Geograph - photograph every grid square

The very last (standard gauge) steam-hauled train promoted by British Rail ran on Sunday 11th August 1968. Universally (but unofficially) known as the 'Fifteen Guinea Special' because of what was then regarded as an outrageous ticket price (equivalent to almost £340 in 2024), the train ran from Liverpool, to Manchester, and on to Carlisle over the Settle & Carlisle line. It returned by the same route. Remarkably, BR did not give this auspicious train a special name - the locos merely carried its reporting number of 'IT57'! See: Link.
The first leg of the trip, from Liverpool to Manchester along the original Liverpool & Manchester Railway of 1830, was headed by LMS Black 5 45110 seen here approaching Roby Station. For a 2011 photo taken from the exact same spot see SJ4390 : The railway, looking west from Bridge Rd, Roby.
Happily 45110 survived into the preservation era and arrived at the Severn Valley Railway in August 1970. It saw much use on the line (SO7192 : 45110 departs Bridgnorth Station, from Panpudding Hill) and also headed many specials on the national network in the late 1990s. It has however been out-of-use awaiting an overhaul since 2008. In August 2023 the SVR sold 45110 to a private owner and it was moved to Carnforth Motive Power Depot.