Chapter 38: A Seaside Special
(Friday, July 20th 2012 – 8:25am; Tidmouth Sheds)
Wearing her solid work boots, dark-blue overalls that were open at the top, bright orange Hi-Viz vest, as well as her peaked railway cap on her head, and her gloves in her pockets, Carrie was looking forward to another day of hard work on the Sodor Railway system. She looked up to the sky and smiled at the nice mid-summer sky; there were no clouds to be seen at all and the sun shone brightly out of the bright blue sky, and there was a very light breeze blowing through the morning air. It promised to be a very nice summer day, and a perfect one for running trains. Although at this time of year, with them now in mid-summer, it promised to get quite warm as the day went on.
Having already changed into her work clothes a short while before, and with a cup of tea in one hand and a Danish custard pastry in her other, Carrie stood within the yards at Tidmouth, along with all the other recruits in the apprenticeship scheme, and awaited what engine she would be assigned to for this morning. Standing on the different lines in front of the group, all the different engines were already prepared or were being readied for the day of work ahead of them. Wisps of smoke rose into the air from their funnels, and there were the sounds of wheeshing steam, men who were going about and helping to get the engines ready for work today, as well as the sounds of engines that were seen ready to go and leaving the yard to start their first jobs.
As the yard foreman assigned the different recruits to their engines for the day, Carrie took a sip of tea and wondered which engine she would be assigned to work on for the day; would it be on one of the express engines taking a heavy passenger train to the other side of the island? Or would it be on one of the freight engines taking a long freight train to some point on Sodor, or would it be working on one of the tank engines instead? Taking a bit of her pastry, Carrie knew she would find out soon enough.
Soon, it was finally Carrie's turn to be assigned to her engine to work on for the day.
"Okay Carrie, you're gonna be working with Oliver along the Little Western for today, likely taking people to the many different seaside resorts located along there." said the yard foreman, as he looked at Carrie.
"Thank you, sir. And where is Oliver?" Carrie asked.
"Just follow me this way please. He's right over here." said the yard foreman, as he turned and headed off to where Oliver was, and Carrie followed along. It wasn't too long before they arrived at the line where Oliver, the Great Western engine, was being readied for his day of work.
"Here we are, Carrie. This is Oliver, and he'll be the engine that you'll be working on for the day." said the yard foreman.
"Thank you, sir. I've not had a chance to work with Oliver yet, and I'm very pleased I've been given the chance to do so today." Carrie said, with a smile on her face.
"And I'm very proud to be given the chance to have you work with me today too." Oliver said, as he smiled down at Carrie.
"Okay, I'll let you two get acquainted. In the meantime, there's a few other recruits that need to be assigned to their engines for today." and the yard manager turned to head back to where the remaining recruits were waiting.
It wasn't too long before Oliver was ready to set off for his day of work along the Little Western, with Carrie taking part in helping to get him ready, including oiling up around the moving parts, helping to fill up the coal bunker, and filling up the water tanks with more water, as well as giving Oliver's paintwork a good rub down and polish to that it would look smart. Once all those little jobs were completed, they were soon assigned their first job of the day, which was to collect a large number of passengers who were going to be gathering down at Knapford Station and bring them up to one of the seaside resorts along the Little Western line.
"And you're okay with doing that job first, Oliver?" the yard foreman asked.
"I'd be proud to take holidaymakers to the resort, sir." Oliver said, as he smiled.
"Very good, Oliver. Your coaches as well as your brake van, Toad, are already down at Knapford Station now. You'd better get down there as soon as possible, as your first train is due to leave from there at about 9:20am." said the yard foreman.
"Yes, sir." Oliver said, as the foreman turned and walked away.
Looking down at her watch, Carrie saw the time was 8:57am already.
"We'd best get moving and get down there as soon as we can. After all, it's almost 9:00am." Carrie said to the driver.
"Okay, Carrie. We just need to get turned around on the turntable so that we'll be facing in the right way. And once that's done, we'll head down to Knapford." said the driver.
"All right, let's get ourselves onto the turntable then." Carrie said, as she went up the steps and onto Oliver's cab, with the driver and fireman following behind.
Soon, Oliver rolled onto the turntable and was turned around, so that he was looking back the way he came. With that done, it was time to be off on their way to Knapford Station and collect their train. After leaving the turntable, they made their way through the yard and then out onto the main line, with them facing north. And then, once the points behind them were switched, the driver pulled the reversing lever into full-reverse and then opened the regulator a little. Slowly at first, and then a little bit faster, Oliver, after sounding his whistle, reversed along the line and back towards Knapford Station.
(A few minutes later)
It took a few minutes for them to get down to Knapford Station, as they had to keep an eye out for the signals on their way down there, as well as keeping a sharp eye out for the other trains that were going by them on the other lines. But they made it down to Knapford Station with a few minutes to spare, and coupled up to their train, which was waiting on the line that ran adjacent to Platform 2, and where passengers could be seen getting aboard the train. As Oliver came to a gentle halt and buffered up to the front coach, Carrie looked out from the left-hand side of the cab; looking back along the train, she could see a lot of people boarding the train, and many of them had luggage bags with them. Many looked like people and families who were just on Sodor for a much-needed holiday or even to get away from the hustle and bustle of their lives from where they had lived for a short while.
Over at Platform 4, another train was just departing from the station; it was a very long and heavy passenger train consisting of about 16 coaches being hauled by L.N.E.R. P2 Class 2-8-2 No.2009 Merrow, with his apple green livery having been polished down to a high shine. With a very long and loud blast from his chime whistle, Merrow slowly set off from Knapford Station with loud sharp blasts coming from his double chimney. From Oliver's footplate, Carrie watched in awe and amazement at the sights and sounds of such a big express locomotive leaving the station with such a long and heavy train. With the sounds of wheels rolling on tracks that gradually faded out the further away the train got from the station, Merrow got his train out of the station and out onto the main line, with the last thing Carrie heard of him was the loud blast of his whistle being sounded in the distance.
"Looks like Merrow is gonna have quite a time with that train he has coupled up behind him!" Carrie said to the fireman, who was standing beside her.
"It looks like he might…but then again, he's built to haul trains of that length and weight. I should know that…because I've actually worked on his footplate a few times over the years when he hauled such heavy trains on many occasions." said the fireman.
"Really?" Carrie asked.
"Yes, really." said the fireman, as he watched Merrow depart from the station.
It wasn't too long before the last of their passengers had boarded the train, and all the doors on the coaches were closed up one by one. At the same time, the signalman set the points and signal to show the way was clear, and the guard stood out from Toad and blew his whistle while waving his green flag. Above the platform, the clock showed the time as being 9:20am exactly.
"Okay, let's go!" Oliver said, as his driver blew his whistle and then opened his regulator a little. Slowly, he moved forwards, taking up the weight of his train as he set off from the station. From the footplate, Carrie leaned out from the driver's side and looked forward as they set off from the station. Ahead, on the line that would go into the station adjacent to Platform 1, she saw another engine, and it was a small tender engine at that, coming along the line towards them with a line of coaches coupled up behind it.
As Oliver and this engine got closer to each other on their respective lines, Carrie could see this approaching engine, which had a 4-4-0 wheel arrangement, had an older antiquated appearance to it; the engine had outside frames with their connecting rods going round and round as the inside cylinders worked away. This older engine also had a large dome on top of its boiler just behind the chimney, as well as a smaller, older fashioned cab and an old tender just behind the cab (63). This engine was No.9014, and he was an example of the G.W.R.'s 3200 or "Dukedog" Class of engines built for use on the Cambrian Main Line. His dark green G.W.R. livery and all his brass had been polished down so he looked very smart, and he looked quite pleased with himself as he rolled along the line to his stop at Knapford.
(63): The Great Western Railway's 3200 Class 4-4-0s, or Dukedogs as they were more affectionately known, were built to run passenger trains along the Cambrian Main Line in Wales, which was more lightly built compared to the rest of the British railway network.
