SR West Country and Battle of Britain classes

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SR unrebuilt West Country/Battle of Britain classes
Southern Railway
  • British Railways (Southern Region)
    • ClassSR / BR: Light Pacifics
    Power class
    • BR (January 1949): 6MT
    • BR (December 1953): 7P5F
    • BR (November 1957): 7P6F
    Numbers
    • SR: 21C101 – 21C170
    • BR: 34001–34110
    LocaleGreat Britain
    Withdrawn1963–1967
    Disposition60 rebuilt (see below); 10 preserved, 40 scrapped

    The SR West Country and Battle of Britain classes, collectively known as Light Pacifics or informally as Spam Cans, or "flat tops", are

    Chief Mechanical Engineer Oliver Bulleid. Incorporating a number of new developments in British steam locomotive technology, they were amongst the first British designs to use welding in the construction process, and to use steel fireboxes, which meant that components could be more easily constructed under wartime austerity and post-war economy.[2]

    They were designed to be lighter in weight than their sister locomotives, the

    mixed-traffic design, being equally adept at hauling passenger and freight trains, and were used on all types of services, frequently far below their capabilities. A total of 110 locomotives were constructed between 1945 and 1950, named after West Country resorts or Royal Air Force (RAF) and other subjects associated with the Battle of Britain
    .

    Due to problems with some of the new features, such as the

    heritage railways
    in Britain.

    Background

    The financial success enjoyed by the Southern Railway during the 1930s was based on the completion of its London

    Guildford and Portsmouth.[5] Despite electrification plans, the Southern Railway's less heavily used lines in the West Country beyond Salisbury did not merit the cost. Lines in Devon and Cornwall were meandering, heavily graded, and although heavy with summer holiday traffic were lightly used during the winter months.[5] The seasonality of railway traffic meant that the West Country branches were worked by the ageing T9 class 4-4-0 and the versatile N class 2-6-0, which could be better utilised on mixed-traffic services elsewhere.[6] As a result, an order was placed with Brighton railway works in April 1941 for twenty passenger locomotives of a type to be determined.[6]

    During 1943, Bulleid began planning for the post-war locomotive requirements of the railway and identified the need for a stop-gap steam locomotive design for those main lines in South East England scheduled for electrification, had the Second World War not taken place. Although the new Merchant Navy class was available for the heaviest Continental expresses, the resumption of frequent passenger services over poorly maintained infrastructure, following the war, would require a lighter locomotive with wider route availability.[6]

    At the same time, there would be a continuing need for fast

    electric multiple units, which had no equivalent freight design. Although Bulleid built two prototype electric locomotives in 1941, these were, as yet, unproven, and freight haulage would be undertaken by steam traction for the foreseeable future.[7]

    Design

    The detailed design work for the new mixed-traffic locomotives was undertaken at Brighton railway works where they were scheduled to be constructed. The earliest drawings were for a moderately sized 2-6-0 with similarities to the London and North Eastern Railway K4 class, which Bulleid had helped design for the West Highland Line when he was Nigel Gresley's assistant.[6] However, such a design would have been inadequate for the Kent Coast lines, which required a powerful 2-6-2 or 4-6-0 class.[8] It is not clear why the design was subsequently enlarged to become a smaller version of the Merchant Navy class 4-6-2 as the likely traffic requirement did not warrant such lavish provision, but the incorporation of components from that class enabled standardisation during wartime production difficulties.[8]

    Weight reduction and reduced loading gauge

    In order to improve on the route availability of the Merchant Navy class with its 21-ton axle loading, the weight was reduced by 5 tons. This allowed the design to operate on routes where the Maunsell 2-6-0s were the largest permitted [9] and came mainly from several changes:

    • reduced overall length
    • smaller boiler
    • more fabricated assemblies
    • smaller tender (West Country only)

    Also the cab was reduced in width and remodelled to comply with reduced loading gauge over some routes.

