Who we are
5305 Locomotive Trust, commonly referred to as 5350LT, is a volunteer based, charity organization who are owners of the ex LMS 4-6-0 45305 ‘Alderman E Draper’ steam locomotive and custodians for a number of steam locomotives and heritage diesels.
What we do
Being custodians of the locomotives means that we are responsible for their maintenance and upkeep on both heritage railways and the national network. The locomotives are either owned by us. private owners or are part of the National Collection.
Our home base is in Loughborough at the Great Central Railway where we maintain and overhaul the locomotives in our care. While at the GCR our locos earn their keep as part of the GCR home fleet of locos and are often out in service most weekends.
Away from the GCR our steam locomotives visit other heritage railways and are certified for mainline use on rail tours across the national rail network. This requires the locos to be in excellent mechanical condition and we rely on our more experienced volunteers to form our support crew to prepare and manage the locos during each tour.
Our History
In the early 1970’s the Draper family made a decision to save ex LMS ‘Black Five’ No.5305 from the cutters torch as it was the best of many that had already been scrapped. A group of like-minded steam enthusiasts based mainly in Hull recognized the potential to return the locomotive into an operational condition on behalf of the family and on agreement with the family, in 1972 the Humberside Locomotive Preservation Group (HLPG) was formed.
In the beginning a home was found for the first overhaul in the crane shed at Dairycoates (British Rail) depot in Hull and the group with some engineering skills and much enthusiasm and vision made good use of the single road engine shed and available redundant facilities that included pits, a wheel drop and an overhead crane. With these facilities the group branched out into the overhaul of other locomotives which were channeled to the organisation by the National Railway Museum (NRM), including ex-GNR J52 0-6-0ST 1246. ex LNER V2 4771(BR60800) Green Arrow and ex SR ‘King Arthur’ Class 4-6-0 No.777, Sir Lamiel. The J52 and the V2 only stayed for their overhauls to be completed before retrning to the NRM, but 777 was obtained on long term loan.
5305 and 777 received their mandatory seven year overhauls at Dairycoates until HPLG was forced to leave because of the sale of the site to developers. After a homeless period, with 5305 stored at Binbrook in Lincolnshire and 777 based at Southall, HPLG was wound up and 5305 Locomotive Association formed with a view to carrying on the work. A base was established at Loughborough on the Great Central Railway (GCR) and both steam locomotives and the recently acquired diesel were moved there.
In 2026, 5305 Locomotive Association became 5305 Locomotive Trust and were generously gifted ownership of 5305 by the Draper family that saved the engine at the end of steam on the mainline in 1968.
For a timeline of our history click here
A draft copy of our constitution can be found here: 5305LA Draft CIO Constitution 2025