Steam Locomotive 5699 “Galatea” at London Paddington

Every week, across the UK rail network, historic steam engines take passengers across the country on special trains.

On 18th February 2023, steam locomotive “Galatea” was at London Paddington railway station. Running as 45627 “Sierra Leone” (see “Names and Numbers” section below for an explanation) hauled a special train from London Paddington. The train, named the “The Cotswold Venturer”, ran to Worcester Shrub Hill. It was operated by The Railway Touring Company and returned to London Paddington.

The pictures were taken of the train at platform 11 in Paddington railway station, and then going out backwards to the steam engine maintenance shed at Southall, to the west of London.

Steam locomotive 45562 is a Jubilee Class engine built by the LMS to haul express passenger trains. The locomotive is actually 45699 “Galatea” which, over the years, has been renamed and renumbered to represent other members of the Jubilee class that were scrapped years ago.

As of February 2023, the locomotive has the number 45562 painted on the driving cab’s side, a number which belonged to “Alberta”, the last of the Jubilee class to be withdrawn in 1967. On the smokebox door, at the very front of the engine, the number is 45627 which matches the current nameplate, “Sierra Leone”.

The numbers listed above are from when “Galatea” was owned by British Railways (from 1948 onwards). If “Galatea” is repainted from British Railways green into LMS red, the number would be changed to 5699.