    Bulleid's features

    An almost solid disc (not spoked) locomotive wheel with a series of cast-in radial indentations and prominent round holes intended to reduce its weight.
    The distinctive Bulleid Firth Brown wheels, seen here on 34072 257 Squadron

    Based on the mechanical experience gained from the Merchant Navy locomotives, Bulleid incorporated his

    steam reverser, could cause irregular valve movements.[10] The entire system was in a sealed oil bath, another unique design, that provided constant lubrication to the moving parts.[1]

    The locomotive also carried a similar "air-smoothed" casing to the Merchant Navy class. This was not regarded as streamlining by Bulleid, a fact demonstrated by the flat front end.

    tin cans in which "SPAM" was sold.[1]

    The

    Lemaître blastpipe arranged in a circle within a large-diameter chimney.[13]

    As with the Merchant Navy class,

    Bulleid Firth Brown (BFB) wheels.[10]

    Frames, boiler, cylinders

    Compared with the Merchant Navy class, shorter overall length led to shorter frames[7] and reduced the wheelbase to 35 ft 6 in (10.820 m).

    The boiler was also shorter and of smaller diameter at the smokebox end, but retaining the 280 psi (1.93 MPa) operating pressure.[16]

    The inner and outer Belpaire firebox was also smaller than the Merchant Navy class[9] also constructed using welded steel.

    The cylinders were smaller at 16.375 in × 24 in (416 mm × 610 mm).[17]

    Tender

    34016 Bodmin taking water at Alton

    Bulleid designed a reduced capacity

    carriages.[1] As with the Merchant Navy class, the water tank was of welded sheet construction to save weight, and the tender was fitted with vacuum braking equipment of a clasp-type similar to that on the locomotive.[18]
    Four train-brake vacuum reservoirs of cylindrical construction were grouped on the tank top, behind the coal space.

    Construction

    Further information: List of SR West Country and Battle of Britain class locomotives

    The first batch of twenty locomotives was ordered in April 1941, although the changes in design to the Light Pacific arrangement meant that production was delayed until late 1944.

    Central Section until October 1945, when they were successfully trialled on Plymouth and Kentish services. By the time the first fifteen had entered traffic a further order of fifteen was placed, with these entering service between June and October 1946.[18] From this batch onwards, traction was improved by the addition of steam sanding to the front driving wheel, with covers added to protect the motion from sand falling from the filler pipes.[20]

    A third batch of twenty-five was ordered and designated the Battle of Britain class. These were identical to the West Country class and the new designation was purely concerned with giving the locomotives names that befitted their intended allocation to the

    nationalisation of British Railways in January 1948, seventy Light Pacifics had been built at Brighton Works, with a fourth batch of twenty on order.[21] There was a delay in production during the first three months of British Railways control but the last twenty ordered by the Southern Railway entered traffic between April 1948 and February 1949.[21]

    In March 1949, British Railways ordered a final 20 from Brighton works despite a pressing need for smaller tank locomotives.

    Eastleigh works constructed six of the final batch of locomotives.[22]

    34110 66 Squadron, the last of the class built, leaving Salisbury in 1963

    The completion of the final locomotive, No. 34110 66 Squadron, in January 1951 was delayed for several months pending consideration of proposals from British Railways management for a major modification to a standard two-cylinder design without the chain-driven valve gear,[22] but the locomotive entered service as Bulleid intended.

    Subsequent modifications

    The first six locomotives were initially fitted with plywood sheeting over the cab-side windows as a wartime material-saving measure, with No. 21C107 Wadebridge the first to receive glass windows.

    LMS-style parallel buffer casings.[18]

    As with the Merchant Navy class, they were fitted with a new design of cab front spectacle plates from mid–1947 due to poor forward visibility. The small windows on the front face of the cab were redesigned to an angled profile, giving improved visibility to the driver. This was a feature fitted to all Bulleid-designed locomotives post-nationalisation.[12] They were introduced in Britain in 1934 with the Gresley-designed Cock o' the North.[12] Over the next decade the revised design was fitted to existing members of the class.[24] Another modification was the reduction of boiler pressure to 250 psi (1.72 MPa) to reduce maintenance costs.[10]

    The Southern Railway-built batches had a narrow 8 ft 6 in (2.591 m) footplate due to the width-restricted

    tender design was enlarged to provide a water capacity of 5,500-imperial-gallon (25,000 L; 6,610 US gal).[21]

    To ease maintenance and lubrication, panels of air-smoothed casing ahead of the cylinders were removed from 1952, and the front sanders were blanked off.[10] This coincided with the removal of the tender "raves" on all but five locomotives, as they obstructed the packing of coal into the bunker and restricted the driver's view when reversing.[28] The resultant "cut-down" tender included new, enclosed storage for fire-irons and glass spectacle plates to protect the crew from flying coal dust when running tender-first.[29]

