Built in 1872 by Sharp, Stewart & Co., she is an example of the North London Railway’s Class 75 0-6-0T design. These sturdy tank engines were built to haul goods and commuter trains on the busy lines around London, especially between Broad Street, Poplar, and Chalk Farm. Compact but powerful, they were perfectly suited to the sharp curves and heavy traffic of the capital’s railways.
In 1922 the North London Railway was absorbed into the London & North Western Railway, and the tanks continued working into the London, Midland & Scottish Railway and later British Railways eras. Remarkably, No. 58850 survived in service until 1960, when she was preserved — just as the Bluebell Railway was beginning.
Today she stands as a link to the Victorian city and its early suburban railways, representing a type of locomotive once familiar in London but now almost forgotten. At the Bluebell Railway, the North London Tank helps tell the story of how steam powered not only the countryside but also the growth of Britain’s great cities. She was the locomotive used by British Railways to dismantle much of the Lewes to East Grinstead Railway.
