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![]() photograph: Mike Morant collection
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In 1955 the British Railways Board gave authority for fifteen of the class to be modified (see notes in "West Country" page), and authority for rebuilding the remainder swiftly followed. In February 1955 Eastleigh works released 35018 British India Line in its newly modified incarnation and the whole class had been completed by October 1959. |
The following is a summary of the major alterations. It was claimed the resulting locomotive was still 90% Bulleid even though many of his innovative features were removed:
One negative aspect was the need to fit balance weights to the BFB wheels, thus destroying the zero hammer blow of the originals. In its modified form the locomotive class proved to be more reliable and remained fast and powerful. Its service life in modified form was pitifully short, with the first withdrawals 35002 and 35015 being in February 1964. (It is interesting to note that at the time the rebuilding was being planned in 1954/5, the locos were expected to be in service until 1987). The final withdrawals of the last seven members of the class (35003, 35007, 35008, 35013, 35023, 35028 & 35030) were in July 1967 with the honour of the last service train being worked by 35030 on the 2:11p.m. Weymouth-Waterloo on 9 July 1967. We are fortunate that eleven members of the class remain in
various stages of preservation ranging from operating in main line service to
stored pending restoration: |
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This page was last updated 17 March 2021
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