Appeal to help rebuild record-breaking historic steam locomotive

Princess Elizabeth, named after the former Queen when she was still a schoolgirl, suffered a major boiler failure just hours before pulling the luxury Northern Belle train on July 24 in 2021.

Instead a heritage diesel locomotive had to be substituted for the sell-out journey, which started at Telford before picking up more passengers at Shrewsbury, Wrexham and Chester.

Now a £165,000 appeal has been launched to pay for a major overhaul in a bid to get the record-breaking engine back on track next year.

But Clive Mojonnier, chairman of the Princess Elizabeth Society, has warned that the final bill could be nearer half a million pounds.

He said: “We have already removed her boiler to investigate but we won’t know the situation until after the overhaul.

“Whatever the cost, it will be worth it because Lizzie is not just a locomotive, she is part of our nation’s heritage.”

Built originally for the old London, Midland and Scottish Region at Crewe and costing just £11,685, Princess Elizabeth, number 6201, still holds the record for the fastest non-stop steam train journey between London and Scotland.

She was renumbered 46201 when the railways were nationalised in 1948, but was withdrawn from service in 1962 after British Rail began turning to diesel locomotives.

Lizzie was destined for an ignominious end in a scrapyard before a group of enthusiasts bought her for £2,160 to save her from being turned into pots and pans.

The locomotive later played a major role in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012 before pulling the Royal Train carrying the Queen and Prince Philip.

The Northern Belle will be back in Shropshire on April 20, September 21 and November 16 for steam trips over the Settle-Carlisle line.

But this year they will be hauled by Tangmere, which used to pull Southern Region expresses from London the the South Coast.

For more details about Princess Elizabeth Society and the appeal, visit www.6201.co.uk. For more details of the Northern Belle, see www.northernbelle.co.uk