LMS Princess Coronation Class 6229 Duchess of Hamilton
London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Princess Coronation Class 6229 (British Railways number 46229) Duchess of Hamilton is a preserved steam locomotive.
Service
6229 was built in 1938 at Crewe as the tenth member of its class and the last in the second batch of five red streamliners (the original five 6220-4 having been given a unique Caledonian blue livery), complete with go faster stripes. In 1939 6229 swapped identities with the first of the class 6220 Coronation and was sent to North America with a specially-constructed Coronation Scot train. There was therefore for a while a blue 6229 Duchess of Hamilton in the UK and a red 6220 Coronation in the USA. R.A. Riddles drove for most of the tour. The locomotive (though not its carriages) was shipped back from the States after the outbreak of the Second World War, and the identities of the locomotives were swapped back.
6229 was painted wartime black livery in 1943. Streamlined casing was removed for maintenance reasons in December 1947 and she was given the LMS 1946 black livery. In 1948 she passed into British Railways ownership. BR added 40000 to its number so it became 46229. She was painted in the short-lived BR blue livery in 1950, but was soon repainted in March 1952 into Brunswick green. The semi-streamlined smokebox was replaced with a round-topped smokebox in February 1957, and in September 1958 she was painted maroon, and was later preserved.
Preservation
46229 is currently a static exhibit in the National Railway Museum, standing next to Mallard. She is one of three perserved Duchesses, the others being 6233 Duchess of Sutherland and 46235 City of Birmingham. In September 2005 the National Railway Museum announced that the streamlining would be reinstated, returning the locomotive to its original appearance.