NER 66 Aerolite

North Eastern Railway (NER) No. 66 Aerolite is a preserved British steam locomotive. It was classified X1 by the LNER. It was capable of reaching 55 mph (89 km/h).

History
Aerolite was built in 1869 as a replacement for an engine of the same name built by Kitson's for the Great Exhibition in 1851 and which was destroyed in a collision in 1868. The engine, like its predecessor, was used to haul the Mechanical Engineer's saloon. Originally a, side tanks were added 1886, and around this time it received the number 66.

In 1892 Aerolite was rebuilt into a, destroying much of the original engine. The well tank was removed, the side tanks expanded, and the two-cylinder Worsdell-von Borries compounding system applied. In 1902 it was again rebuilt into a.

Aerolite was withdrawn in 1933 and preserved in 1934 at the LNER's York museum. It was moved to Shildon Locomotion Museum from National Railway Museum in 2023 due to renovations at an engine shed. It is a static exhibit at Shildon Locomotion Museum in Shildon, County Durham as of 2024.

In popular culture
Aerolite is the basis for the Thomas & Friends character Whiff, an industrial rubbish engine whose job is to shunt rubbish to the Sodor rubbish dump.