The National Railway Museum at Shildon is now displaying the sole surviving NER J21 class locomotive No. 65033 in the Collection Building at Locomotion.
NER J21 class locomotive No. 65033
Built in Gateshead in 1889, No. 65033 is the only survivor from a class of 201 locomotives built to haul coal in the North East. Already life-expired in 1939, it was taken out of service ready for scrapping, but reinstated when the Second World War broke out. The locomotive is believed to have hauled Prime Minister Winston Churchill and King George VI during a visit to a County Durham army camp in 1942. The engine was finally withdrawn in 1962, by which time it had become a local celebrity.
Now owned by the Locomotive Conservation and Learning Trust, the locomotive has been in the NRM Conservation Workshop at Locomotion for the last two months, undergoing cosmetic restoration. It is now on show in early BR livery, complete with British Railways lettering.
The cosmetic restoration project has been carried out by volunteers from the Stainmore Railway Society, along with trainees on the Engineering Heritage Skills Initiative programme who are based in the NRM Conservation Workshop at Locomotion.
The North Eastern Railway 0-6-0 will leave Shildon for Kirkby Stephen East during w/c August 21, where it will take centre stage at the Stainmore 150 celebration event from August 27 to 29. Organised by the Stainmore Railway Company, the event marks the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Stainmore Railway.
After the event, No. 65033 will return to Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon.
For more information on the Locomotive Conservation and Learning Trust, visit www.lclt.org.uk. Further information on the Stainmore 150 celebration event can be found at www.stainmore150.co.uk
For more information on events and exhibitions at Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon, please visit www.nrm.org.uk/locomotion