BR Standard Class 5

BR Standard Class 5
No 73142 ready to depart with the 10.50 Express from London St Pancras to Leicester in 1957. Note the Caprotti valve gear.
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer R. A. Riddles Builder BR Derby Works (130) BR Doncaster Works (42) Build date April 1951 - June 1957 Total produced 172
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 4-6-0  • UIC 2′C h2 Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Leading dia. 3 ft 0 in (0.914 m) Driver dia. 6 ft 2 in (1.880 m) Length 62 ft 7 in (19.08 m) Width 8 ft 9 in (2.67 m) Height 13 ft 0 in (3.96 m) Axle load 19.70 long tons (20.02 t; 22.06 short tons) Adhesive weight 58.05 long tons (58.98 t; 65.02 short tons) Loco weight 76.00 long tons (77.22 t; 85.12 short tons) Tender weight BR1/BR1H: 49.15 long tons (49.94 t; 55.05 short tons); BR1B: 51.25 long tons (52.07 t; 57.40 short tons); BR1C: 53.25 long tons (54.10 t; 59.64 short tons); BR1F: 55.25 long tons (56.14 t; 61.88 short tons); BR1G: 52.50 long tons (53.34 t; 58.80 short tons); Tender type BR1 (50), BR1B (62), BR1C (35), BR1F (10), BR1G (3), BH1H (12) Fuel capacity BR1C: 9.00 long tons (9.14 t; 10.08 short tons); All others: 7.00 long tons (7.11 t; 7.84 short tons) Water cap BR1/BR1H: 4,250 imp gal (19,300 l; 5,100 US gal); BR1B/BR1C: 4,725 imp gal (21,480 l; 5,674 US gal); BR1F: 5,625 imp gal (25,570 l; 6,755 US gal); BR1G: 5,000 imp gal (23,000 l; 6,000 US gal) Firebox:  • Firegrate area 28.7 sq ft (2.67 m2) Boiler BR3 Boiler pressure 225 psi (1.55 MPa) Heating surface:  • Tubes and flues 1,479 sq ft (137.4 m2)  • Firebox 171 sq ft (15.9 m2) Superheater: ​  • Heating area 358 sq ft (33.3 m2) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 19 in × 28 in (483 mm × 711 mm) Valve gear Walschaerts (73000–73124, 73155–73171) Caprotti (73125–73154)
Performance figures Tractive effort 26,120 lbf (116.2 kN) Factor of adh. 4.97
Career Operators British Railways Power class 5MT Numbers 73000–73171 Axle load class Route availability 7 BR (WR): Red Withdrawn February 1964 – August 1968 Disposition Five preserved, remainder scrapped

The British Railways Standard Class 5MT 4-6-0 was one of the 12 standard classes of steam locomotive built by British Railways in the 1950s. It was essentially a development of the LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 ("Black Five"). A total of 172 were built between 1951 and 1957.

Background

William Stanier's Black Five had been the most successful mixed-traffic type in Great Britain. Construction of the Black Fives had started in 1934 and continued past nationalisation to 1951. A new set of 'standard' locomotives was to be built by British Railways, based on LMS designs and incorporating modern ideas.

In particular, the Standard design incorporated features designed to make disposal easier: a self-cleaning smokebox and a rocking grate removed the necessity for crews to undertake dirty and strenuous duties at the end of a long shift.^[1] This was a necessary investment with the ever-increasing costs of labour following the Second World War.

The original design proposal for the class 5 locomotive had a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement, similar in concept to the Bulleid Light Pacifics that performed impressively during the 1948 Locomotive Exchanges. However this was deemed unnecessarily large and costly for a class 5 power requirement, so the successful LMS Class 5 4-6-0 design was used as the basis instead. The pacific design went on to be enlarged and used for the BR Standard Class 6.

Design and construction

The design work was done at the ex-LNER Doncaster Works but the bulk of the construction was done at Derby Works. The locomotive featured a BR standard boiler very similar in dimensions to the Stanier Type 3B fitted to the Black Fives, but made from manganese steel instead of nickel steel. The most obvious visible changes were a higher running plate, slightly enlarged driving wheels (from 6 ft 0 in (1.829 m) to 6 ft 2 in (1.880 m)), increased cylinder bore (from 18½ in (457 mm) to 19 in(483 mm)), a standard cab with external pipework and the regulator gland on the driver's side of the boiler below the dome. Many of these changes were to reduce maintenance or to incorporate standard components that could be shared between other standard classes.

The first of the class, 73000, was outshopped from Derby in April 1951 and 30 were in service by January 1952. There was then a gap in construction before Derby resumed building its remaining 100 engines. 42 were built at Doncaster, starting in August 1955 and finishing in May 1957, with Derby's last engine following a month later.

Thirty engines, numbers 73125 to 73154, were built with Caprotti valve gear and poppet valves. One of these engines (73129) survives today at Butterley. It and 71000 Duke of Gloucester are the only engines with Caprotti gear left in Britain.

In service

These locomotives had a trouble-free introduction in comparison to several of the other Standard classes and were used interchangeably with the pre-nationalisation class 5 engines they supplemented. They were utilised as the haulage power on duties varying from fast passenger trains to slow unfitted freight trains, displaying their versatility.

