Take a note of the date - it's April 1^st!! We're indebted to Danny Hopkins of Steam Railway magazine for providing the picture, Alan Greer for agreeing to be a part of the joke and Jack Bosket for his magic in 'Swindonising' the image.  Of course, Martin A E Willis wasn't a foreman at Swindon (so far as we know!). It's an anagram of a certain LMS CME…

Even so, and this isn't a joke, there were Swindon trade-marks on the 8Fs they built, which in fact ended up spending most of their careers on the Great Western.  They included 'GWR' on the works plates, a painted locomotive number on the buffer-beam instead of the more usual LMS cast smoke box number plate and GWR pattern lamp irons.  Many are also believed to have carried GWR ATC equipment.

1 comment for “Swindonised 8F”

1. Mick Alderman
   Posted 07 May 2010 at 12:43:12

   Churchill 8F,
   May I comment on the 8F.Turkish Railways 45160 (works number North British 24648 built 11/1940)which was allocated W D number 348 .It was never given a L M S number,it may have worked on the L M S a few weeks before leaving Liverpool docks in January 1941 for Turkey.
   8274 (N B 24766 /5.1942)W D 561 until 12.43, never left the UK worked on the L M S and B R (M)until withdrawn in 1966
   8476 built Swindon 1945.,on loan to the G W R until 1946/7 then sent to the L M S, About 20 of the 80 built Swindon 8F's (8400-8479) were returned to the Western region in the mid 50,s but not (4)8476,quite a few working from 82B Bristol St Phillips Marsh and 86G Pontypool Road ,most had the brake ejector pipe lowered along side the boiler to improve the drivers visibility,the loco's being left hand drive on a right hand signaled railway.The 8F at Keighley 8431 was, last time I saw it in that condition. I,m sure the loco will look very fine ,I hope to see it in a few weeks time. Mick Alderman

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