LMS Black Fives Dvd

This dvd is the story of one of Britain’s most impressive class of locomotives – the LMS Black Fives.

Designed by Sir William Stanier, Class 5 4-6-0 for the London Midland and Scottish Railway was numerically the largest class of locomotive in Great Britain and they were always known as ‘Black 5s’. 842 of these Class 5 4-6-0s were constructed and were truly ‘maids of all work’, handling anything from local freight trains to named expresses and everything inbetween. Many of the class have survived into preservation, a good number being bought from British Rail when they dispensed with steam in 1968.

We follow the story of nine of the Black Fives as they became runners again in preservation all over the UK. This programme starts with LMS No. 5025, the oldest Black Five to survive, as it operates in the Scottish Highlands on the Strathspey Railway.

We travel south to see the National Railway Museum’s example, No. 5000, at work on the Severn Valley Railway.

No. 5305 was saved by the scrap merchant in Hull who received it in his yard for cutting up. We see it working in the Scottish Highlands on the Fort William route.

The unique Stephenson’s link motion Class 5 No. 45428 with No. 44767 are seen at work on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

The Midland Railway Centre’s No. 44932 and No. 44871 based at the Bo’ness, are seen on the Mallaig route in the late 1980s.

Finally we follow the preserved life of No. 45407 with its runs over the North Wales line and Settle-Carlisle Railway from the 1980s and into the 21st Century, including its foray over Shap and Beattock in 2001.

Approx. 60 minutes.