A4 Pacific "Union of South Africa" at Rawtenstall West
Introduction
The photograph on this page of A4 Pacific "Union of South Africa" at Rawtenstall West by David Dixon as part of the Geograph project.
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A4 Pacific "Union of South Africa" at Rawtenstall West
Image: © David Dixon Taken: 15 Oct 2017
Seen here passing the Rawtenstall West signal box, 60009 Union of South Africa is a preserved Class A4 steam locomotive built in Doncaster in 1937 by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) and originally numbered 4488. It was named after the then newly formed Union of South Africa. For a time, during part of the 1980s and 1990s, it was renamed “Osprey” due to contemporary political opposition against South Africa because of that country’s controversial policy of racial apartheid (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-19989692 BBC News). 60009's name has since reverted to Union of South Africa. Union of South Africa was withdrawn from British Railways service on 1 June 1966 and was sold for preservation the following month. It is one of the six surviving A4 pacific steam locomotives designed by Sir Nigel Gresley; a sister locomotive to 4468 “Mallard” (see Image] ) and 60007 “Sir Nigel Gresley (see Image]).
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Image Location
Latitude
53.697315
Longitude
-2.295149