    When the rebuilding programme (see below) was halted in 1961, further modifications were made to the unrebuilt locomotives. The most notable was on No. 34064 Fighter Command, which was fitted with a Giesl ejector in 1962 on the grounds that a desired spark arrestor would "suffocate" an ordinary blastpipe.[30] Following some adjustment, the ejector improved smoke deflection and fuel consumption, allowing it to steam well with low-grade coal.[31] As a consequence of the positive experience with No. 34064, preserved No. 34092 City of Wells was similarly fitted in the mid-1980s.[32]

    Numbering and naming the locomotives

    See also: List of SR West Country and Battle of Britain class locomotives

    Bulleid employed the same idiosyncratic numbering scheme that he had used for the Merchant Navy class, beginning at No. 21C101 and reaching No. 21C170 at the time of nationalisation. His scheme was abolished by British Railways, which renumbered existing these 34001-34070 and new locomotives 34071-34110.

    A 'West Country' class enamelled metal nameplate and shield mounted on flat metal casing covering the locomotive boiler. The nameplate comprises a scroll, and below this is a shield containing a picture of a coat-of-arms. A second scroll is below the shield, allowing identification as a member of the 'West Country class'.
    Nameplate configuration 1:
    West Country (34007 Wadebridge)

    The first 48 members of the class were named after places in the West Country served by its trains or close to its lines. This represented a publicity success due to many of the locomotives being able to visit their namesake areas.[33] Many 'West Country' locomotives sported an additional plaque with the coat of arms of the town or region the locomotive was named after. This plaque was mounted on the casing between the gunmetal locomotive nameplate and the West Country Class scroll, above the middle driving wheel.[33] Several members of the class had only the nameplate and the "West Country Class" scroll, a gap being left where a crest would have been mounted.[34] The background of the nameplate was usually painted red, though sometimes examples could be found in black if the locomotive works undertaking overhaul of the engine could not locate the correct colour paint.[35]

    A 'Battle of Britain' class enamelled metal nameplate and crest mounted on flat metal casing covering the locomotive boiler. The nameplate forms a representation of aircraft wings, with a small rectangle attached to the middle-lower edge allowing identification as a member of the 'Battle of Briain' class. Below this is an oval-shaped plate with a crest.
    Nameplate configuration 2:
    Battle of Britain (34081 92 Squadron)

    Once it became clear that the locomotives would be used further afield than the West Country, a decision was made to name the remainder after RAF squadrons, airfields, commanders and aircraft that had participated in the Battle of Britain over Kent, Surrey and Sussex.[18] 'Battle of Britain' nameplates incorporated the name of the locomotive with the class name below, in a design that resembled the wings of an aircraft. This was painted Air Force blue, though other colours were sometimes substituted for the same reasons as above.[36] An enamelled crest of the aircraft, personality or squadron was placed below the nameplate, in the same position as the West Country class equivalent.

    The first locomotives constructed by British Railways were of the Battle of Britain class, but the naming policy reverted to the West Country for Nos. 34091–34108.[37] The final two locomotives were Battle of Britain class, No. 34109 Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory and No. 34110 66 Squadron. The result of the delay in completing was that the squadron crest for 66 Squadron was never made, as the manufacturer had retired during the intervening period.[37] Thus 66 Squadron was the only Battle of Britain class member not to have a crest.

    Operational details

    The original intention was to base the first batch of locomotives at

    Brighton to Bournemouth, Cardiff and Plymouth trains or the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway trains from Bournemouth to Wells and Bath.[2]

    Because of the good route availability the locomotives could be used on non-electrified lines between London and

    Waterloo station to his final resting place, close to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.[38]

    Performance of the unrebuilt locomotives

    34067 Tangmere working a Poole-Cardiff charter train west of Bath on 11 June 2011

    As with the Merchant Navy class, they could generate great power using mediocre quality fuel, due largely to Bulleid's excellent boiler. They also ran smoothly at high speed, but they were also beset with the same technical problems of their larger sisters.[39] These may be summarised as follows:

