No. 850 Lord Nelson was
the first of 16 ‘LN’ Lord Nelson Class locomotives built for the Southern Railway. Lord
Nelson was completed at Eastleigh Works in August 1926 at a cost of £9510. The ‘LN’
Class were Chief Mechanical Engineer Richard Maunsell’s first new design for the Southern Railway. The
Class was designed to haul 500 ton trains between London Victoria and the Channel Ports at an average speed of 55mph.
Later the Lord Nelsons worked on the western section of the route to destinations such as Exeter, Salisbury and Bournemouth.
From 1953 the Lord Nelsons, including 850, were based at Eastleigh until the entire Class was withdrawn from service
in 1962.
Destined to be the only survivor of its Class, 850 was selected for preservation and
would eventually become part of the national collection. Following withdrawal Lord Nelson spent
time at several southern locations including The Pullman Works at Preston Park near Brighton. It was from
here that the National Railway Museum (NRM), the locomotive owners, allocated 850 to Steamtown Museum, Carnforth to haul a
number of rail tours in the late 1970’s. By 1997 Lord Nelson had been a static exhibit at
Carnforth for many years and with decline of the museum a new home was needed.
Following negotiations between the NRM and the Eastleigh Railway Preservation Society the locomotive was returned
to its original home at Eastleigh. At Eastleigh Lord Nelson was subject to a major overhaul to
return to locomotive to main line running standard. Lord Nelson was finally returned to steam
on 17 May 2006 followed by a period of running in at the West Somerset Railway. 850 Lord Nelson returned
to the main line on 31 March 2007. Sadly, boiler problems in August 2007 forced the locomotive to be withdrawn
for further repairs. These repairs were undertaken by the NRM at York. 850 is currently
undergoing trials at preserved railways in the UK before hopefully returning to further work on the main line. (August 2008)
Update 2011: 850 is currently based at the Mid-Hants
Railway, however a statement from Eastleigh Railway Preservation Society (ERPS) states that 850 will not now be returning
to main line working and that the support coach is to be sold. For more information see the ERPS website.
