'The Cathedrals Express' - hauled by LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 45407 'The Lancashire Fusilier' - 'Black 5'. Owned by railway engineering company Riley and Son. Seen here passing through Chalkwell along the Thames estuary at sunrise


The London Midland and Scottish Railway Class 5 4-6-0, almost universally known as the Black Five, is a class of steam locomotive. It was introduced by William Stanier in 1934 and 842 were built between then and 1951. Members of the class survived to the last day of steam on British Railways in 1968, and eighteen are preserved. This class of locomotive was often a favourite amongst drivers and railway fans. The Black Fives were a mixed traffic locomotive, a "do-anything go-anywhere" type, designed by Stanier, who had previously been with the GWR. In his early LMS days, he designed his Stanier Mogul 2-6-0 in which he experimented with the GWR school of thought on locomotive design. A number of details in this design he would never use again realising the superiority of details not used on the GWR. Stanier realised that there was a need for larger locomotives. These were to be the LMS version of the GWR Halls but not a copy, as the Hall was too wide to run most places in Britain. They shared similar cylinder arrangement (two outside), internal boiler design and size and 6 foot driving wheel diameters. In their early days the locomotives were known as the "Black Staniers" from their black livery, in contrast to Stanier's other class of 4-6-0, the LMS Stanier Jubilee Class, which were painted crimson (and known until April 1935 as the "Red Staniers"). Later on, the nickname of the former became "Black Five", the number referring to the power classification. This was originally 5P5F, but from 1940 was shown on cabsides as the simple figure 5. Black 5s were withdrawn between 1962 and 1968. Some members of the class survived to the last day of steam on BR in August 1968. Four Black Fives, Nos. 44871, 45231, 45305 and 45407, have main line certificates as of December 'The Lancashire Fusilier' was built at Armstrong Whitworth in 1937 and is owned by railway engineering company Riley and Son. Seen here between Chalkwell and Leigh-on-Sea along the Thames Estuary


Size: 6195px × 4134px
Location: Chalkwell, Essex, UK
Photo credit: © Avpics / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 5, beach, black, black5, boats, britain, british, c2c, cathedrals, chalkwell, class, copyspace, dawn, early, engine, england, estuary, express, fusilier, gantry, great, kingdom, lancashire, lms, locomotive, morning, overhead, railway, railways, reflection, riley, river, seaside, smoke, son, southend, stanier, steam, steamer, steaming, sunrise, thames, tracks, train, uk, united, water, wires