Photo:
William Thomas (via QRS Facebook) - May No. 1370 completes successful steam test 1st Februrary 2024 at Quainton

May was built by Peckett and Sons Bristol in 1915, works number 1370, Class R2.

No. 1370 was delivered new to Coventry Ordnance Factory, then moved to GEC Stafford and named Lady Godiva. Bought by Cohens scrap dealers and loco merchants and sold to Yates Duxbury, Heap Bridge Bury, Lancashire. There No. 1370 was named May, and operated at Yates until being sold to Dr Peter Beet, for preservation in 1975, and moved to Steamtown Carnforth in non-operational condition.

Having been stored for several years, the overhaul on No. 1370 eventually started and took a number of years. The loco was in very poor condition and basically worn out and required extensive works both mechanically and to the boiler. No. 1370 entered traffic in 2009 at the East Lancashire Railway, Bury and operated there for a few years before moving to Beamish Open Air Museum in Durham.

QRS purchased No. 1370 in working order, with 7 years left on her boiler ticket. She arrived at Quainton in January 2023 and has been used on passenger trains at Quainton. In February and March 2024 No. 1370 was a guest loco at the Whitwell & Reepham Railway gala.

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