With the sweet smelling May Blossom behind, Steam Locomotive 'Metropolitan No.1' backs onto its train at North Weald Station, in readiness for a journey to Ongar. Epping Ongar Railway London Transport Weekend 13 05 2018
L44 (No.1) had the honour of working the last steam-hauled LT passenger train in 1961, and survived in use until 1965; it is now preserved at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre.
L44 was saved from being broken up for scrap by the endeavours of a 19 years old London Transport Mechanical Engineering Apprentice (Jim Stringer),[citation needed] who started the Met Tank Appeal Fund in 1962. The objective was originally to save the only remaining 0-6-2T 'F' Class locomotive numbered L52 in the London Transport fleet. LT offered this locomotive to him for £500. The Met Tank Appeal Fund raised just over £1,000, but when Jim went to hand over the cheque he was advised that an inspection had revealed a cracked mainframe, and the locomotive could no longer be 'steamed' and was therefore no longer suitable for preservation. However he was offered L44 in its place for the sum of £450. Jim was helped by committee members of the London Railway Preservation Society, and a locomotive fitter named Gerald Fitzgerald. The LRPS had storage for the Locomotive at Bishops Stortford, and also at Luton where it was subsequently moved to, but the Quainton Railway Society offered a secure and permanent base for it at their newly established museum in Buckinghamshire, and L44 (now correctly referred to as Met Loco No. 1) moved there in the mid-1960s. No. 1 was maintained in main-line condition and made occasional forays onto its old home lines during the "Steam on the Met" events which took place between 1989 and 2000. It received a full overhaul in 2001.
In 2007 No. 1 made its first visit away from Buckinghamshire Railway Centre since the 2001 Heavy Overhaul, arriving at the Bluebell Railway on 24 July in order to take part in the "Bluebell 125" celebrations. While there it was paired with four original Metropolitan Railway carriages which have been restored by the Bluebell. During August 2008 it visited Barrow Hill and in October 2008 Llangollen, to participate in their heritage events.
With the sweet smelling May Blossom behind, Steam Locomotive 'Metropolitan No.1' backs onto its train at North Weald Station, in readiness for a journey to Ongar. Epping Ongar Railway London Transport Weekend 13 05 2018
L44 (No.1) had the honour of working the last steam-hauled LT passenger train in 1961, and survived in use until 1965; it is now preserved at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre.
L44 was saved from being broken up for scrap by the endeavours of a 19 years old London Transport Mechanical Engineering Apprentice (Jim Stringer),[citation needed] who started the Met Tank Appeal Fund in 1962. The objective was originally to save the only remaining 0-6-2T 'F' Class locomotive numbered L52 in the London Transport fleet. LT offered this locomotive to him for £500. The Met Tank Appeal Fund raised just over £1,000, but when Jim went to hand over the cheque he was advised that an inspection had revealed a cracked mainframe, and the locomotive could no longer be 'steamed' and was therefore no longer suitable for preservation. However he was offered L44 in its place for the sum of £450. Jim was helped by committee members of the London Railway Preservation Society, and a locomotive fitter named Gerald Fitzgerald. The LRPS had storage for the Locomotive at Bishops Stortford, and also at Luton where it was subsequently moved to, but the Quainton Railway Society offered a secure and permanent base for it at their newly established museum in Buckinghamshire, and L44 (now correctly referred to as Met Loco No. 1) moved there in the mid-1960s. No. 1 was maintained in main-line condition and made occasional forays onto its old home lines during the "Steam on the Met" events which took place between 1989 and 2000. It received a full overhaul in 2001.
In 2007 No. 1 made its first visit away from Buckinghamshire Railway Centre since the 2001 Heavy Overhaul, arriving at the Bluebell Railway on 24 July in order to take part in the "Bluebell 125" celebrations. While there it was paired with four original Metropolitan Railway carriages which have been restored by the Bluebell. During August 2008 it visited Barrow Hill and in October 2008 Llangollen, to participate in their heritage events.