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This article is about the Duchess of Hamilton. You may be looking for the Duchess of Loughborough.

Duchess of Hamilton is a preserved steam locomotive living at the National Railway Museum in York.

Biography

Duchess of Hamilton was one of the many engines Thomas met when he was invited to visit the National Railway Museum. The engines were later excited when special railtours to the seaside were announced. Duchess of Hamilton was visibly upset when Mallard argued to pull the train himself. She felt that another engine should be chosen instead. In the end, it was decided to give the trips to Green Arrow and Thomas.[1]

Technical Details

Real-Life History

Duchess of Hamilton is an LMS 8P Princess Coronation "Duchess" class 4-6-2, built in September 1938 by the LMS Crewe Works and operated until February 1964. Duchess was withdrawn from service in February 1964 and was later saved from the scrap yard as a result of Sir Billy Butlin's efforts to place locomotives as children's playground exhibits at his holiday camps. In 1976, the Friends of the National Railway Museum accepted the locomotive from Butlin's on a twenty-year loan deal, and immediately began to restore and preserve it.

It first ran as the Museum’s flagship locomotive in 1980 and was operational until 1985. After purchasing the locomotive from Butlin's in 1987, after an extensive overhaul it resumed running in 1989, withdrawn from main line duty in 1996 when its seven-year boiler ticket expired. From 1998 to 2005, 46229 was a static exhibit in the National Railway Museum, standing next to Mallard. In September 2005 the National Railway Museum announced that the streamlining would be re-instated, returning the locomotive to its original appearance. This work was undertaken at Tyseley Locomotive Works and in May 2009 it was returned to the National Railway Museum in its streamlined form.

Livery

Duchess of Hamilton is painted in LMS Crimson Lake with gold lining and black wheels. Before Duchess was re-streamlined, she was painted in LMS maroon with yellow lining and black wheels. Duchess also had the BR lion and crown logo painted on the tender.

Unlike her basis, Duchess of Hamilton is illustrated in The Railway Series with yellow and red boiler bands, whereas the real Duchess of Hamilton only has one yellow band behind the smokebox, the rest being the same colour as the boiler.

Appearances

The Railway Series

Companion Volumes

Gallery

The Railway Series

Main Series

Real-Life Gallery

References


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