Preston Station Lancashire 9th June 1968

Stanier Black 5 4-6-0 44971 taking water at the platform end of Preston station early on a Sunday morning near the end of BR steam.

Myself & a friend had arrived at Preston station at approx. 05.00 in the morning after trying & failing to sleep on the footplate of a Black 5 at Lostock Hall shed, on a park bench in Leyland & at the cop shop in Leyland. We didn't really sleep in the waiting room at Preston either because this engine was pottering about. Later that morning we took the train to Carnforth to check out the shed before returning to Sheffield in the evening.

An everyday scene about to disappear for ever.