No. 60155 was built as part of Lot No. 388 and bore the Works’ number 2049, emerging from Doncaster on 20th September 1949 fitted with boiler No. 10592 and equipped with roller bearings. From new the locomotive sported BR express passenger blue livery with black and white lining. Its initial allocation was to Gateshead (GHD), entering traffic there and handling diagrams on the East Coast Main Line (ECML), in particular the heavy overnight sleeping car trains to the capital. It received its first heavy intermediate repair at Doncaster from 8th January to 1st March 1951, leaving Doncaster bearing the name Borderer, another Peppercorn Class A1 paying homage to Walter Scott’s connections to the lands at the junction of England and Scotland, an appropriate name for a member of a class that spent so much of their lives working to and from the capitals of both countries. In April 1952, having clocked up 237,050 miles in traffic, the locomotive was back at Doncaster for its initial ‘Heavy General’ which included fitting boiler No. 29874 and repainting BR express passenger green, lined in black and orange.
On 4th November 1952 No. 60155 was recorded running light engine between Grantham and Newark before taking the up ‘Flying Scotsman’ forward to King’s Cross from that station and on 14th the same month it worked the down ‘Northumbrian’ north from King’s Cross to Grantham before returning thence to the capital with a Leeds train. Having accumulated another 121, 346 miles, Borderer returned to ‘The Plant’ for a general overhaul on 31st August 1953, returning to its duties after 45 days, however less than a month later, on 10th November, it was noted as ‘failed’ at ‘Top Shed’. During 1954 it continued to work trains between Newcastle and King’s Cross and vice versa, including the down ‘Night Scotsman’ on 3rd July but it started 1955 with another call at Doncaster on 3rd January for a general overhaul and to have its boiler changed for No. 29835, having covered another 109,924 miles since its last visit. Having left the works on 3rd February No. 60155 started to pick up a greater variety of work, being noted on a fitted freight from Doncaster-King’s Cross just four days later (a running-in turn), taking the down ‘Heart of Midlothian’ out of the ‘Cross on the 16th of the same month before working the down ‘North Briton’ forwards from Newcastle on a number of occasions, once via Carlisle and the Waverley route 19th March. A regular turn during 1955 also appears to have been bringing the King’s Cross-Glasgow service from the capital to Newcastle as well as the York-Edinburgh parcels train north from the same station as well as appearances on the up ‘Flying Scotsman’ and up ‘Heart of Midlothian’.
Borderer entered Doncaster Works on 10th May 1956 for a ‘General’ with another 102,919 miles on the clock, acquiring boiler No. 29858 in so doing. Following its departure from ‘The Plant’ on 15th June the locomotive seems to have worked very few trains other than the down ‘Night Scotsman’ which it seems to have monopolised until November when it spent a week undergoing a ‘Light Casual’ in November after which it resumed a more varied work pattern including its first recorded working of the ‘Talisman’ on 6th June 1957, a year only interrupted by light repairs at Gateshead in April and Doncaster during August. 1958 opened with a visit to Doncaster for a general overhaul on 28th February, the locomotive having amassed a further 141,846 miles since its last, this time leaving with boiler No. 10635 to resume its night-time exploits on the ECML, one reason it was little recorded or photographed during the next couple of years! Following a ‘General’ at Doncaster from 21st September until 30th October 1959, Borderer was re-allocated to Heaton (52B) on 1st October 1961. There are precious few records of No. 60155 during 1961 and the early part of 1962 but on the 21st and 31st of May it worked the up ‘Northumbrian’ into King’s Cross although there is little to note until it was again transferred, this time to Tweedmouth (52D) 6th October 1962, a stay that only lasted until 4th November that year when it again moved, this time to York (North)(50A).
A great pair of photos showing Borderer approaching Doncaster with a train of mineral wagons on 10th April 1965 – Roger Bastin
Seconds later it is about to cross the River Don – Roger Bastin
As soon as Borderer arrived at York it found itself flung into a great variety of work, much of it, alas, reflecting the declining fortunes of the A1s, with plenty of freight work including the BP tanks through Newcastle on 5th November and the up seed potatoes at the same location on the 12th November. The locomotive was noted on 14th November working the 2G85 Berwick-Newcastle and the 1V45 Newcastle-Bristol before rounding out the year working trains into and out of Newcastle. 1963 saw No. 60155 work a bewildering variety of trains, passenger, parcels and freight, the following being a few examples, 10th January 1N05 Birmingham-Newcastle into the latter city, 11th January 1A22 11:00 King’s Cross-Glasgow from the capital to Newcastle, 18th January 1N70 Bristol-Newcastle, 24th January 3G34 York-Newcastle parcels and the 4E27 up seed potatoes the same day with a similar mixture of work occupying No. 60155 for the rest of the year. Following the transfer of A1 maintenance to Darlington that year, Borderer entered the works there on 10th September for a ‘Heavy Casual’ and boiler change, leaving with its final boiler, No. 29839, on 12th October. 1964 found the locomotive frequently being serviced at Gateshead shed and working an increasing number of trains in the North East including the 1N67 Manchester-Newcastle service on 26th March and again on 17th April and 1N48 Bristol-Newcastle on 29th May but work for the big Pacifics was becoming increasingly erratic and although this took the locomotive as far as Glasgow Borderer’s work was largely confined to the environs around York, with the exception of a trip through Newcastle hauling stored V2s Nos. 60824 and 60901, a portent of the fate that was looming for No. 60155, which, after lingering on York shed during the summer, was duly condemned on 4th October 1965 and consigned to Thomas Ward & Co. of Killamarsh for scrapping. No. 60155 had lasted 16 years and five days and had carried a total of nine boilers.
Borderer, shorn of nameplates and smokebox number and shed plates, awaits its fate at York on 18th September 1965 – Bill Reed
This history was compiled by Graham Langer based on a database compiled by Tommy Knox, with reference to the RCTS book ‘Locomotives of the LNER Part 2A’ and ‘Yeadon’s Register of LNER Locomotives’ as background.