Initially, after the G.W.R. absorbed the Cambrian Railways Company in the grouping of 1923, only classes of light locomotives could run on the Cambrian Main Line, with such classes including the G.W.R.'s 3252 Duke Class 4-4-0 engines, which had been built at Swindon Works back in 1895 for express work in Cornwall. However, by the time the 1930's came round, the engines of the Duke Class were past their estimated lifespan and their frames were not in the best of condition, and repairing them was deemed uneconomical, in particularly with regard to the curved outside frames. At the same time, the Bulldog Class 4-4-0 engines, which were heavier in weight than the Dukes, were also becoming redundant and were being withdrawn from service.
In December 1929, Duke Class engine No.3265 Tre Pol and Pen was withdrawn from service, and its cylinders and motion, along with all other above frame fittings, as well as a spare Duke boiler and smokebox, were fitted to the straight-topped frames of Bulldog Class 4-4-0 No.3365 Charles Grey Mott. This rebuild resulted in an engine which had much stronger frames, but which could still be used on routes with weight restrictions. The conversion proved to be a success, and from 1936, twenty-nine more engines were converted from the various components of withdrawn Duke and Bulldog locomotives, and they were initially numbered from No.3200 to No.3228, with the first one converted being numbered as No.3265. All the conversions took place in Swindon Works between 1936 and 1939, with the conversion of a further 11 locomotives being planned, but these didn't take place due to the onset of the Second World War.
Although the class was officially known as the Earl Class, because the class had used components from the withdrawn Duke and Bulldog Classes, they were given the rather appropriate nickname of "Dukedogs" by their crews. They had driving wheels that were 5ft 8in in diameter, boilers that were fitted with superheating and pressed to 180psi, and two inside cylinders that were 18in in diameter with a 26in piston stroke, all of which combined to give the Dukedogs a maximum tractive effort of 18,955lbf.
The prototype of the class retained its Duke number and name (Tre Pol and Pen), and the first nominally new locomotive, numbered No.3201, originally kept the name of the parent Duke. Many members of the class were named after living Earls who had some connection with the G.W.R. While the first 20 locomotives built did have Earl names allocated to them, after the construction and naming of No.3212 Earl of Eldon in May 1937 the nameplates were removed and the names given to engines 5043 to 5062 of the Castle Class instead.
A few members of the Earl Class were assigned names, but for some reason some members of the class never carried any names during their G.W.R./B.R. service, even though they had names assigned to them. The names assigned to the Dukedogs were as follows;
No.9065 Tre Pol and Pen, No.9000 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, No.9001 Earl of Dunraven, No.9002 Earl of Dudley, No.9003 Earl Cawdor,
No.9004 Earl of Dartmouth, No.9005 Earl of Devon, No.9006 Earl of Plymouth, No.9007 Earl of St. Germans, No.9008 Earl Bathurst,
No.9009 Earl of Radnor, No.9010 Earl Cairns, No.9011 Earl of Ducie, No.9012 Earl of Eldon, No.9013 Earl of Powis, No.9014 Earl Waldegrave,
No.9015 Earl Clancarty, No.9016 Earl St Aldwyn, No.9017 Earl of Berkley, No.9018 Earl of Birkenhead, and No.9019 Earls of Shaftesbury.
In 1946, the entire class was renumbered from No.9000 to No.9028, with No.3265 being renumbered as No.9065. For much of their working lives, the Dukedogs worked along the Cambrian Main Line, where they did sterling service, being one of the few classes of steam locomotive that was light enough to work on that route. In particular, the wooden Barmouth Bridge along the Cambrian route couldn't take anything heavier, and so the class stayed in service well into the 1950's, despite their old-fashioned, Victorian, and antiquated appearances. A small number survived until 1960, when the final one was withdrawn from service.
Thankfully, one example of a Dukedog has survived into preservation; this engine is No.9017 Earl of Berkeley. Built at Swindon in 1938, she was originally numbered as No.3217, but was renumbered in 1946. Having spent much of her life on the Cambrian Line, she was withdrawn from service in October 1960 and put into storage on five occasions. She was bought directly from British Railways by the Bluebell Railway and arrived there in February 1962, with it being paired with its current name in September 1963, with the name having originally been on G.W.R. Castle Class 4-6-0 No.5060.
Ever since it arrived on the Bluebell Railway, No.9017 has been a major part of the line's steam fleet, and has also been seen on other heritage railways on occasion as well, such as the Severn Valley Railway. However, as of 2023, No.9017 is currently out of service and in storage, while awaiting a major overhaul to fix a number of problems it has with its boiler. In early 2024, No.9017, painted in plain B.R. black livery, was moved from the Bluebell Railway back to its old haunting ground of the Cambrian Main Line in more than 60 years, more specifically to Aberystwyth on the Vale of Rheidol Railway where it will be on a two-year loan and put on static display in their new museum.
"Morning, Oliver!" No.9014 called, as he went on by.
"Good morning, No.9014!" Oliver said, as he blew his whistle in greeting while he headed on northwards with his train. From the back of the train, Toad the brake van watched as all the scenery spread out before him got further and further away from him, as Oliver headed on his way through the junctions on his way.
After going along the viaduct that went past the enormous yards to the north of Knapford Station and then over the wide steel girder bridge that crossed over the wide estuary on the yard's north side, Oliver soon arrived at Tidmouth Station, where many more passengers were waiting to be collected and brought to their destinations along the Little Western. Coming to a stop, the passengers were soon boarding the train, and, just as at Knapford, many of them were suitably dressed for a nice summer day like this one, and many were prepared for a day at the seaside.
"I wouldn't mind spending a day at the seaside, especially on a day as nice as this one." Carrie said, as she watched the happy passengers go about boarding the train.
"Well, you and all the other recruits are off for the weekend, and so maybe you and your friends might get the chance to do so tomorrow." said the driver.
"Yeah, and let's hope the weather for the weekend will be just like it is today." Carrie said, as she looked back along the platform.
After the last passengers aboard the train, it was soon time for them to be on their way again. After the guard blew his whistle and waved his green flag, and with the signal set ahead to clear, the driver sounded Oliver's whistle and then opened the regulator. With steam shooting out from the front, Oliver set off on his way again, with his coaches, as well as Toad, following along smoothly behind him.
(Insert soundtrack – Oliver's Season 3 Theme)
Reaching the junction that would take them onto the Little Western, the points had been set for them and they turned off to the left and onto the line. Once on the line, they were able to pick up some speed and make their way along with their train full of tourists and holiday-makers. From some of the coaches, a few of the passengers leaned out from some of the windows and watched as the train went along smoothly, with clouds of steam and smoke drifting from Oliver's funnel.
On the footplate, the driver kept his left hand on the regulator while he kept a close watch out on the line stretching out ahead of them, watching for the signals as well as anything or anyone that might be close to the side of the line. On the other side of the footplate, Carrie was leaning out a little and keeping a close eye out ahead of them as well, while the fireman took a go at stoking the boiler with coal from the bunker at the back of the cab.
In front, Oliver was really enjoying himself as he puffed along the line with his train, and in particularly the bright and sunny summer weather. Ahead of them, the double track reduced to a single track as they approached one of the bridges that crossed over a river. After the driver sounded the whistle, they crossed the bridge and over the tidal estuary. Looking down to the water below them, Carrie could see that the tide was all the way out, as the muddy banks on both side of the estuary were exposed, with only the middle of the estuary having water within in. A number of boats were sitting high and dry on the exposed mudflats, and a few more were tied to buoys in the middle of the channel on both sides of the bridge.
After crossing over the bridge, they approached their first stop on this trip; the station they were stopping at served a major holiday camp ground that sat on a large area of flat ground that sat a little above the railway line just a hundred yards or so to the east of them. Coming to a stop at the station, the doors of the coaches were opened and the passengers getting off at this station disembarked from the train. Looking back along the platform, Carrie could see that there were quite a few families with young children getting off the train, and almost all of the younger kids seemed to be very excited at having arrived. She could even hear some of them speaking about going to the seaside very soon, as well as their parents and other family members agreeing with them.
