Preston Station Lancashire 1st August 1968

Preston station & the signals are pulled off for Black 5 4-6-0 45212 heading north with a very short freight train. A gaggle of people on the platform are, myself included, taking in a sight very soon to disappear forever on British Railways.

45212 went on to pull BR's penultimate passenger train three days later from Preston to Liverpool & following the end of steam on British Railways was preserved on the Keighley & Worth Railway later working on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. In February 2016 it was in the last stages of a full overhaul at Riley's in Bury.