BR Standard Class 2 2-6-0
78019, now preserved on the Great Central Railway in Leicestershire
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The BR Standard Class 2 2-6-0 is a class of steam locomotive, one of the British Railways Standard classes of the 1950s. They were physically the smallest of the Standard classes; 65 were built.
Contents
Overview
The design was derived from the Ivatt-designed LMS Class 2MT 2-6-0, with a reduced cab to enable it to fit into a universal loading gauge, and other standard fittings, most notably a taller chimney, others including the lack of an Ivatt dome and side plates connecting the two sections of the engine. Like the LMS predecessor the BR design had a tender cab to enhance crew protection and visibility when running tender-first. They were all attached to a BR3 type tender. These locomotives are often known by the nickname "Mickey Mouse".
Construction
Darlington works was responsible for building the entire fleet of 65 engines and for a time construction of the LMS and BR designs overlapped. The last No.78064 was completed in 1956 but the class remained intact for just seven years. Coincidentally the first to be withdrawn No.78015 was a Darlington-based engine.
Route availability
Like the LMS counterpart, the Standard Mogul was arranged for a low axle-loading of just 13.75 long tons (13.97 t). This allowed it to operate on most lightly laid routes and secondary lines. The route availability was 3. Some of the class had speedometers fitted.
Reputation
Among crews the 2MT 2-6-0 gained a reputation for being very sure-footed. Some maintained however that the engine did not steam well. The loudest complaint was about the draughty and dirty footplate. This was surprising given the efforts of Robert Riddles and his team to optimise working conditions in the Standards' cab layout.
Shed allocations
Two former Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway sheds, Bank Hall (Liverpool) and Wigan (L&Y), respectively designated 27A and 27D, received an allocation of the class. Bank Hall had 78041-4 which were used with great success on both slow and fast trains from Liverpool Exchange to either Preston, Bolton or Rochdale. The Wigan engines 78040/61-4 were used on stopping trains to Liverpool, Southport, Bolton and Rochdale. They replaced LMS 2P 4-4-0s and LYR 2-4-2Ts. On the former L&Y lines this class was generally employed on passenger work whilst the LMS class 2 2-6-0s were normally found on shunting and freight jobs until the mid-1960s. When the Cambrian section closed and other areas dieselised, other members of the class came to the former L&Y lines (some as replacements for those originally allocated to 27A and 27D). These included 78002 (in green livery), 78007, 78027 and 78057. Some of these were used on shunting duties from Bolton and Lostock Hall sheds. Number 78022 preserved on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway had a spell as Preston station passenger pilot whilst allocated to Lostock Hall.
Year | Quantity in service at start of year |
Quantity withdrawn |
Locomotive numbers | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1963 | 65 | 1 | 78015 | |
1964 | 64 | 4 | 78005/09/48/53 | |
1965 | 60 | 17 | 78000–01/04/06/11/14/24–25/27/29–30/32–33/35/42–43/54 | |
1966 | 43 | 30 | 78002–03/08/10/16–19/22/31/34/36/38–40/45–47/49–52/56–61/63–64 | |
1967 | 13 | 13 | 78007/12–13/20–21/23/26/28/37/41/44/55/62 |
Preservation
Four members of the class survived into preservation.
Number | Image | Built | Location | Status | Livery | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
78018[1] | 1953 | Great Central Railway | Under restoration | BR Black | Built at Darlington North Road Works. Entered traffic on 3 March 1954 at West Auckland Shed (County Durham). Became famous for getting stuck in a snow drift during February 1955, which resulted in the film Snowdrift at Bleath Gill. Transferred to Chester Midland in April 1960; Workington in 1962; Willesden in May 1963; Nuneaton in September 1965; Shrewsbury before withdrawal on 12 November 1966. Spent 11 years at Barry scrapyard before being preserved at Shackerstone in November, 1978. Owned by the Darlington Railway Preservation Society and is now at the Great Central Railway where it is being restored | |
78019[2] | 1954 | Great Central Railway | Stored, non-operational | BR Lined Black (Late Crest) | Built at Darlington Works. Allocated to Kirkby Stephen (51H), working on local and banking duties through the Lake District. Then Willesden (1A); Nuneaton (2B); and Crewe South (5B). Withdrawn in 1966, sold to Woodham Brothers, Barry, moving there in 1967. Sold to Severn Valley Railway in 1973, but only stored there before moving to and being restored at the Great Central Railway. Boiler ticket expired in May 2015 and is awaiting overhaul | |
78022[3] | 1953 | Keighley & Worth Valley Railway | Undergoing overhaul | BR Lined Black (Late Crest) | Withdrawn for major overhaul December 2000. Having spent over a decade on display in the K&WVR museum at Oxenhope it was moved into Haworth workshops in 2014 in preparation for its long awaited overhaul and its boiler was removed from the frames in early 2015 | |
78059/84030[4] | 1956 | Bluebell Railway | Under restoration including, conversion to 2-6-2T | BR Black | Lost tender whilst at Woodham Brothers. After rescue to Bluebell, decision was taken to restore the locomotive in the tank-engine form, of which there are no surviving examples. The last BR standard class 2 2-6-2T was numbered 84029, this locomotive takes the next number in the sequence |
References
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- 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
Wikimedia Commons has media related to BR Standard Class 2 2-6-0. |