"I don't blame those kids for being excited for being able to go to the seaside, especially on a such a good day like today." Carrie said to Oliver, as she turned round to face forward.
"I know, Carrie. I've heard and seen scenes like that many times before over the years. And I can't help but smile whenever I hear or see it." Oliver said.
Looking back out onto the platform, Carrie watched as a large group of the passengers went by them towards the footbridge at the end of the platform ahead of them, and then crossed the footbridge over the two lines that passed through the station.
As the last of the passengers crossed over the bridge and made their way towards the holiday resort, there came the sounds of another whistle from further up the line. Looking up, Oliver could see Duck coming along the other line towards the station, with a line of eight coaches behind him.
"Hello Oliver! Are you making good time this morning?" Duck asked, as he rolled into the station while he slowed down.
"Yes, I am, Duck. And I'm pleased to see the passengers getting off here had a good trip up in my coaches." Oliver said, as he watched the passengers who just disembarked from his train walk up the pathway to the holiday resort, with many of them quite excited about starting their holidays here on Sodor.
"And I also like seeing the passengers excited too, especially when they get aboard the train to go on their holidays, if you forgive me for mentioning it, Mr Duck." said Toad.
"Of course, Toad." said Duck, with a smile.
Then, there came the sounds of the guard blowing his whistle as he waved his green flag; that meant it was time for Oliver to set off on his way again.
"Oh, I'd best be on my way, Duck! I have other passengers I need to deliver to their destinations!" Oliver said, as his driver sounded his whistle and then opened the regulator.
"Good luck, Oliver! I'll see you and Toad later on!" Duck said, as Oliver slowly set out from the station and on up the line.
Moving up the line, and slowly picking up speed as they went along, Oliver made his way along the coast, and really enjoying the fine summer weather, as well as the sight of the calm sea, the golden yellow beaches, the rugged and rocky cliffs, and the feeling of the gentle breeze that was blowing in off the sea. Across the water in the distance, people could see the outline of the coastline of the Isle of Man, as well as boats and ships moving about on the calm waters.
(Insert soundtrack – Oliver's Season 3 Theme)
They soon came upon the coastal village on one side of the line, with the wide-open stretch of sandy beach with the boats dotted along it on the other side. As they went along it, Carrie looked out along the beach; she could see many people, including families with children, spread out along the beach, making sandcastles, laying back and relaxing on picnic blankets, heading towards the water, or even setting up barbecues so they could prepare food. She could see some people down in the water and swimming or paddling on their bogie boards. It looked to be quite a nice time for the people down there. There were lines of brightly coloured beach huts lined along the upper edge of the beach, and people could be seen going in and out of them.
At the same time, Oliver was also watching some of the scenes that he saw along the beach as they went along the line with the train following along smoothly behind him. As the train went along and then past the point where the lighthouse was standing, Toad also saw the scenes on the beach as he went along, with his own view being taken up by the scenes sliding away from him.
Going along the long stretched of line that was squeezed between the tall cliffs to their right and the open sandy beaches to their left, they all saw much of the same thing; there were countless holidaymakers and tourists all along the beach, and all appeared to be enjoying themselves on this bright and fine summer's day.
"I wouldn't mind being on the beach with my friends today!" Carrie said, to the fireman.
"Well, neither would I, to be honest. But, unfortunately for us, there's work to be done today at getting all these people in our train to the seaside today! Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to enjoy the seaside!" the fireman said, as he too looked over the scenes before him.
"Yeah, I suppose that's true." Carrie said, as she watched the seaside scenes go by, and everything that was happening there.
It wasn't too long before they arrived at the next station, which was a seaside station appropriately enough, and after stopping at the platform, more passengers heading to the seaside disembarked from the train and made their way over the footbridge that crossed over the line and down to the beach.
At the front of the train, the driver took the opportunity to give Oliver a drink while they were stopped, and in moments water was flowing from the water tower into Oliver's water tanks.
"Oh, that feels much better!" Oliver said with a smile, as the water poured down into his two side tanks.
"That'll keep you going for a little while longer, old boy!" the driver said, as he looked down into the right-hand tank as it slowly filled up. As the driver topped up the water tanks and the fireman looked over the fire, Carrie took the chance to step down and check around Oliver's motion and wheels to be sure everything was okay. She had an oilcan in her hand as well, so that she could top up the oil level as well if she found it to be necessary. Placing the back of her hand against the centre of the driving wheels where they joined onto the axles, she was satisfied to see that everything was okay.
Carrie had just stepped back onto the footplate of Oliver and had just reported to the fireman that everything was okay, when she heard the sounds of a whistle coming from further up the line, as well as the sounds of chuffing getting closer and closer all the time.
"Who do you think that could be?" Carrie asked, as she looked out from the driver's side of Oliver's cab. Standing up, the fireman came over and looked out from the cab too, and he listened out.
"It could be the train that we need to wait for to come into this station before we can continue on up the line. After all, we can't leave this station until the line further up along is all clear for us to continue on." the fireman said.
"Let's just hope we don't need to be kept waiting here for much longer. After all, our passengers need to be places today." Carrie said, as she heard the sounds of the chuffing getting closer and closer, and sounding like it was slowing down, along with another loud blast of a whistle, which, from the sound of it, was a two-tone whistle.
About a minute or so later, they saw the engine come round the bend ahead and roll into the station with its train behind it. Carrie could see that this engine, which was painted in B.R. express green livery with orange and black lining, looked very similar to the engines of the B.R. Standard Class 6MT Clan Pacifics she had seen and worked on around Sodor, except that the boiler on this engine was somewhat larger than on the Clans, and the outside cylinders were slightly larger as well. It had smoke deflectors on both sides of his smokebox, and appeared to be very pleased to have arrived at the station. This engine was No.70047 Sir Ernest Shackleton, who was one of the members of the B.R. Standard Class 7MT Britannia Pacifics (64). Behind him, he had a line of a dozen coaches, all painted in Great Western chocolate and cream livery, which were each filled up with many people eager to enjoy a day out at the seaside on this perfect summer's day.
(64): The B.R. Standard Class 7MT Britannia Pacifics were the very first class in the range of the B.R. Standard Steam Locomotives to be introduced by British Railways, and were intended for use on mixed traffic work. Designed by E.S. Cox under Robert Riddles, the class came about after the Railway Executive requested a brand-new Pacific design based upon information that came out from the extensive 1948 Locomotive Exchange Trials. The new Pacific class had to be specifically designed to reduce maintenance, and incorporate various labour-saving devices so as to produce a design that was simple, standard, and effective. The new class also incorporated the latest available innovations in steam technology from both home and abroad.
The new 7MT Class incorporated various different practices from all of the previous companies that had made up the "Big Four" which ran Britain's rail system before nationalisation in 1948. The class used a variation of the trailing truck and boiler from the Southern's Merchant Navy Class, with the firebox being fitted with a rocking grate, so that clinker and ash could be removed from the firebox easily while the engines were moving, as well as allowing the fire to be built back up again relatively easily once the ash and clinker had been removed. However, unlike the Merchant Navy Class, the inner fireboxes on the Britannia Class were made out of copper instead of steel, and also lacked thermic syphons.
A self-cleaning smokebox was fitted, which allowed for the ash, soot, and cinders to be ejected from the chimney, and helping to reduce the workload of engine cleaners at the end of a working day. A single chimney was fitted, which was unusual for a Pacific design but was chosen as the exhaust dimensions, including those on the blastpipe, were designed using work done at the Rugby Test Plant and Swindon Works, both of whom felt that much better results could be obtained from a well-designed single chimney instead of a double chimney.
The new design also featured raised running plates above the wheels, which allowed for much easier access to the insides of the frames for lubrication purposes. No exhaust injector was ever fitted to the class, as it was something that frequently caused trouble on other engine classes. But unlike the smaller B.R. Standard engines, the exhaust steam manifold within the smokebox saddle was an intricate steel casting.