    • Adhesion problems. The lighter loading on their driving axles meant that they were even more prone to wheelslip than the Merchant Navy class, requiring very careful control when starting a heavy train. Once underway they were noted for their free running, excellent steam production and rapid turn of speed.[10]
    • Maintenance problems. The chain-driven valve gear proved to be expensive to maintain and subject to rapid wear. Leaks from the oil bath onto the wheels caused oil to splash onto the boiler lagging.
      axlebox lubricators onto the wheels when stationary, to be flung upwards into the boiler lagging in service.[40] In either case, the local fire brigade would be called to put the fire out, with cold water coming into contact with the hot boiler causing stress to the casings. Many photographs show an un-rebuilt locomotive with warped casings, the result of a lagging fire.[1]
    • High fuel consumption. This was highlighted during the 1948 locomotive exchanges undertaken by British Railways, and very apparent at Exmouth Junction shed where the Light Pacifics burned 47.9 lb (21.73 kg) of coal per mile (13.5 kg/km) compared to 32 lb (14.51 kg) (9.02 kg/km) for the T9 class that they replaced.[41]
    • Restricted driver visibility due to the air-smoothed casing and soft steam exhaust from the multiple-jet blastpipe. The exhaust problem was never adequately resolved, and smoke continued to beat down onto the casing while moving, obscuring the driver's vision.[12] There was much experimentation in order to resolve this problem, with varying degrees of success, and photographic evidence shows the many guises of this project.[42]

    Accidents and incidents

    Lewisham railway disaster

    Main article: Lewisham rail crash

    Restricted driver visibility was mentioned in the report on the disastrous Lewisham rail crash on 4 December 1957 outside St John's railway station, in which 90 people were killed and 173 injured.[52] The driver of No. 34066 Spitfire had failed to see one yellow and one double-yellow "caution" signal in foggy conditions and was travelling too fast to stop when he saw a red signal,[53] and the train crashed into the back of a stationary local train. Members of the class were later fitted with Automatic Warning System equipment, a recommendation of the incident report; fitting of trackside equipment was already underway, but priority had been given to routes equipped with semaphore signals, not electric "colour-light" signals as at Lewisham.[54]

    The report on the disaster indicated that it was necessary, with the signals concerned being on the right-hand side of the train and because of the limited visibility from the left-hand side of a steam locomotive, for either the fireman to observe those signals (but with the driver being responsible for asking him to do so) or for the driver to cross over the footplate from his left-hand driving position to observe them from the other side. In the event, the driver did neither, and neither driver nor fireman looked out for the aspect of the signals. The report ascribed blame to the driver, but recommended that the class be fitted with wider windscreens to improve visibility, noting that, in fog with less than 80 yards of visibility, the three signals involved would not be visible at all from the driver's side of the footplate; however, it noted that, even from a

    Schools class locomotive with its much smaller boiler, it was unlikely that these signals could have been seen from the driver's side in the dense foggy conditions of the incident.[55]
    The report did not suggest that poor lifting of smoke obstructed visibility.

    Rebuilding

    BR Rebuilt West Country/Battle of Britain classes
    R. G. Jarvis (after Oliver Bulleid)
    RebuilderSR Brighton/Eastleigh Works
    Rebuild date1955–1961
    Number rebuilt60
    Specifications
    Configuration:
    		​
     • Whyte4-6-2 (Pacific)
    Gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
    Leading dia.3 ft 1 in (0.940 m)
    Driver dia.6 ft 2 in (1.880 m)
    Trailing dia.3 ft 7 in (1.092 m)
    Length67 ft 4.75 in (20.54 m)
    Loco weight91.16 long tons (92.6 t)
    Fuel typeCoal
    Fuel capacity5.00 long tons (5.1 t)
    Water cap.5,200 imp gal (23,640 L; 6,240 US gal)
    Firebox:​
     • Grate area38.25 sq ft (3.55 m2)
    Boiler pressure250 psi (1.72 MPa)
    Cylinders3
    Cylinder size16.375 in × 24 in (416 mm × 610 mm)
    Performance figures
    Tractive effort27,720 lbf (123.3 kN)
    Career
    OperatorsSouthern Region of British Railways
    ClassBR: Rebuilt Light Pacifics
    Power class
    • BR (June 1957): 7P5F
    • BR (November 1961): 7P6F
    LocaleGreat Britain
    Withdrawn1964–1967
    Disposition10 preserved, 50 scrapped

    Due to the problems experienced with the class, and following the success of the rebuilt Merchant Navy class designed by

    1955 Modernisation Plan during the early 1960s meant that the remaining fifty locomotives were not rebuilt, and continued in as-built condition until withdrawal.[58]

    Performance of the rebuilt locomotives

    The rebuilding solved most of the maintenance problems whilst retaining the excellent features of the original design. Repair costs were reduced by up to 60%, and coal consumption was reduced by up to 8.4%.

