‘Duchess’ Butterley homecoming

‘Princess Coronation’ No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland will make a rare appearance on its ‘home’ railway at the Midland Railway – Butterley on September 9/10.


‘Princess Coronation’ No. 46233 Duchess of Sutherland backs down onto No. 46100 Royal Scot at Dereham on the Mid-Norfolk Railway on June 25 2016. THOMAS BRIGHT/SR

Although the ‘Duchess’ is based in the West Shed at Butterley – headquarters of the Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust, which owns the Stanier ‘Pacific’ – No. 46233 spends the majority of its time hauling main line railtours.

However, the LMS-built 4-6-2 will spend two days at the Derbyshire railway, where it will be one of four locomotives in action that weekend. Duchess of Sutherland is expected to be joined by Collet ‘56XX’ No. 5619 and a pair of Pecket 0-4-0STs – Works Nos. 1163 Whitehead and 2111 Lytham St. Anne’s.

Butterley spokesman Alan Calladine says: “This will be a great weekend with no less than four locomotives in steam as well as all the other attractions that make up the Midland Railway - Butterley.

“The railway museum, West Shed experience, demonstration signal box, Victorian railwayman’s church, narrow gauge railway, road transport museum and more will also be open.”

Duchess of Sutherland’s next main line duty is expected to be the Scarborough-London Victoria leg of Steam Dreams’ ‘Moors & Dales Express’.

As a final touch ahead of its planned repaint in red this winter, No. 46233 has been reverted to its 1964 condition, with the application of the late BR tender crest and yellow cabside stripe which denoted that it was banned from working south of Crewe under the overhead wires (see SR471, on sale September 8.)

Continue reading...