Withdrawal of steam on British Rail

The 1T57 'Fifteen Guinea Special' was the last main-line passenger train to be hauled by steam locomotive power on British Rail on 11 August 1968 before the introduction of a steam ban that started the following day. It was a special rail tour excursion train organised for the occasion from Liverpool via Manchester to Carlisle and back, and was pulled by four different steam locomotives in turn during the four legs of the journey (with two engines sharing the third leg).

The Fifteen Guinea Special was so named because of the high cost of tickets for the railtour (15 guineas = £15 15s 0d in pre-decimal British currency, equivalent to £15.75). Guinea prices were normally only used for luxury items or professional fees, and ticket prices had been inflated due to the high demand to travel on the last BR steam-hauled mainline train.

The railtour started at 09:10 from Liverpool Lime Street station. The coaches were hauled by LMS Class 5 locomotive 45110 to Manchester Victoria, arriving 8 minutes late at 10:42. There, 45110 was replaced with Britannia Class 70013 Oliver Cromwell – the last steam locomotive to be overhauled by BR – and the train departed for Carlisle at 11:06. The train arrived at Carlisle, 33 minutes late, at 15:29.

For the first part of the return leg, two LMS Stanier Class 5 locomotives, 44781 and 44871, double-headed the train back to Manchester Victoria. The train departed Carlisle at 15:44 – 14 minutes late – and arrived in Manchester at 19:00, 12 minutes late.

Re-joining the train at Victoria station, 45110 then worked the remainder of the journey back to Liverpool Lime Street, arriving only 9 minutes late at 19:59.

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Wikipedia