    Ilfracombe.[60]

    Withdrawal

    The electrification of the Chatham Main Line to Dover and Ramsgate in 1959 deprived the class of some of its work, as did the transfer of the lines west of Salisbury to the Western Region on 30 December 1962.[60] This resulted in the withdrawal of several unrebuilt locomotives stabled at Exmouth Junction shed in June 1963.[60] By the end of the year ten had been withdrawn, including the 12‑year-old No. 34110 66 Squadron, having travelled only 600,000 miles.[61] Most of the unrebuilt locomotives were withdrawn over the next three years but seven survived until 1967 and the end of steam on the Southern Region.[60] Many rebuilt locomotives were withdrawn soon after their rebuilding. The first was No. 34028 Eddystone in May 1964, having run only 287,000 miles since rebuilding.[62] Other early withdrawals included No. 34109 Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory which had only travelled 162,000 miles in the three and a half years since its rebuilding.[62][63]

    Table of withdrawals
    Year Quantity in
    service at
    start of year    		 Number withdrawn Quantity
    withdrawn    		 Locomotive numbers
    1963 110 10 10 34011/35/43/49/55/67-69/74, 34110
    1964 100 29 39 34016/20/27-30/45/54/58/61-62/65/70/72-73/75/78/80-81/83/91-92/94/96/99, 34105-107/109
    1965 71 16 55 34007/10/14/22/31/33/39/42/63/46/50-51/53/84-85, 34103
    1966 55 18 73 34005/09/12/17/26/32/38/41/48/59/64/66/76/79/82/86/97, 34101
    1967 37 37 110 34001-004/06/08/13/15/18-19/21/23-25/34/36-37/40/44/47/52/56-57/60/71/77/87-90/93/95/98, 34100/102/104/108

    Preservation

    For location details and current status of preserved locomotives, see List of SR West Country and Battle of Britain class locomotives.
    A side-and-rear view of a large 4-6-2 steam locomotive with flat metal side sheets, although some fittings are missing. It is without a tender and stored awaiting purchase for restoration.
    34073 249 Squadron at Woodhams' Scrapyard in 1984

    Twenty Light Pacifics still exist, in varying states of preservation:

    scrapyard in Barry, South Wales, no rebuilt Light Pacifics would have been preserved.[10] Eleven of the surviving engines are named after West Country locations in the South of England and the remaining nine after RAF Squadrons or significant persons, including Prime Minister Winston Churchill.[65] All but one of the class in preservation were built at Brighton Works, the exception being 34101 Hartland which was built at Eastleigh Works. The class has proved to be useful for preservation societies, due to its good route availability and ample power, with some having returned to the main line to haul special trains.[65] It is uncertain whether all of the preserved locomotives will be restored to working order; owing to the very poor condition some of them were in when purchased and the increasing cost of materials.[65]

    Other relics of both classes that have survived are nameplates, which were removed towards the end of steam on the British Railways Southern Region in the 1960s. As a result, many exist in private collections, and several have been seen at auction, selling for several thousands of pounds.[19] A few members of this class were considered candidates for preservation, most notably No. 34086 219 Squadron and No. 34066 Spitfire but these plans never went through and were later scrapped.[66][67]

    Just four members of the class are yet to run in preservation: 34010 Sidmouth, which is under restoration from scrapyard condition (its boiler is stored at Bridgnorth); 34051 Winston Churchill, which is on static display at the National Railway Museum in York; 34058 Sir Frederick Pile, which is under restoration at the Mid Hants Railway; and 34073 249 Squadron, which is awaiting restoration at Carnforth MPD. Of the sixteen engines which have operated in preservation, six have operated on the main line: 34016 Bodmin, 34027 Taw Valley, 34046 Braunton, 34067 Tangmere, 34072 257 Squadron & 34092 City of Wells. 34046 & 34067 currently have a valid main line certificate. 34028 Eddystone and 34070 Manston did briefly return to the mainline in 2009 to attend an event at Eastleigh, but the two engines were towed behind a diesel as neither was mainline certified.[68]