The Britannia Class featured two large diameter outside cylinders, which were the largest that could be fitted that were capable of giving maximum power and tractive effort while staying within the British loading gauge. Only two cylinders were fitted as it was much easier to undertake maintenance, especially compared to locomotives that had one or two inside cylinders fitted between the frames. All boiler plumbing was exposed so as to allow for ease of access and, thus, easier maintenance. Outside Walschaerts valve gear was also used, as it was much easier to maintain.
The class were paired with six driving wheels that were 6ft 2in in diameter, which were perfect for their role as mixed-traffic engines, as they allowed the class to sustain fast running with passenger trains and yet they were small enough to give sufficient tractive effort for hauling freight. With their 6ft 2in driving wheels, two outside cylinders that were 20in in diameter with a 28in piston stroke, and a boiler that was fitted with superheating elements and pressed to 250psi, the new 7MT Britannia Class had a maximum tractive effort of 32,150lbf.
Although the class were designed at Derby, all of them were built at Crewe Works. In total, 55 examples of the 7MT Britannia Class were built in three batches between January 1951 and September 1954, and they were numbered from No.70000 to No.70054. There had been an original intention to build more examples of the class, with the final total number of planned engines to be built numbering 91 examples in total, but the 1955 Modernisation Plan put an end to that.
The Britannia Class were named after famous Britons, former Star Class locomotives, and Scottish Firths. The numbers and names of the class were;
No.70000 Britannia, No.70001 Lord Hurcomb, No.70002 Geoffrey Chaucer, No.70003 John Bunyan, No.70004 William Shakespeare, No.70005 John Milton,
No.70006 Robert Burns, No.70007 Coeur-de-Lion, No.70008 Black Prince, No.70009 Alfred the Great, No.70010 Owen Glendower, No.70011 Hotspur,
No.70012 John of Gaunt, No.70013 Oliver Cromwell, No.70014 Iron Duke, No.70015 Apollo, No.70016 Ariel, No.70017 Arrow, No.70018 Flying Dutchman,
No.70019 Lightning, No.70020 Mercury, No.70021 Morning Star, No.70022 Tornado, No.70023 Venus, No.70024 Vulcan, No.70025 Western Star,
No.70026 Polar Star, No.70027 Rising Star, No.70028 Royal Star, No.70029 Shooting Star, No.70030 William Wordsworth, No.70031 Byron, No.70032 Tennyson,
No.70033 Charles Dickens, No.70034 Thomas Hardy, No.70035 Rudyard Kipling, No.70036 Boadicea, No.70037 Hereward the Wake, No.70038 Robin Hood,
No.70039 Sir Christopher Wren, No.70040 Clive of India, No.70041 Sir John Moore, No.70042 Lord Roberts, No.70043 Lord Kitchener, No.70044 Earl Haig,
No.70045 Lord Rowallan, No.70046 Anzac, No.70047 (unnamed), No.70048 The Territorial Army 1908-1958, No.70049 Solway Firth, No.70050 Firth of Clyde,
No.70051 Firth of Forth, No.70052 Firth of Tay, No.70053 Moray Firth, and No.70054 Dornoch Firth.
The Britannia Class were paired with three tender types during their working lives. Each of these tenders types ran on six wheels and were;
The BR1, which could carry 7 tons of coal and 4,250 gallons of water, were paired with No.70000 to No.70024, and from No.70030 to No.70044.
The BR1A, which could carry 7 tons of coal and 5,000 gallons of water, were paired with engines No.70025 to No.70029.
The BR1D, which could carry 9 tons of coal and 4,725 gallons of water, were paired with engines No.70045 to No.70054. These larger tenders had high sides and were intended for use on longer runs within the north of the British railway network. They were also fitted with steam-operated coal pushers, which eliminated the need for the firemen to go up into the tenders and move the coal higher up in the tender forward towards the cab.
Two examples of the class, No.70043 and No.70044, were fitted with Westinghouse airbrakes alongside their smokeboxes and no smoke deflectors, and both looked different from the other members of the class. After being allocated to the London Midland Region at Manchester Longsight depot where they underwent a series of braking trials during the mid-1950's. Afterwards, both locomotives had the Westinghouse equipment removed and had the smoke deflectors refitted.
In January 1951, the very first member of the class, No.70000 Britannia, entered traffic, and by October of that year, there were 25 examples in service. However, it soon became apparent there were a number of problems with the class. The most serious problem that had been seen, particularly by the crew, was that the driving wheels could be seen shifting on their axles, and so as a result all 25 Britannia's were temporarily withdrawn in October 1951 in order to get the problems rectified. Problems with overheating axle bearings were also looked over and curved while the engines were being fixed as well. With the serious problem of shifting driving wheels solved, the locomotives were released back into revenue earning traffic.
One issue that was partially solved on some members of the class was with their smoke deflectors. After the Milton Rail Crash in 1955, which involved No.70026 Polar Star, the members of the class that were sent to the Western Region had new smoke deflectors fitted which had hand-holds and foot-holds cut into them in order to allow for better visibility forward. Some of these new smoke deflectors were subsequently fitted to members of the class that were operating on the Eastern Region.
In 1960, after the Settle Rail Crash where 5 people had died, which involved No.70052 Firth of Tay, another change was made to the class. The accident was caused when the piston rod, cross head, and connecting rod of No.70052 came loose and damaged the opposite line as a freight train coming in the opposite direction. The locomotive of the freight train derailed and tore out the sides of three passenger coaches behind No.70052, killing 5 people. As a result of this accident, part of the slide assembly was redesigned, as were the difficult-to-access nuts, and it was done to all members of the class as they were routinely sent in and out of the shops.
A rather unusual problem that the first members of the class had at first was excess vibration fore and aft, which was often strong enough to cause some complaints from passengers, as well as cause the fire-irons, which were stored together in a longitudinal compartment on top of the tenders, to work their way forwards into the cabs. The problem was dealt with by reducing the tension in the drawbar springs, which led to a reduction in passenger complaints, but the class never lost their reputation for rough riding.
Once the class had their problems rectified, they settled down into revenue earning work on the B.R. system, and worked in all regions of British Railways. In particular, they were put to work on the lines that ran from London to East Anglia, where they revolutionised the services that ran from Liverpool Street Station to Norwich. Their lower weight and high power allowed them to haul heavy expresses into East Anglia, which had previously been restricted for larger express passenger locomotives, and had never seen anything greater than locomotives with Class 5 power.
However, a lot of negative feedback was received from depots and engine crews on the Western Region, which was former G.W.R. territory. These criticisms mostly came about due to the fact that the controls on the Britannia Class, like all classes in the B.R. Standard Range, were left-hand-drive, as opposed to ex-G.W.R. designs which were right-hand-drive, as well as due to the fact the class were not built at Swindon, and the fact that the six driving wheels would often slip when the engines were starting off from stations. The Britannia Pacifics didn't have the wheel grip that the Castle Class was famous for, but then again very few engine classes did. So due to the criticisms from Western crews, most depots in the Western Region put their allocation of Britannia Pacifics aside as surplus to requirements.
But one depot on the Western Region, Cardiff Canton, managed to get plenty of good use out of their allocations of Britannia Pacifics, particularly on trains within South Wales, as well as on expresses such as the Red Dragon and Capitals United to Paddington.
On the London Midland Region, the class also performed very well on their duties, although they did lose time on occasion while they were on the longer runs from Holyhead on the Welsh Coast to Euston Station in London, though these were down to the techniques of the individual engine crews.
