LNER Class A4 4488 Union of South Africa

Union of South Africa
Union of South Africa passes Condover
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerNigel Gresley
BuilderDoncaster Works
Serial number1853
Build date16 April 1937
Specifications
Configuration:
 • Whyte4-6-2
 • UIC2'C1h3
Gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
Leading dia.3 ft 2 in (0.965 m)
Driver dia.6 ft 8 in (2.032 m)
Trailing dia.3 ft 8 in (1.118 m)
Boiler pressure250 psi (1.72 MPa)
CylindersThree
Cylinder size18.5 in × 26 in (470 mm × 660 mm)
Loco brakeVacuum
Train brakesLNER/BR: Vacuum
Performance figures
Tractive effort35,455 lbf (157.7 kN)
Career
OperatorsLNER, BR
ClassA4
Number in class15 of 35
NumbersLNER: 4488,
LNER: 9,
BR: 60009
Official nameUnion of South Africa
Withdrawn1 June 1966
Restored1989
Current ownerJohn Cameron
DispositionStatic display at John Cameron's Farming and Railway Visitor Centre
Union of South Africa pulls 2012 excursion train near Deeping St Nicholas.

60009 Union of South Africa is a LNER Class A4 steam locomotive built at Doncaster Works on 16 April 1937. It is one of six surviving A4s. Its mainline certification expired in April 2020. As the locomotive is subject to a boiler inspection, it was moved to the East Lancashire Railway as the original plan was to keep it running there until the end of boiler certificate and then send it somewhere else for static display, but a cracked boiler tube forced it into retirement prematurely. It was briefly renamed Osprey during part of the 1980s and 1990s due to political opposition against apartheid in South Africa at the time.