction of the engine's tender as it is planned to be built slightly wider than the originals to enable an increase in water capacity from 3,500 gallons to 3,900 gallons. The amount of coal that the engines would have carried in steam days will be reduced to aid in the increase of the water capacity. The water-scoop will also be removed. Higher water supplies for engines being a recommendation now due to there being no water trough's left on the mainline and very few water cranes, except at certain locations like Hellifield and Appleby.