British Railways 2-6-0 No. 78018 'Borough of Darlington'
Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK 		Location: Great Central Railway
Status: Operational
Posted: Feb 22, 2026 @ 20:02:45 by Russell Newman
Having hauled its final trains at the Great Central Railway over the past weekend, BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0 No. 78018, has now been withdrawn from service having come to the end of its 10-year boiler ticket and will now be prepaired for overhaul.
Posted: Feb 11, 2026 @ 17:02:07 by Russell Newman
BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0 No. 78018, is soon to be withdrawn from service for its next 10-year overhaul. Its last weekend in service at the Great Central Railway will be on the 21st and 22nd of February 2026, where it will run alongside and possibly doublehead with its sister No. 78019 one last time for a while.
Posted: Jun 20, 2025 @ 12:06:48 by Russell Newman
BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0 No. 78018, will be returning to its birth town of Darlington to visit Hopetown for their Titans of Steam Gala as part of Railway 200 from the 20th of September to the 5th of October 2025.
Posted: Mar 26, 2025 @ 15:03:45 by Russell Newman
BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0 No. 78018, will visit the Stainmore Railway at Kirkby Stephen East for their Stockton and Darlington 200 Gala from the 23rd to 25th of August 2025.
Posted: Jan 28, 2024 @ 06:01:39 by Russell Newman
BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0 No. 78018, will be visiting the Battlefield Line Railway, for their Winter Steam Gala weekend 3rd and 4th of February 2024.
Posted: Oct 7, 2023 @ 14:10:33 by Russell Newman
BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0 No. 78018 "Borough of Darlington" will be making a return visit to the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway for the winter and will take part in their Winter Steam in the Valley Event from the 31st of December 2023 to January the 1st 2024.
Posted: Mar 27, 2023 @ 14:03:11 by Russell Newman
BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0 No. 78018 "Borough of Darlington" will be visiting the Severn Valley Railway as the thrid visiting locomotive for their Spring Steam Gala from the 14th to 16th of April 2023.
Posted: Mar 27, 2023 @ 13:03:01 by Jack Spencer
78018 is the final visiting locomotive for the Severn Valley Railway for their Spring Steam Gala on 14th-16th April. This will be her first visit to the SVR in preservation, although consecutively numbered sister 78019 visited back in 2010.
Posted: May 5, 2021 @ 11:05:16 by Russell Newman
BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0 No. 78018 "Borough of Darlington" is visit the Swanage Railway in Dorset for a short term to cover a motive power shortage there until No. 34028 "Eddystone" is fully tested and ran in before she enters service there.
Posted: Apr 26, 2021 @ 13:04:41 by Russell Newman
BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0 No. 78018 has been named "Borough of Darlington" by her owners the Darlington Railway Preservation Society and now has new nameplates fitted.
Posted: Feb 25, 2020 @ 14:02:24 by Russell Newman
BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0 No. 78018 is the third and final visiting locomotive at the West Somerset Railway’s BR Standards theme Spring Steam Gala from the 23rd to 26th of April 2020.
Posted: Jan 9, 2019 @ 14:01:45 by Russell Newman
BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0 No. 78018 will be visiting the East Lancashire Railway for their Spring Steam Gala on the weekend of the 8th to the 10th of March 2019.
Posted: Dec 12, 2018 @ 13:12:20 by Russell Newman
No. 78018 has been set up to the Great Central Railway (Nottingham) at Ruddington as extra motive power for their Santa Specials for the rest of the Christmas season there.
Posted: Dec 1, 2018 @ 09:12:46 by Russell Newman
BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0 No. 78018 is to also visit the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway from the 15th of June till the 8th of September 2019.
Posted: Mar 15, 2018 @ 13:03:22 by Russell Newman
BR Standard 2MT 2-6-0 No. 78018 has been booked in as the second visiting loco to the North Norfolk Railway for there Spring Steam Gala on the weekend of the 20th to the 22nd of April 2018.
Posted: Aug 22, 2017 @ 13:08:19 by Russell Newman
No. 78018 will be traveling around this Autumn and Winter as it will be visiting Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon for there Autumn Steam Gala on the weekend of the 16th and 17th of September. Then it will be visiting the Nene Valley Railway for the Christmas season from mid October till mid January 2018.
Posted: Nov 28, 2016 @ 12:11:47 by Russell Newman
78018 will be visiting the Nene Valley Railway for there Santa Specials this Christmas and will be staying till mid January there.
Posted: Aug 22, 2016 @ 12:08:35 by Russell Newman
78018 has been fully restored to full working order for the first time in 50 years. The locomotive is currently being tested at the Great Central Railway before painting and entering service.
Posted: Jul 21, 2015 @ 07:07:00 by George
78018s restoration should have been done in May.
Posted: Sep 9, 2009 @ 06:09:58 by Paul Bailey
78018 is still under going restoration by the Darlington Railway Preservation Society, The lastest progress can be found on www.drps.org.uk
Posted: May 20, 2003 @ 14:05:22 by Steve Frost
A typical small British Railways class 2 mogul, these were nicknamed 'Mickey Mouse'. Although based on an LMS design, it was built at North Road works, Darlington - the effects of nationalisation. Like all such locos, they usually enjoyed uneventful lives on mundane jobs, but this one is a celebrity loco.

Working a local freight across the Pennines on the lamented Stainmore line in 1955, it got stuck in a snowdrift just short of Stainmore summit, and was almost buried in snow. Rescue came from the east with snowplough crews from the Darlington area smashing through the drifts to reach the train. The whole event was recorded on film as a British Transport Films classic called 'Snowdrift at Bleath Gill' with this loco as the star performer, being dug out of the snow and having its bearings freed with burning rags.

Presently under restoration, its more complete than at one time, but the major outstanding job is on the boiler.