Galatea is one of 191 Jubilee Class locomotives built between 1934 and 1936 by the London, Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS). She was built at Crewe, being outshopped on 15th April 1936, and was originally allocated to Newton Heath.
Galatea is best known for the many years she was based at Bristol Barrow Road, from where she worked the cross country expresses, including the northbound 'Devonian' between Bristol and Leeds City. During this period she made a famous ascent of the 1:37 Lickey Incline with 14 coaches and without the assistance of a banking engine.
Galatea was withdrawn from service on 21st November 1964 and reached Woodham's scrapyard in Barry, South Wales, in May 1965. While at Barry she was derailed; to avoid having to jack her back onto the track the centre driving wheels were cut with an oxyacetylene torch. the task of casting new driving wheels made the restoration seem impossible, although in 1980 she was rescued from Barry to provide spares for sister engine Leander. Until bought by a small consortium in July 1995 and placed in a charitable trust, Galatea languished in sidings at the Severn Valley Railway; the only attention paid to her was that needed to remove parts required elsewhere.
From 'Jubilees of the LMS' by John F. Clay
Sometimes, at periods of heavy traffic, bankers were not always available when required and on a July Saturday afternoon in 1954 a party from the Leicester Railway Society on a photographic expedition assembled at the summit of the Lickey Incline. the whistle denoting the start from Bromsgrove yard was heard and time passed by as the roar of the northbound 'Devonian' came wafting up the bank.
Once there was a single burst of slipping which was quicckly checked and the Jubilee came pounding on slowly but surely. Finally, 17min after the whistle, against a booking of 8min, No 45699, Galatea of Bristol shed breasted the summit followed by 14 corridor bogies weighing at least 480 tons and bringing up the rear, gallantly doing its best, was one "Jinty" No 47301. Each engine must have been handling as much as the test trains and the rails were damp.
The expression of the fireman was not enthusiastic. With many miles still to run with a heavy load, his task with a fire torn to pieces was not an enviable one.
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