The Southern Region also received some Britannia Pacifics, with seven being allocated to that area. They were sent there due to problems the Southern Region was having with the Merchant Navy Pacifics, which had all been temporarily withdrawn from service for inspections due to an issue with their crank axles on their centre driving wheels, after No.35020 Bibby Line sheared her crank axle. Two of the Britannia Pacifics, No.70004 William Shakespeare and No.70014 Iron Duke, were allocated to Stewart's Lane Depot in London, where their duties included hauling the Golden Arrow Pullman from London Waterloo to Dover, as well as the Bournemouth Belle down to Bournemouth. At one point, No.70004 William Shakespeare went on static display at the Festival of Britain exhibition at South Bank in London from May to September 1951.
When maintenance and repairs were needed, the class were often sent to Crewe, Swindon, and Doncaster, at least until the Modernisation Plan's financial constraints began to preclude regular overhauls of locomotives. But in the mid-60's, overhauls were carried out exclusively at Crewe Works.
However, due to the onset of electrification and the wider introduction of newer classes of diesel locomotives, as well as Diesel-Hydraulics on the Western Region, the 7MT Britannia Class were reallocated to depots elsewhere within the U.K., with the final major area they saw service being in the north west of Britain, mainly from the depots at Glasgow Polmadie and Carlisle Kingmoor, and the class became quite a common sight on the Cumbrian Main Line where they pulled passenger and parcels trains. The entire class remained intact well into the mid 1960's, but in 1965 the first member of the class, No.70007 Coeur-de-Lion, was withdrawn from service in June 1965, followed by No.70043 Lord Kitchener in August that same year.
Mass withdrawals of the class began in 1967, where 40 locomotives were withdrawn from service. By 1968, only one last example was still in service, which was No.70013 Oliver Cromwell, and in August 1968 she took part in the "15 Guinea Special" which was a special train run to commemorate the final B.R. steam working in 1968. Not long after the end of this special run, No.70013 Oliver Cromwell was withdrawn from service and ran under her own steam to Norwich, and then from there she was moved to be preserved at the Bressingham Steam and Gardens, where she ran on a short length of track for visitors.
Thankfully, two examples of the B.R. Standard Class 7MT Britannias have managed to survive into preservation. These two engines are;
No.70000 Britannia; the doyen of the class, and built at Crewe in January 1951, she was withdrawn from service in May 1966. She was initially destined to be part of the National Collection and the National Railway Museum, but due to her being a prototype and her construction differences, as well as the fact that No.70000 was in poor mechanical condition, No.70013 was chosen instead, and so No.70000 was put into storage. She was moved to the Severn Valley Railway in April 1971 to be restored, which was completed in 1978, and she steamed for the first time in preservation in May that year. However, she didn't see much use on the Severn Valley Railway due to the axle-weight limit the railway had at the time.
She then went to the Nene Valley Railway, where she was fitted with air-brake equipment, which she still has to this day. In July 1991, after a major overhaul, Britannia returned to the main line after 25 years, and operated there until she was withdrawn in 1997 due to boiler problems. After being sold to the Waterman Railway Heritage Trust and then ultimately to the Royal Scot Locomotive and General Trust, No.70000 was overhauled, with the work taking 3 years to complete. In that time, she was fitted with a newly furbished cab, new smokebox, as well as having major work done on the boiler, including having replacement stays around the firebox, new crown stays, new tube plates, as well as having major work done on the inner firebox. She was also fitted with TPWS and OTMR safety systems so that she could safely run trains on the main line. In 2011, Britannia returned to the main line, where she ran a train from Oxford to Canterbury. In January 2012, with her cab roof painted white, she hauled the Royal Train with the then Prince Charles aboard.
In the last half of 2023, Britannia had to undergo some repairs after suffering a broken crosshead in August 2023. By January 2024, the repairs were fully completed, and No.70000 returned to work on the main line not too long afterwards.
No.70013 Oliver Cromwell; the very last member of the class who was in service. She was built at Crewe Works in May 1951, and withdrawn from service in August 1968 after the end of hauling the "15 Guineas Special". It then spent around 36 years at the Bressingham Steam Museum, where it ran along a short length of track at the site until the 1980's when it was withdrawn from service and put on static display.
In 2004, No.70013 left Bressingham and was moved to the National Railway Museum in York by road, where she would be restored to working order so as to commemorate the 40th anniversary of its last main line run. In 2008, after being overhauled to main line standard, No.70013 returned to working order on the Great Central Railway, before returning to the main line in August of that year, where she took part in a re-run of the 15 Guineas Special along the same route.
In March 2010, No.70013 returned to Crewe for the first time since 1968 to run a special train along the West Coast Main Line over Shap, but two months later she was temporarily withdrawn from service due to cracks in her firebox. Once the repairs were completed by the end of the year, No.70013 returned to work. In the years she's been running, No.70013 has run extensively both on heritage railways as well as on the main line, drawing in many people wishing to see a steam locomotive at work at the head of a long and heavy train.
As of late 2023, No.70013 is undergoing a major overhaul at the Great Central Railway, having been withdrawn due to her boiler ticket expiring in late December 2018. Once the overhaul is completed in 2024, No.70013 will return to work on the main line again.
In this story, I intend for three members of the B.R. Standard Class 7MT Britannia Pacifics to appear as the story goes on; these engines will be No.70046 Anzac, No.70047, and No.70053 Moray Firth. As No.70047 never ran with a name during its life with British Railways, I've decided to give the engine the name Sir Ernest Shackleton, in honour of the famous Antarctic explorer.
"Morning Oliver." Ernest said, as he slowly rolled into the station and came to a gentle halt along the other side of the platform, with a gentle sound of hissing steam to be heard over the squealing of the brakes.
"Morning Ernst! Have you got more tourists going to the beach today?" Oliver said, as he heard the sounds of the doors on the coaches of Ernest's train being opened and the tourists and holiday makers stepping off the train, and then making their way over to the footbridge that would take them towards the beach.
"Yes, and I've got a train that's just full of them today! I don't think I've seen so many people on a train before!" Ernest said.
Just then, the guard for Oliver's train blew his whistle and waved his green flag, giving him the "all clear" to head off on his way.
"Oh! I better be off on my way now, Ernest!" Oliver said, as his driver blew his whistle and opened the regulator. With the sounds of chuffing from his funnel starting slow and then getting a little louder, Oliver slowly moved off out of the station, under the footbridge, where people could be seen heading off towards the beach, and then on up the line towards Tidmouth Hault Station.
"I'll see you later, Oliver!" Ernest said, as Oliver moved out of the seaside station and on up the line, leaving a thin cloud of smoke and steam behind him.
(With Oliver)
(Insert soundtrack – Oliver's Season 4 Theme)
Oliver continued on up the line towards Tidmouth Hault, with the train following along behind him. Carrie was leaning out from the fireman's side of the cab and she was looking out ahead and keeping a close eye out ahead, especially for signals as well as anything else that may be close to the side of the line. Looking over to the sea, she couldn't help but be impressed by how nice the scene spread out before her was, with everything seeming to promise the day would stay nice for the rest of the summer.
After they arrived at Tidmouth Hault a few minutes later, they came to a stop at the platform, where a small number of passengers waiting on the platform boarded the train, as other passengers going to the seaside here disembarked. As they waited to set off on their way again, Carrie leaned out from the driver's side of the cab and looked towards the small yard by the station; she could hear the sounds being done there as a number of vans lined up in a siding were being loaded with a variety of goods, as well as the sounds of work being done in a workshop from somewhere close by, where she could hear power tools being used as men worked away as repairing or making something.
As the last passengers waiting on the platform boarded the train, Oliver dozed a little in the warm summer sunshine as he enjoyed the feeling of the warm sun and low gentle sea breeze blowing over him while he waited to set off again. Then, he heard the sounds of two very familiar whistles coming from the tunnel only a few yards ahead of them. Opening his eyes and looking towards the tunnel mouth, Oliver felt himself smile; he knew who those whistles belonged to. Several moments later, in a cloud of white steam and smoke, the Scottish Twins Donald and Douglas emerged from the tunnel. They were working together at moving a long freight train from Arlesburgh back down to Knapford.
"Hello there, Ollie!" Donald said, as he and Douglas went on by with their long freight train.
