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HISTORY |
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Southern Railway 4-6-2 Battle of Britain Class |
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Designer: O.V.S. Bulleid |
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Sir Archibald Sinclair is a younger version of Blackmoor Vale though casual inspection would not reveal it. Emerging from the same Brighton Works in April 1947, it was one of the series named as a tribute to the personalities, aircraft, RAF stations and squadrons connected to the Battle of Britain, in this case the wartime Air Minister. Initially the engine went to Nine Elms depot near Waterloo, and in 1949 spent some time on the Eastern Region lines from Liverpool Street as a trial of pacific locomotives on this region. It returned to the Nine Elms later that year. The design innovations on these engines were not as successful as had been hoped, principally valve gear inaccessibility in the oil sump and the steam reverser. These, together with the relative inaccessibility of the boiler, due to the air smoothed casing, manifested themselves in high running and maintenance costs and a growing reputation for unpredictable performance. Eventually BR decided that the class would have to be rebuilt along conventional lines. All the Merchant Navy class and over half the Light Pacifics were so treated, including No. 34059, before the decision to concentrate on developing diesel and electric traction halted the programme. How radically the appearance was altered can be seen by comparing No. 34059 with No. 21C123. |
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The Rebuilt LocomotiveRebuilding produced an impressive locomotive in a more classical style than the original design, although externally the most obvious difference was the removal of the air smoothed casing. The boiler, two of the three cylinders, frames and wheels were unchanged. The evidence is conflicting as to whether, from a performance view, they were improved by rebuilding, but they were now the most modern express steam locomotives on British Railways and performed well until the end of Southern steam in July 1967. The locomotive spent nearly all its life on the South Western main lines. Based initially at Nine Elms, London, it went to Exmouth Junction after rebuilding, before moving to Salisbury shed in January 1965. Throughout this time it worked main line services between London and the West of England. The two gaps in this service were the visit to the Eastern Region’s London - East Anglia lines and a brief sojourn on the Southern Region’s Kent lines in 1960-61 in the last stages before electrification. No.34059 was withdrawn on 29th May 1966 and like many others of the class, was sold to Woodham Brothers of Barry, South Wales. It was bought for preservation by a group based on the Bluebell who decided that the line really had to have an example of the ultimate in Southern steam power. It arrived at the Bluebell on 28th October 1979, without a tender, most of these having been disposed of by the yard to a local steelworks for use as ingot carriers. A great deal of work towards the restoration has been done in the intervening years, not least of which is fund raising – the overhaul of a Barry locomotive always costs many times the purchase price. Many of the missing fittings have been found and bought or made, and most significantly, a new tender chassis and tank have been constructed. |
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Shed Allocations |
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