6201 Princess Elizabeth
7th April 2009

LMS 7P 4-6-2 6201 Princess Elizabeth is owned and managed by Locomotive 6201 Princess Elizabeth Society Limited.

The society was formed initially as a fund to preserve the former LMS Railway Class 7P locomotive as a monument to the work of Sir William Stanier and also becuase of its epic feats performed on a high speed test run on November 1936 when it ran the 401 miles between Glasgow and London in 5 hours 44 minutes at an average speed of 70 mph.

The Princess Elizabeth was purchased from British Railways in February 1963 and it was delivered to its new home at Ashchurch in Gloucestershire.  Work started at once to remove the grime and rust that had accumulated during its years of service.  Minor mechanical work was undertaken and the engine was eventually steamed on Whit Monday 1965.  This intial success led to the decision to use the engine as a working exhibit and also to restore the engine to its original LMS Crimson Lake livery.  In those far-off days of the early 60's, it was a very brave decision for a band of amateurs to steam a 159ton 3cwt locomotive and it will probably not be surprising to realise that the Society was one of the founding members of the Association of Railway Preservation Societies.

Subsequently the Society was one of the few organisations that managed to get their engine out on the main line during the famous British Railways 'steam ban'.

In April 2009, the Society took the decision to return Lizzie home to Crewe.

The Heritage Centre is now the locomotive's base for main line charters and its engineering depot.

Click here to visit the 6201 Princess Elizabeth Society

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