"Good morning there, you two!" Oliver said, as he watched the twins go by.
"We cannot stop to chat, Ollie! We need to deliver these trucks to where they're needed!" Douglas said, as he and Donald sounded their deep-toned Caledonian whistles again while they headed off down the line, with the long line of trucks rattling along behind them.
Soon, it was time for Oliver to be on his way again. After the guard gave them the right away and the signalman in his signal box set the signals ahead to clear, they were off on their way up the line again. With Oliver sounding his whistle, they set off on their way up the line, passing over the bridge crossing the road, and then plunging into the darkness of the tunnel cut into the rocky cliff before them.
After passing out from the other side of the tunnel, they went along line until they came upon the section where the double track lines narrowed to a single-tracked line, with his coaches and brake van Toad, all following along smoothly behind him. On the footplate, Carrie was taking another go at stoking the boiler with the coal shovel. It was a bit of a tricky task, due to the fact that Oliver's footplate wasn't the biggest one she had worked on during her time on Sodor, and so due to the limited space, the fireman had to stand aside as much as he could so that Carrie could place the fresh coal from the bunker into the firebox.
Eventually, after placing around six or so shovelfuls of fresh coal into the firebox, Carrie stood up and handed the shovel back to the fireman.
"I think that'll be enough for now." she said, as the fireman took the shovel.
"Yeah, I think so. You're doing a very good job, Carrie, and we've got plenty of steam on the gauge." the fireman said, as he took a look a look at the pressure gauge close to him. The indicator needle was very near to the maximum working pressure of 165psi, and so there was plenty of steam and power for them to roll along with their train. Carrie and the fireman exchanged places, with Carrie leaning out from the left-hand side of the cab and looked along the line ahead of them. Right now, they were going along the long and high embankment that went right past Bulgy's Bridge and the field where Bulgy had sat as a hen house for many years.
Looking down to the ground and some of the open fields and farmland below the embankment as they went along, Carrie could see herds of cattle and sheep in some of the fields. In some fields, a few of the farm animals could be seen running away from the embankment as Oliver went by with his train, as the sounds of the chuffing sounds from his chimney, as well as the whistle being sounded, frightened the animals causing them to run off.
Passing over Bulgy's Bridge, where a number of vehicles as well as people on bikes could be seen passing by on the road beneath it, they continued on along the line until the line became double track again. After a short while, they came upon the Three Way Road in the long narrow valley where three railway lines came together. As Oliver began to cross the stone viaduct, another train was passing by on the line that ran on the north side of the canal below the viaduct. That train was a long freight train made up of steel ore wagons being hauled by L.N.E.R. O2 Class 2-8-0 No.2433. In the canal that passed below the middle of the viaduct, a narrow boat painted in bright red paint went slowly along the canal.
On the line that went along the girder bridge that crossed over the double track line, Henry went by heading from right to left with a line of nine coaches behind him. Most likely, this was another train taking holidaymakers and tourists around the island.
Not too long after passing through the Three Way Road, the line started to climb along a long gentle gradient and Oliver's wheels dug into the climb as he got his train moving along up the hill.
"I can do it! I can do it!" Oliver said, as he started his climb up the hill.
"You can do it, Mr Oliver!" Toad called from the back of the train. With his driver adjusting the regulator and reversing gear, as well as having his hand close to the sanding gear, Oliver made his way along the gentle climb with the exhaust from the chimney sounding loudly all around.
"Come on, Oliver! You can do it!" Carrie called from the cab, as she leaned out and listened to the puffing, chuffing, and clanking as Oliver made his way along the gentle climb, with the rocky formations to be seen on both sides of the line forming a backdrop as they headed along the line.
As they reached the top of the climb, they were able to go along at a much faster pace now that they had finally arrived at the summit, which meant the running would be much easier from now on. With that, the driver was able to keep the regulator open only a little, and Oliver was able to run along the line, which now went down along a very long and gentle downhill slope, using very little steam.
As they were running along the line that ran high over the land below towards the Suddery Coastal Village, Carrie was able to look out over and see the view of the sea below them, and she was able to appreciate the view she could see from up here as they went along. Going past and above the Suddery Coastal Village a short while later, she could see down below into the streets of the town. Tourists and holidaymakers were going about in the streets, and mingling with the local people, as a number of boats could be seen out on the water and making their way out to sea while the weather was nice.
After passing by the village, they headed on along the line towards the Fishing Village, and down a very long gentle slope, where the run down could be made with very little steam, which meant that Carrie and the fireman didn't need to be kept busy stoking the boiler with coal. As they neared the Fishing Village, Carrie looked out from the driver's side, standing just behind the driver, and she saw another train coming along the line beside them and heading in the opposite direction.
It turned out to be No.6856 Stowe Grange, and he was hauling a long line of coaches back down south along the Little Western. Each of the coaches behind him, and there were 10 of them in all, were painted in B.R. Maroon red livery and they had been washed, rubbed down and polished to a high standard. From some of the coaches, Carrie could see a few people with their heads sticking out as the train went along up the hill, but pulled their heads back in when they saw Oliver approach along the other line.
"Hello there, Oliver!" Stowe Grange called out, along with a short blast on his whistle as Oliver went on past.
"And a good morning to you too, Stowe!" Oliver said, as his driver also blew his whistle in response. The two engines and their trains went on past each other, with Carrie looking out a little from the driver's side of the cab as the coaches behind Stowe Grange go on very quickly past them.
Oliver soon came upon the Fishing Village, where he could see various activities taking place on the long quayside, as his driver put the brakes on as there was a speed limit on thi spart of the line. On the long siding that went along much of the quay, there was a line of insulated vans being readied to be loaded with fish once the fishing boats arrived back later on in the day. Along another part of the quayside, there was a large tourist boat tied alongside and people were getting aboard via a ramp, ready for a trip out onto the water on this fine summer day.
"I imagine those people will have a nice time out there on that boat today." Carrie said to the fireman, as they went on past where the tourist boat was docked.
"Oh, they will, Carrie. My family and I have been on that boat twice before, and always on nice summer's day like this. And it's a really great experience. You and your friends should really do it sometime in the future." the fireman said.
"Well, let's hope we can do it as soon as possible. After all, there's still the whole summer to go." Carrie said. As the driver sounded the whistle again, Oliver went round the curve to the right and headed further away from the Fishing Village on the final stretch to Arlesburgh.
As they ran along the final straight stretch of line towards Arlesburgh, with the cliffs to their right and the beach to their left, there came another whistle from further up the line. Looking out from the driver's side, Carrie could see another engine was coming along the other line towards them, and it was a tender engine. In fact, the engine was actually No.2918 Saint Catherine, who was a member of the G.W.R. 29XX Saint Class 4-6-0 (65), who just simply liked to be called Catherine. Behind her, she had a passenger train which consisted of what appeared to be about 10 coaches that were painted in G.W.R. chocolate and cream livery, and she appeared to be making good time with her train as well. Her G.W.R. paintwork of lined green livery was cleaned down and polished to a very high shine, and all her brass parts shone like gold in the bright sunshine, with a thin grey column of smoke rising from her chimney as she went along.
(65): The Great Western Railway's 29XX Saint Class 4-6-0 was designed by George Jackson Churchward, and were built in order to help modernise the G.W.R.'s fleet of locomotives after the company converted the last of its lines from Broad gauge to Standard gauge. Although the differences in their dimensions differed, they proved to be a very highly successful class of locomotives, and established the design principals for G.W.R. two-cylinder for the next 50 years, and also influenced similar locomotive classes of other British railway companies.
After acquiring or designing a number of different locomotives with different wheel arrangements and boiler designs, which helped him to plan for future motive power needs, Churchward felt confident enough to design a standard two-cylinder design for the G.W.R. Between 1902 and 1905, Churchward designed, built, and tested three different prototype engines, each of which had detail differences. The three locomotives were No.100, No.98, and No.171, and after a period of testing these three engines, it was decided to base the new design off of No.171.
