MANY people have been in touch regarding the early Fifties picture of No 67318, a G5 locomotive, at Ainderby station on the Wensleydale branchline. On the smokebox door on front of the engine, beneath its number, is its shed plate.

The number on this plate shows the district in which the engine was based: 50 was the York district, 51 the Darlington district, 52 the Gateshead district.

After the number came a letter showing the shed in which the engine was housed:

51A Darlington
51B Newport
51C West Hartlepool
51D Middlesbrough
51E Stockton
51F West Auckland
51G Haverton Hill
51H Kirkby Stephen
51J Northallerton
51K Saltburn

A fortnight ago, we got our As and our Fs mixed up.

In the Ainderby picture, our G5 is clearly a 51, but even blowing up the smokebox does not reveal the letter. It looks most likely to be a J, which would fit in with the locomotive’s history that B Watson, in Bishop Auckland, has kindly pieced together.

“It was built at Darlington and released to traffic in December 1900. It was based at various sheds in the North-East, but from March 2, 1952, until March 1, 1953 it was at West Auckland,” he says.

“It was then transferred to Northallerton where it stayed until March 14, 1954, when it was transferred to Darlington. Its final home was Sunderland from September 25, 1955, until March 5, 1957, when it was condemned.

“It was cut up for scrap at Darlington.”

This, then, would place our picture between March 1953 and March 1954.