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photograph by Mike Morant
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First outshopped from Brighton works in July 1951, 155 of
these locomotives were built in Brighton, Derby and Doncaster works between
then and 1957 and became general workhorses on all the regions of British
Railways, except the Western. Not things of beauty with their somewhat
unattractive "rear ends", they were a product of the development by
British Railways of a series of twelve "Standard" locomotive designs
embracing the best practices of the pre-nationalisation railways.
Designed by RA Riddles, British Railways' Chief Mechanical Engineer, these tanks were one of the most successful of the "Standards", doing well all that was asked of them. The Standard 4s shared much of the basic design of the LMS Railway's Class 4 2-6-4Ts built under both Stanier and Fairburn (some of the latter locos were built at Brighton after nationalisation) but with considerable improvements. They had smaller cylinders and higher pressure boilers, were more economical in operation and were popular with footplate crews for their better running and improved cab facilities. Classified as 4MT on the Eastern, Midland, and Scottish Regions, their Southern classification was 4P/4F. Most were to be found working on the Central and South Western sections of the Southern Region, the LTSR lines of the Eastern Region and the Glasgow commuter lines in Scotland. When the LTSR lines were electrified many of the displaced Standard 4s were transferred in July 1962 to Shrewsbury, in the Western Region, who then lost them again to the Midland Region during the boundary changes that took effect from 1 January 1963. In the same boundary changes the Western Region was handed all of the Southern Region west of Salisbury, also inheriting the locomotives based in that area, including Standard 4Ts. However, the mainly dieselised Western Region seemed determined to send them to the scrapyards as quickly as they could either get their hands on DMUs to replace them, or close down the lines where they worked. Fourteen of this class have been purchased for restoration and are proving their worth all over again on many of Britain's preserved railways.<.p> |
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Introduced: Driving Wheel: Pony and Trailing Wheels: Length: Weight: Water Capacity: Cylinders: Boiler Pressure: Tractive Effort: Coal Capacity: Route Availability: |
July 1951 5 ft 8 ins 3 ft 44 ft 9 7/8 ins 86 tons 13 cwt 2,000 gals 18 in x 28 in 225 lb sq in 25,100 lb 3 1/2 tons 5 |
Locomotives built at Brighton: 80010-53, 80059-105 and 80116-54 |
read more about Standards from a Driver's viewpoint
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