STOCKPORT was no stranger to the ‘Britannia’ class of British Railways ‘Pacific’ steam engines.

In 1952, Edgeley Station saw the ‘Byron’, ‘Tennyson’ and ‘Charles Dickens’ haul the express carriages between London Euston and Manchester London Road (now Piccadilly).

And according to Offerton train enthusiast, Mel Thorley, the type were particularly popular with Stockport’s growing army of trainspotters.

‘‘People used to turn out in their droves to watch these wonderful machines pass through Cheadle Heath and Heaton Mersey," remembers Mel. "Including two plucked straight from the ‘Golden Arrow’ train itself - the 70004 ‘William Shakespeare’ and the 70014 ‘Iron Duke’."

The class, one of twelve ‘standard’ engine types, was developed by British Railways shortly after nationalisation in 1948.

The then newly formed Government organisation, the British Railways Board (BRB), enlisted the services of renowned locomotive engineer Robert A Riddles to take responsibility for developing a small range of new steam locomotive designs to replace the older pre-nationalised classes.

In 1950, and on completion of the Locomotive Exchange Trials, the first express passenger locomotive design had been finalised at Derby and in the same year, the British Transport Commission placed an order with Crewe Works for the building of 24 of the type.

This imposing black class of steam engine was appropriately named ‘Britannia’ after the female personification of the British Empire.

However, the glamorous class, which hauled the prestigious working train the ‘Golden Arrow’, is most remembered for a sensational runaway train incident that occurred in Stockport.

Mel recalls: "In June 1958, on the third day working the ‘Palatine’ - the 7.55am out of London - the locomotive and its tender became separated.

"The Iron Duke hurtled from Bramhall Moor Lane down through Adswood to Cheadle Heath, where to avoid the engines boiler blowing up, the fire had to be dropped.

"The tender and the Palatine’s following coaches, full of unsuspecting passengers, rolled to a stop around the Midland Bridge area of Bramhall Lane.

"The train was rescued and taken into Manchester by a goods engine and the Iron Duke was towed away to a Heaton Mersey shed where it was visited by scores of Stockport trainspotters."

Being the very first of the standard types to be deployed, some class members were among the very last of steam locomotives to be withdrawn.

The doyen of the class, ‘Britannia’, survived in operational service until withdrawal in May 1966, and the ‘Oliver Cromwell’ lasted in British Railways service until August 1968.