The Fifteen Guinea Special approaching Roby Station
Introduction
The photograph on this page of The Fifteen Guinea Special approaching Roby Station by Martin Tester as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
The Fifteen Guinea Special approaching Roby Station
Image: © Martin Tester Taken: 11 Aug 1968
The very last (standard gauge) steam-hauled train promoted by British Rail ran on Sunday 11th August 1968. Universally (but unofficially) known as the 'Fifteen Guinea Special' because of what was then regarded as an outrageous ticket price (equivalent to almost £340 in 2024), the train ran from Liverpool, to Manchester, and on to Carlisle over the Settle & Carlisle line. It returned by the same route. The first leg of the trip, from Liverpool to Manchester along the original Liverpool & Manchester Railway of 1830, was headed by LMS Black 5 45110 seen here approaching Roby Station. For a 2011 photo taken from the exact same spot see Image Happily 45110 survived into the preservation era and arrived at the Severn Valley Railway in August 1970. It saw much use on the line and also headed many specials on the national network in the late 1990s. It has however been out-of-use awaiting an overhaul since 2008. In August 2023 the SVR sold 45110 to a private owner and it was moved to Carnforth Motive Power Depot.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
53.41011
Longitude
-2.858643