No.100 was the forerunner of a long line of 4-6-0 express engines, and was also the very first G.W.R. locomotive to have outside cylinders fitted. Its piston valves were operated by rocking levers that were actuated by the expansion link of Stephenson valve gear – which only No.100 used. The locomotive featured a parallel boiler that was domeless, a raised Belpaire boiler, and cylinders that were 19in in diameter with a 30in piston stroke. The parallel boiler was later replaced by a taper boiler, and then later a taper boiler that was fitted with superheating elements in 1910. No.100 was named Dean in June 1902 in order to mark the retirement of the G.W.R.'s then Chief Mechanical Engineer William Dean, and was then later renamed to William Dean in November 1902.
The Saint Class was built in four different production series between February 1902 and April 1913, with 77 locomotives ultimately being built in total. Each of the four series differed in terms of dimensions, the boiler types that were used, wheel arrangements, as well as arrangements for superheating elements in their boilers. Initially, 13 examples of the class were built with a 4-4-2, or Atlantic, wheel arrangement, but these engines were later rebuilt to have a 4-6-0 wheel arrangement from 1912 to 1913, as it was found that having six driving wheels offered far better adhesion on the rails than four driving wheels. They were also paired with two different tender types, one which carried 6 tons of coal and 3,500 gallons of water, and a larger one that carried around 7 tons of coal and 4,000 gallons of water. Three members of the class also ran at times with unique 3,500 gallon tenders that ran on eight wheels.
One obvious difference between early and later examples of the Saint Class was with the drop-ends at the front of the locomotives underneath the front of the smokeboxes; some engines had the angular square drop-ends under the front of the smokeboxes, while later ones had curved drop-ends, with some of the earlier examples of the class being rebuilt to the later standard. Other outside differences included the position of the steam pipes; some examples had inside steam pipes while others had outside steam pipes going from the sides of the smokebox to the two outside cylinders.
The boilers fitted to the Saint Class were fitted with superheating and pressed to 225psi, and they ran on driving wheels that were 6ft 8.5in in diameter, but the cylinders differed between some engines. On some engines, the cylinders were 18in in diameter and had a 30in piston stroke which gave them a tractive effort of 20,530lbf. The cylinders on some other engines in the class were 18.5in in diameter with the same 30in piston stroke, and had a maximum tractive effort of 24,395lbf.
The Saint Class were divided up into a number of different series depending upon the names that they were given. Among these series were;
The Prototypes; these series had three engines, which were;
No.2900 William Dean, No.2971 Albion, and No.2998 Ernest Cunard.
The Scott Series; this series had 19 engines in total, with 13 engines being built as 4-4-2 Atlantic and the remaining 6 engines being built as 4-6-0s. However by January 1913, it was decided to rebuild all the engines that were originally built as 4-4-2s to 4-6-0s instead, as this wheel arrangement offered far better adhesion. It also included the names of G.W.R. directors. The numbers and names of these engines were;
No.2972 The Abbot, No.2973 Robins Bolitho, No.2974 Lord Barrymore, No.2975 Lord Palmer, No.2976 Winterstroke, No.2977 Robertston,
No.2978 Charles J. Hambro, No.2979 Quentin Durward, No.2980 Coeur de Lion, No.2981 Ivanhoe, No.2982 Lalla Rookh, No.2983 Redgauntlet, No.2984 Guy Mannering,
No.2985 Peveril of the Peak, No.2986 Robin Hood, No.2987 Bride of Lammermoor, No.2988 Rob Roy, No.2989 Talisman, and No.2990 Waverley.
The Ladies Series; these series had 10 engines in all. Some were built with short tapered boilers and smokeboxes, while the others had longer versions. One of them, No.2901, was the very first British steam locomotive to be fitted with a Schmidt-type superheater, with the rest being fitted with Swindon No.3 superheaters instead between 1909 and 1911. The numbers and names of these engines were;
No.2901 Lady Superior, No.2902 Lady of the Lake, No.2903 Lady of Lyons, No.2904 Lady Godiva, No.2905 Lady Macbeth,
No.2906 Lady of Lynn, No.2907 Lady Disdain, No.2908 Lady of Quality, No.2909 Lady of Provence, No.2910 Lady of Shalott,
The Saints Series; there were 20 engines in this series in all, and they had long curved front ends over the cylinders and under the cabs, which greatly improved the appearances of these engines. They were also fitted with cone boilers and superheaters. No.2922 was briefly fitted with a Swindon No.2 superheater, but all the engines in this series was fitted with the Swindon No.3 superheater instead. The numbers and names of these engines were;
No.2911 Saint Agatha, No.2912 Saint Ambrose, No.2913 Saint Andrew, No.2914 Saint Augustine, No.2915 Saint Bartholomew, No.2916 Saint Benedict,
No.2917 Saint Bernard, No.2918 Saint Catherine, No.2919 Saint Cuthbert, No.2920 Saint David, No.2921 Saint Dunstan, No.2922 Saint Gabriel, No.2923 Saint George,
No.2924 Saint Helena, No.2925 Saint Martin, No.2926 Saint Nicholas, No.2927 Saint Patrick, No.2928 Saint Sebastian, No.2929 Saint Stephen, No.2930 Saint Vincent,
The Courts Series; there were 25 engines in this series in all and were named after famous mansions (courts). Each of them were built with superheaters installed and there were detailed differences between the boilers that were used on the engines. The numbers and names of these engines were;
No.2931 Arlington Court, No.2932 Aston Court, No.2933 Bibury Court, No.2934 Butleigh Court, No.2935 Caynham Court, No.2936 Cefntilla Court,
No.2937 Clevedon Court, No.2938 Corsham Court, No.2939 Croome Court, No.2940 Dorney Court, No.2941 Easton Court, No.2942 Fawley Court, No.2943 Hampton Court,
No.2944 Highnam Court, No.2945 Hillingdon Court, No.2946 Langford Court, No.2947 Madresfield Court, No.2948 Stackpole Court, No.2949 Stanford Court,
No.2950 Taplow Court, No.2951 Tawstock Court, No.2952 Twineham Court, No.2953 Titley Court, No.2954 Tockenham Court, and No.2955 Tortworth Court,
During their careers running on the main line, the engines of the Saint Class proved themselves to be very capable, excellent, and reliable locomotives, being free-steaming machines and performing well on the G.W.R.'s long-distance trains with a wide variety of trains, including on express passenger trains. In fact, some crews actually preferred the two-cylinder Saints to the four-cylinder Star Class. But as the locomotives of the Castle Class came into service, the Saints were gradually displaced onto other secondary services, often on other G.W.R. secondary lines, during the 1920's and 1930's.
One issue that the class had was that their large driving wheels of 6ft 8.5in did limit their usefulness on freight trains and mixed traffic work. So as a result of that, with Churchward recognizing this limitation, the new 47XX Class 2-8-0 mixed traffic class was introduced onto the G.W.R. system in 1919. This class had smaller 5ft 8in driving wheels which were far more suitable for fast fitted freights and mixed traffic work than the larger wheels of the Saint Class were.
But Churchward's successor as the Great Western's C.M.E., Charles Collett, felt that a version of the Saint Class with slightly smaller diameter driving wheels would form the basis of a mixed traffic class that would be far more suitable for use on all different sorts of mixed traffic work. So as a result of that idea, the first member of the Saint Class, No.2925 Saint Martin, was withdrawn from service in December 1924 so that it could be rebuilt with smaller driving wheels that were 6ft 0in in diameter, and which resulted in Saint Martin becoming the prototype engine of the very highly successful 49XX Hall Class 4-6-0 mixed traffic engines, which eventually numbered 259 locomotives in total.
From the immense success of the Saint Class, they became the template for all later G.W.R. two-cylinder 4-6-0 locomotive classes, including the Hawksworth 6959 Modified Hall and 10XX County Classes, and the Collett 68XX Grange and 78XX Manor Classes, each of which were both of the same basic design. Moreover, they also influenced the designs of other 4-6-0 locomotive that ran on the lines of other British railways companies, including the Stanier L.M.S. Black Five Class, the Thompson L.N.E.R. B1 Class, as well as the B.R. Standard Class 5MTs.