    Number BR Number SR Name Builder Livery B.O.B. or W.C. Type Photograph Current Location Status Notes
    34007 21C107 Wadebridge Brighton BR Brunswick Green, Late Crest West Country Unrebuilt Mid Hants Railway Under Overhaul Undergoing assessment for an overhaul to mainline standards
    34010 21C110 Sidmouth Brighton TBC West Country Rebuilt Sellindge, Swanage Railway Under Restoration
    34016 21C116 Bodmin Brighton BR Brunswick Green, Late Crest West Country Rebuilt West Coast Railways Carnforth Under overhaul to main line standards
    34023 21C123
    Blackmoor Vale
    		 Brighton SR Malachite Green (Post War) West Country Unrebuilt Bluebell Railway Awaiting overhaul
    34027 21C127 Taw Valley Brighton West Country Rebuilt Severn Valley Railway Under Overhaul Withdrawn for intermediate overhaul in January 2024, completion expected for 2025.[69]
    34028 21C128 Eddystone Brighton BR Brunswick Green, Late Crest West Country Rebuilt Swanage Railway Operational
    34039 21C139 Boscastle Brighton BR Brunswick Green, TBC West Country Rebuilt Great Central Railway Undergoing Overhaul
    34046 21C146 Braunton Brighton BR Brunswick Green, Late Crest West Country Rebuilt Crewe Diesel TMD Operational, main line certified
    34051 21C151 Winston Churchill Brighton BR Brunswick Green, Late Crest Battle of Britain Unrebuilt National Railway Museum Static display
    34053 21C153 Sir Keith Park Brighton BR Brunswick Green, Late Crest Battle of Britain Rebuilt Herston Works, Swanage Railway Under Overhaul Will temporarily be renamed as 303 Squadron on completion. [70]
    34058 21C158
    Sir Frederick Pile
    		 Brighton TBC Battle of Britain Rebuilt Mid Hants Railway Under Restoration
    34059 21C159
    Sir Archibald Sinclair
    		 Brighton BR Brunswick Green, Late Crest Battle of Britain Rebuilt Bluebell Railway Operational[71]
    34067 21C167 Tangmere Brighton BR Brunswick Green, Late Crest Battle of Britain Unrebuilt West Coast Railways Carnforth Operational, main line certified.
    34070 21C170 Manston Brighton BR Brunswick Green, Late Crest Battle of Britain Unrebuilt Swanage Railway Operational
    34072 257 Squadron Brighton BR Brunswick Green, Late Crest Battle of Britain Unrebuilt Spa Valley Railway Operational
    34073 249 Squadron Brighton N/A Battle of Britain Unrebuilt West Coast Railways Carnforth Stored Acting as a donor loco to 34067
    34081 92 Squadron Brighton SR Malachite Green, British Railways Lettering Battle of Britain Unrebuilt Nene Valley Railway Operational
    34092
    City of Wells
    		 Brighton BR Brunswick Green, Early Crest West Country Unrebuilt East Lancashire Railway Operational Recently returned to service from a short overhaul.

    Fitted with Giesl ejector

    34101 Hartland Eastleigh BR Brunswick Green, Late Crest West Country Rebuilt North Yorkshire Moors Railway Undergoing overhaul
    34105 Swanage Brighton BR Brunswick Green, TBD West Country Unrebuilt Mid Hants Railway Undergoing overhaul

    Livery and numbering

    Southern Railway

    Livery was Southern Railway

    UIC classification system where "2" and "1" refer to the number of un-powered leading and trailing axles respectively, and "C" refers to the number of driving axles, in this case three.[73] However, since "21C" was the prefix already used by the Merchant Navy class, the suffix "1" was added; these locomotives carried numbers that started "21C1" followed by the individual two-digit identifier.[73]

    British Railways

    A front view of another 4-6-2 steam locomotive with a tender hauling carriages away from a station. The locomotive is one of the preserved rebuilt examples, and is newly restored.
    Rebuilt Battle of Britain class 34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair, restored and running on the Bluebell Railway, pictured in Sheffield Park station, Sussex October 2009

    Initial livery after nationalisation in 1948 was

    power classifications in their careers, beginning with 6MT (Mixed Traffic) in 1949.[74] In December 1953 they were reclassified 7P 5FA, the "A" denoting brake power when used on unfitted (non-vacuum braked) goods trains.[75] The rebuilt locomotives retained this classification until all received the classification of 7P6F between November 1957 and November 1961.[76]

    The locomotives were turned out in British Railways

    Brunswick green livery with orange and black lining with the British Railways crest on the tender side, after their first overhaul under new ownership. This was unlike the Merchant Navy class, which was initially turned out in British Railways experimental express passenger blue livery. By this stage, the Southern Railway-built locomotives were re-liveried and renumbered from 34001–34070.[76]
    The rebuilt locomotives were also in British Railways Brunswick green with orange and black lining, and crest on the tender side, whilst the nameplates were placed on a custom-made mounting on the running plate due to the absence of a flat surface.

