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The British Railways Standard Class 4 4-6-0 is a class of steam locomotives, 80 of which were built during the 1950s. Six have been preserved.

Background[]

File:Riddles 75076 (8164960266).jpg

75076 with a double chimney and BR1B type tender.

The class was introduced in 1951. They were designed for mixed traffic use on secondary routes where the otherwise ubiquitous BR Standard Class 5 and their predecessors, the Black Fives, would be too heavy. They were essentially a tender version of the standard 4 2-6-4T, with similar characteristics to the GWR Manor Class, though unlike the Manors they were built to the universal loading gauge. They used the same running gear as the tank engine (with the leading bogie from the Standard Class 5), and substantially the same firebox, smokebox and boiler, although the boiler barrel was increased in length by 9 inches (229 mm).

Design work was done at Brighton by R. A. Riddles, with help from Swindon, Derby and Doncaster. Construction was at the BR Swindon Works.

The engine weighed 67.90 long tons (68.99 t; 76.05 short tons), was 60 ft 0 in (18.29 m) long, with 5 ft 8 in (1.727 m) diameter driving wheels. It had two cylinders of 18 inches (457 mm) diameter and 28 inches (711 mm) stroke operated at maximum boiler pressure of 225 lbf/in2 (1.55 MPa), to produce 25,515 lbf (113.5 kN) tractive effort. Its British Railways power classification was 4MT.

It normally used the standard BR2 or BR2A tender, which weighed 42.15 long tons (42.83 t; 47.21 short tons) and carried 3,500 imp gal (16,000 l; 4,200 US gal) of water and 6.00 long tons (6.10 t; 6.72 short tons) of coal. In this configuration its route availability was 4, almost universal over the British Railways network.

In service[]

The class was initially allocated to the London Midland Region (45) and the Western Region (20). The last 15 were allocated to the Southern Region. The Southern batch were built with BR1B tenders, which weighed 49.15 long tons (49.94 t; 55.05 short tons), and carried 4,725 imp gal (21,480 l; 5,674 US gal) of water and 7.00 long tons (7.11 t; 7.84 short tons) of coal. This reduced their route availability to 7, the same as the Standard Class 5.

Table of withdrawals
Year Quantity in
service at
start of year
Quantity
withdrawn
Locomotive numbers Notes
1964 80 2 75001/67
1965 78 11 75000/03/05/07–08/22/25/28/38/72–73
1966 67 20 75011/14/23/31/36/44–45/49–51/53–54/56–57/63/65–66/69–70/79
1967 47 37 75002/04/06/10/12–13/15–18/24/26/29–30/33/35/37/39–40/42–43/46–47/52/55/58–61/64/68/71/74–78
1968 10 10 75009/19–21/27/32/34/41/48/62

Preservation[]

Six members of the class survive. Two were purchased directly from BR (75027 & 75029); the remaining four were rescued from Woodham Brothers' scrapyard at Barry Island.

No member of the class is presently main line approved but three (75014, 75029 and 75069) have worked on the main line at various points in preservation. 75029 was passed to work on the main line between Grosmont and Whitby with occasional visits to Battersby during galas.

Preserved locomotives
Number & Name Tender Attached Chimney Fitted Built Withdrawn Service life Home Base Owner Livery Status Image
75014 "Braveheart" BR2A Single Nov 1951 Dec 1966 15 years, 30 days Dartmouth Steam Railway Dartmouth Steam Railway BR Lined Black, Early Emblem Operational File:Railway Overbridge near Kingswear - geograph.org.uk - 13635.jpg
75027 BR2A Single May 1954 Aug 1968 14 years, 3 months Bluebell Railway Bluebell Railway BR Lined Green Static Display File:75027 Bluebell railway.jpg
75029 "The Green Knight" BR2A Double May 1954 Aug 1967 13 years, 3 months North Yorkshire Moors Railway North Yorkshire Moors Railway BR Lined Green, Late Crest Awating repairs to cracked firebox (2015) File:75029 at Grosmont (1).jpg
75069 BR1B Double Sept 1955 Sept 1966 11 years Severn Valley Railway 75069 Fund BR Lined Black, Late Crest Operational File:Standard class 4MT 75069 at Hastings, Ashford 150.jpg
75078 BR1B Double Jan 1956 Jul 1966 10 years, 5 months Keighley and Worth Valley Railway The Standard 4 Locomotive Preservation Society BR Lined Black, Late Crest Operational File:Keighley and Worth Valley Railway near Haworth - geograph.org.uk - 624800.jpg
75079 BR1B Double Jan 1956 Nov 1966 10 years, 10 months Mid-Hants Railway Mid-Hants Railway Preservation Society N/A Under restoration BR Standard Class 4 4-6-0 75079 At Ropley

Model railways[]

Bachmann and Hornby have both recently released models of these engines in 00 gauge. Mainline Railways also released a OO gauge model of the Standard Class 4MT 4-6-0 in the 1970s, although this is no longer in production. In 1983, Mainline's model was reintroduced to their catalogue as locomotive 75033 in BR lined black.

Gallery[]

References[]

  • A Detailed History of BR Standard Steam Locomotives, - Vol 2 - The 4-6-0 and 2-6-0 Classes. RCTS ISBN: 0-901115-93-2

External links[]

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