No. 957 is a Class 25 0-6-0 steam locomotive that was built for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) by Beyer, Peacock & Company in 1887. It was stationed at Goole Shed at grouping, when it became London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) No. 12044; and it remained there until January 1950 when British Rail (BR), now No. 52044 at this point, moved it to Wakefield shed.
No. 957 was privately purchased from BR in 1959 and moved to the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway (KWVR) in 1965 where it became famous for its role in the 1970 film The Railway Children. It was withdrawn from service in 1975 in need of a major overhaul and spent a significant amount of time on display in Oxenhope museum. The major overhaul was eventually started and No. 957 returned to service in 2001 wearing BR Black livery as No. 52044 before reverting to its L&Y guise of No. 957 a couple of years later.
It was mainly used on summer vintage trains and during special events as well as the occasional normal passenger service. Its boiler certificate expired on 20 January 2013. Following a couple of years on display at Oxenhope, No. 957 moved back to Haworth in July 2016 with an overhaul completed in 2021.
No. 957 now operates regularly on the KWVR with its boiler ticket set to expire in 2030.