    Some of the locomotives had additional embellishments. No. 34050 Royal Observer Corps was presented with an ROC long-service medal in July 1961. The ceremony took place at

    Waterloo station, and included Commandant ROC Air Commodore Wight-Boycott.[77] The cab side was given a representation of the medal and its ribbon, which was displayed until the engine was withdrawn from service and scrapped in the late 1960s. The original nameplate and crest were recovered and displayed in the entrance hall of ROC Headquarters at RAF Bentley Priory until 1996 when they were transferred to the RAF Museum at Hendon
    . Another locomotive that featured a second crest was 34067 Tangmere, which was given the airfield's crest for the cab side, as it did not feature on the nameplate crest.

    Operational assessment

    Rebuilt 34048 Crediton leading a double-headed Summer Saturday holiday express on the heavy gradients of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway in 1959

    The class in both unrebuilt and rebuilt forms has been the subject of divergent opinions.[6] The use of welded steel construction and the various innovations that had not previously been seen in British locomotive design meant that the class earned Bulleid the title "Last Giant of Steam".[78] The steam-raising ability of their boilers represented an advance in British steam technology.[79] Their light axle-loading also meant widespread use over the Southern network, and they were capable of fast running.

    Despite these successes, the number of innovations introduced at the same time made the class unreliable and difficult to maintain. A great deal of money was wasted on resolving the problems of a class designed for duties that could have been undertaken by cheaper 2-6-2 or 4-6-0 mixed-traffic locomotives.[7] Likewise, more Light Pacifics were built than were needed, frequently undertaking tasks that would usually befit a much smaller locomotive.[10] A curious but common sight west of Exeter during the winter months was a Light Pacific hauling a local stopping service with a single carriage to destinations as diverse as Padstow and Wadebridge.[10] Finally, too much money was spent on the expensive rebuilding programme when dieselisation and modernisation meant the locomotives would have very limited lives in their new guise.[10]

    Models

    00 gauge from 1960. In late 1962, the brand was sold to Airfix, which resumed production in 1968. The moulds later passed to Dapol, which continues to produce the kit.[80]

    Hornby Dublo produced diecast metal "rebuilt" West Countries in the 1960s, and those became Triang-Wrenn, and ultimately Wrenn Railways. Wrenn produced air-smoothed versions and rebuilt versions, right through to their demise (and subsequent sale to Dapol) in the early 1990s.

    Hornby manufactures ready-to-run rebuilt and un-rebuilt examples of the class and caters for all the major detail variations.

    N gauge
    .

    See also

    • Southern Locomotives Ltd – owners of 34070 Manston, 34072 257 Squadron, 34053 Sir Keith Park, 34010 Sidmouth and 34028 Eddystone.

    References

    Notes

    1. ^ a b c d e f g h Herring (2000), pp. 160–161
    2. ^ a b c d Arlett (1989), p. 29–30
    3. ^ Fairclough & Wills (1970), p. 11
    4. ^ Fairclough & Wills (1970), p. 34
    5. ^ a b Whitehouse & Thomas (2002), p. 34
    6. ^ a b c d e Bradley (1976), p. 55
    7. ^ a b c d Whitehouse & Thomas (2002), p. 60
    8. ^ a b c d e Bradley (1976), p. 56
    9. ^ a b Bradley (1976), p. 57
    10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Bulleids in Retrospect
    11. ^ Chain-driven valve gear diagram, retrieved 13 April 2007 Archived 30 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine
    12. ^ a b c d Creer & Morrison (2001), p. 13
    13. ^ a b c Bradley (1976), p. 10
    14. ^ Allen (1951) p. 33
    15. ^ Day-Lewis (1964), pp. 149–150
    16. ^ Fairclough & Wills (1970), p. 5
    17. ^ Glover (1965), p. 224
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    Bibliography

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