Blue Peter is a LNER Peppercorn A2.
History[]
Blue Peter was built in March 1948 and numbered 60532 under British Railways under which it operated until 1966 when it was put into storage and eventually marked for scrap. Geoff Drury purchased Blue Peter[1] after failing to purchase a Peppercorn A1. There was a large campaign by the BBC's children's programme "Blue Peter" to restore the locomotive. This worked but the engine didn't operate for a long period of time until 1991 when it was re-restored to operational condition receiving it's mainline certificate in 1992.[2][3]
It had a tragic accident in 1994 due to rigorous unplanned wheel slip which injured the driver's arms and damaged the locomotives motion. By 1996 it was back in operation until 2001. It's boiler certificate expired in 2002. For a period it was on display in the Darlington Railway Centre & Museum until 2007 when it went into storage. In October 2014 it was sold by the Drury family to Jeremy Hosking a notably rich man.[2] And became an asset of the Royal Scot Locomotive and General Trust.[3][4] Blue Peter is still under restoration to mainline running condition.[1][2]
On March 14, 2024, Blue Peter's overhaul was finally completed and the locomotive moved under its own steam power for the first time in over 22 years. It was also painted in the BR Express Passenger Blue livery rather than the BR Apple Green or BR Brunswick Green liveries. On March 19, 2024, it was moved to the Severn Valley Railway for test runs. After which, it will return to mainline excursion service in the UK.
Trivia[]
- The locomotive is named after the BBC children's programme "Blue Peter".
Bibliography[]