LB&SCR A1X class 55 Stepney

LB&SCR A1X Class 55 Stepney
Stepney at Horsted Keynes with sister engine 672 Fenchurch.
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer William Stroudley Builder Brighton works Build date 21 December 1875 1912 (rebuilt)
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 0-6-0T Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Career Operators London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Southern Railway British Railways Bluebell Railway Class A1X Power class BR: 0P Withdrawn May 1960

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway A1X Class number 55 Stepney is a preserved steam locomotive based at the Bluebell Railway in East and West Sussex, England. Stepney is well known as the first standard gauge engine to be based at the Bluebell Railway, arriving by rail on 17 May 1960. Stepney was featured in the Railway Series book Stepney The "Bluebell" Engine. He was also featured in the TV series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. However, he was rescued by Rusty the Diesel in the TV series and he runs his own branch line running beside the Skarloey Railway. The junior (8 years old and under) membership scheme of the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society is known as the Stepney Club.

Stepney re-entered service on the Bluebell in May 2010 after a fast track overhaul and was used on light duties until its main steam pipe failed in early 2014. Stepney currently wears Stroudley Golden Ochre, but previously wore the lined black livery that was carried during the first (1960) season on the Bluebell. On 14 January 2012, Stepney made an "only-morning" appearance in BR Lined Black with the "cycling lion" crest and his BR number, 32655, for a special photographic charter. He carried the same BR Lined Black Livery again on 17 April 2012 for another photographic charter, this time though with the later "ferret and dartboard" crest. He returned to "Bluebell Black" in time for his visit to the National Railway Museum's "Railfest" in the first week of June 2012. Stepney is now on static display at the Bluebell railway, awaiting new cylinders and work on the frames and boiler.

Stepney appears in the music video for Tracey Ullman's "Move Over Darling" (1983).

External links

• Stepney's page on the Bluebell Railway website
• Stepney on The Real Lives of Thomas the Tank Engine