THE Bahamas Locomotive Society’s (BLS) flagship, LMS ‘Jubilee’ No. 45596 Bahamas, is to revert to its original identity after temporarily operating as No. 45606 Falkland Islands in in honour of those who fought in the Falklands conflict in 1982. Carrying an appropriate Armistice Day headboard, the 4-6-0 took charge of The Railway Touring Company’s (RTC) ‘Kentish Belle’ on Armistice Day. The circular trip around the Kent countryside ran from London Victoria to Margate and Dover via Bromley South. No. 45596 was booked to operate its last main line trip of the season on Saturday, November 19 – the outward leg of RTC’s ‘The Christmas Cheshireman’ from Bristol Temple Meads to Chester. It was then set to return to its base at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway for winter maintenance.
“It has been a mixed year for us,” BLS chairman Keith Whitmore told The RM. “We have suffered in financial terms owing to the loss of a number of main line trips due to industrial action and weather. We are looking to continue working with the Railway Touring Company next year, but we are also open to offers from elsewhere.”