Several members of the Saint Class were also experimented with; in 1931, No.2935 Caynham Court was fitted with Lentz-style rotary cam poppet valve gear, which it was fitted with for its whole working life until it was withdrawn from service in 1948. It was also the only G.W.R. locomotive to be fitted with poppet valves, although during testing it was found to not add any improvement in the engine's performance; in fact, it actually increased the overall coal and water consumption, not to mention the fact that it added an additional three tons to the overall weight of the engine. Other changes made to the class was that the original lever reverse system, which was often difficult to use, was replaced with easier to use screw reversing gear, as it gave finer control and better cut-off of steam from the boiler, starting with No.2911 Saint Agatha in August 1907.
Another change made to the class was the inclusion of Automatic Train Control (A.T.C.) equipment, with a few engines being fitted with the gear at first, and then with all the other engines being fitted with it. Brakes were initially fitted to the wheels of the leading bogies, but during test runs it was found that they were ineffective in adding additional stopping power and so they were all removed by 1923. Speedometers were fitted to the class, although only about 33 engines had this gear fitted.
In the early 1930's, the G.W.R. began the process of rebuilding the class to give them a more modern appearance, which included adding curved front ends with extended frames, as well as brand new cylinders paired with outside steam pipes, with No.2903 Lady of Lyons being the first engine to be rebuild in this way. In all, 38 members of the class were rebuilt in this way, with the last one to be rebuilt being No.2937 Clevedon Court in June 1948.
The entire class were withdrawn from service between August 1931 and October 1953, with 47 examples being inherited by British Railways by the time of nationalisation in January 1948. Almost all the engines in the class covered distances that exceeded well over a million miles during their career. The very last example to be withdrawn was No.2920 Saint David, who pulled a number of special trains in its last months in service, including where it became the very last Saint Class engine to work out of Paddington Station. She was finally withdrawn from service in October 1953 after having covered a remarkable distance of 2,076,299 miles during the course of its career, the second highest of any G.W.R. locomotive. Despite some hopes of preserving Saint David, the attempt was unsuccessful, mostly due to the engine's poor condition at the time, and she was scrapped not too long afterwards, which meant that no original members of the class have managed to survive into preservation.
However, in 2019 that major gap in the ranks of preserved steam locomotives was filled when the Great Western Society at Didcot finally completed its project to built a new example of the G.W.R. Saint Class, which is No.2999 Lady of Legend. The new locomotive, which is the 78th member of the Saint Class, took more than 20 years to complete and involved rebuilding a member of the 49XX Hall Class, No.4942 Maindy Hall, into a member of the Saint Class, a very fitting thing as a member of the Saint Class was used to build the prototype of the Hall Class.
Among the parts that were built for No.2999 Lady of Legend included new 6ft 8.5in driving wheels, as well as new wheels for the front bogie, new cylinder blocks with inside steam pipes, as well as having the original lever reverse being fitted. A few parts from original G.W.R. engines were also used, including a chimney from a 68XX Grange Class 4-6-0, and a few original parts that were from scrapped Saint engines, including the whistle that was originally fitted to No.2910 Lady of Shalott and the connecting rods that were from No.2906 Lady of Lynn. The new engine has been built with straight frames so that it can be converted to run with a 4-4-2 Atlantic at some point in the future, so the Saint Class with the Atlantic wheel arrangement could be seen again sometime. The height of the engine has also been reduced a little, so that No.2999 can run on the main line if the chance arises.
Once the new Saint, No.2999 Lady of Legend, came into service at the Didcot Railway Centre in April 2019, and with her first moves, it meant that the G.W.R. Saint Class was no longer extinct. Currently, No.2999 is based at the Didcot Railway Centre, but has travelled to run along the rails of the Severn Valley Railway for a time during 2021.
"Hello there, Catherine!" Oliver called with a toot of his whistle, as he went on by.
"Hello, Oliver! Can't stop to chat! I have passengers I need to deliver!" Catherine said, as she also blew her whistle in reply as the two G.W.R. engines went on past with their trains. From Oliver's cab, Carrie took a quick break from shovelling col into the firebox and looked up to see the coaches of the other train go on by, with the coaches making a whooshing sound as they went on past. No matter how many times she heard the sound of an engine and its train go on past her whenever she was on the footplate of an engine, Carrie couldn't help but be astounded by what the sound was like. Sure, she had heard it plenty of times by now, but even so it still caused her to look up when it did happen.
Once the last of the coaches being hauled by Catherine had gone past, and the sounds of them had faded away, Carrie returned to her job of stoking the boiler with fresh coal.
(A short while later, at Arlesburgh)
Soon, Oliver had safely arrived at Arlesburgh Station, right on time and without any problems. As he came to a gentle stop at the platform, Carrie leaned out from the left-hand side of the cab and looked over the fence to the side of the main station building; in the distance, she could see the sea in the distance, and it was to the seaside in this area where the last of the passengers on their train would be going today. Wondering what the time was, she took a look at her watch; it was 10:10am.
"Well, we've made it in good order, and on time too." Carrie said, as she turned to the driver and fireman.
"Indeed, miss. And there's no doubt that all our passengers are pleased to have arrived here safely." the driver said, as he released the brakes and reset the reversing gear, so that they would be ready to set off again when they needed to.
In the meantime, the passengers on the train were already disembarking from the train and many of them were already making their way out from the station, and then from there they made their way down to the beach. Those who weren't going to the beach were spending the day in the town of Arlesburgh with friends, while a few small kids with their parents close by went up along the platform to have a look at Oliver, as well as a view of the cab, before they went on their way down to the seaside.
For a few moments, Carrie stood at the fireman's side of the cab and watched as some of the different kids, as well as their parents, milled around the cab and spoke to her and Oliver's crew or stood and looked at Oliver. But soon, it was time for the kids and their families to be on their way down to the seaside, and so they turned away and left the station, soon leaving the platform quiet again.
"Okay Oliver, old boy! Let's get you over to the shed, and get you ready for your next train!" his driver said, as a shunter uncoupled Oliver from his coaches.
"Okay, driver!" Oliver said, as his driver opened the regulator and they made their way away from the station and towards the nearby depot.
(A little later)
Oliver was soon in a siding within the depot, and was being given a look-over and a service before he could go out for his next job. There was even work being done on topping up Oliver's coal bunker with more coal, as well as topping up the water tanks with more water. Carrie was also pitching in and helping, by topping up any oiling points with more oil, as well as using rags to help rub down Oliver's paintwork so that it looked smart.
The fireman was also taking the opportunity to clean up the fire by using various fire-irons to help remove the clinker and ash from the firebox. Once that difficult job was done, he worked to rebuild the fire again by placing small pieces of timber and lumps of coal into the glowing embers to allow the flames to build up and make steam in the boiler.
It wasn't too long before they had finished their work, and Oliver looked quite smart with his green paintwork wiped down and polished.
"Feeling better, old boy?" his driver asked.
"Yes, I'm feeling fine!" Oliver said, as he smiled.
"I think a lot of people will be impressed with your paint being smartly cleaned down, Oliver." Carrie said, as she smiled up at the Great Western engine before her.
"Thanks, Carrie!" Oliver said.
The driver looked down at his watch, and then looked back up to Carrie and the fireman.
"Well then, shall the three of us go and get a cup of tea before out next job? We've got plenty of time to do so." said the driver, as he pulled off his gloves and then rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand.
"You know…that sounds like quite good idea to me! Let's go and get one" the fireman said, as he took off his cap and rubbed his forehead down with his hand.
"Yeah, might as well. After all, we've been working hard all morning," said Carrie.
"Come on, let's get over to the crew building while it's quiet." the driver said, as they turned and walked over to the crew building a few metres away from them.