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LNER London & North Eastern Railway Steam Locomotive Class B17 2804 Elveden at Parkeston in 1930s
Gresley’s B17 4-6-0s built from 1928 for the Great Eastern section were widely considered one of his most attractive designs. In traffic they proved to be not quite as good as they looked, but despite this remained the mainstay of the GE expresses until the appearance of the Thompson B1s and then the Britannias after the war. No 2804 ‘Elveden’ seen at Parkeston shed in the 1930s was in regular use when new on the ‘North Country Continental’, the boat train service which began at Parkeston Quay and carried coaches destined for York, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool. Most of these Gresley 4-6-0s were withdrawn in 1958-60 but three (including ‘Elveden’) were unfortunate to be scrapped in the early 1950s.