Different regional allocations had differing tender designs, with locomotives assigned to the Southern Region having tenders with high water capacity to make up for the lack of water troughs.

The Standard 5 was a much more economical high speed express engine than the Black 5. Like the "Clan" class locomotives, Standard 5s, with their high-stepped running board, were partly conceived to be more economical and serviceable replacements for the Bulleid Pacific, and the Standard Class 5 were fast, they could really fly with good steam, easily to 100mph in the view of many engine drivers. Like the Clans, which could only manage one more carriage on an express than a 'Five' the Standard Fives took a long time to shake down, and only started to really pull when different firing techniques, which allowed them to steam using poor quality coal were developed,^[2] for these low emission passenger locomotives, came into use. They pulled much of the traffic on the last express lines for steam in the mid and late 1960s: Edinburgh-Aberdeen, London- Southampton-Bournemouth- Weymouth and local express traffic in the North and Midlands around Sheffield and Leeds. They were also used on the locals between Liverpool, Manchester and Blackpool, some steam hauled to the last day of steam in 1968.

In 1959, 20 of the Southern Region locomotives were named, the names being transferred from SR King Arthur class locos that were then being withdrawn. These were:

• 73080 Merlin
• 73081 Excalibur
• 73082 Camelot
• 73083 Pendragon
• 73084 Tintagel
• 73085 Melisande
• 73086 The Green Knight
• 73087 Linette
• 73088 Joyous Gard
• 73089 Maid of Astolat
• 73110 The Red Knight
• 73111 King Uther
• 73112 Morgan Le Fay
• 73113 Lyonnesse
• 73114 Etarre
• 73115 King Pellinore
• 73116 Iseult
• 73117 Vivien
• 73118 King Leodegrance
• 73119 Elaine

73002 passing through Water Orton, 1964.

73020 is known to have been used on Southern Region, photographed departing Southampton Terminus on 18 September 1965.^[3]

73020 has also been photographed in service on the Southern Region, pulling a boat train across Canute Road in Southampton on 29 September 1966.^[3] This engine also starred in the BTC film Wash and Brush Up, showing the routine boiler washout and cleaning of the smokebox and ash screens every 12–16 days while in service. On completion of this, 73020 hauled the 12.10pm goods to Camden.

73114 Etarre has been photographed in service on 20 March 1966, pulling a boat train through Fareham while diverted due to electrification work on the Southern Region mainline from Southampton to London Waterloo.^[3]

73116 'Iseult' is seen, at the head of a Southampton boat train, in Terminus, the 1961 British Transport Film documentary directed by John Schlesinger which presents a "fly-on-the-wall" look at a day at Waterloo Station in London.

Accidents and incidents

Main article: Eastbourne rail crash

• On 25 August 1958, locomotive No. 73042 was hauling a sleeper car train which overran a signal and was in a head-on collision with a train formed from two electric multiple units at Eastbourne, East Sussex. Five people were killed and 40 were injured.
• In 1958, locomotive No. 73111 was hauling a passenger train that derailed at Millbrook, Hampshire due to a faulty point motor moving a set of points under the train.^[4]

Variations & proposed changes

The main variation across the class was the valve gear, with 142 using Walschaerts valve gear and the remaining 30 using British Caprotti valve gear. There was little difference in performance between the two groups, but the Caprotti fitted engines had a reputation for being good performers at higher speeds. There was potential for more BR standard locomotives to have Caprotti valve gear fitted as it allowed for longer periods between inspections, offsetting the higher initial cost of this valve gear.

Doncaster had designed double chimneys for the class, similar to the ones used on several of the BR Standard Class 4 4-6-0. If applied, this would have improved the draughting and increased the efficiency of the locomotives. With the Modernisation Plan of 1955 and the good performance of the class from the outset, these plans were shelved permanently.

Another proposal was to produce freight locomotives based from this design in response to criticism by the Western Region on the BR Standard Class 9F. The management believed that the 9Fs were too large and powerful for most heavy freight traffic, along with being more far more expensive to build and operate than the older 2-8-0 locomotives they supplemented. In response to this, the British Transport Commission drew a 2-8-0 Class 8F based on the Standard Class 5, in a manner similar to the LMS class 5 and 8Fs. Changes included a higher boiler pressure of 250 psi and driving wheels 5 ft 0 in (1.524m) in diameter to increase tractive effort. Preparations were made for series production to begin, but the work ceased after the Modernisation Plan was published.

Preservation

Only five members of the class have survived into preservation and all have steamed and run in preservation with 73156 being the last to return to service. One member of the class 73050 was purchased directly from British Railways service for preservation but the other four engines were all rescued from Woodham Brothers scrapyard at Barry Island. To date 73096 has been the only member of the class to operate on the main line hauling railtours but in 2018 no. 73082 was moved by rail from its home at the Bluebell Railway to the West Somerset Railway.^[5]

Number & Name	Tender Attached	Builder	Built	Withdrawn	Service life	Location	Livery	Status	Image
73050 "City of Peterborough"	BR1G	Derby Works	April 1954	April 1964	14 Years, 2 months	Nene Valley Railway	BR Lined Black, Early Emblem	Boiler ticket expired in 2015, Under Overhaul
73082 "Camelot"	BR1B	Derby Works	July 1955	June 1966	10 years, 11 months	Bluebell Railway	BR Lined Black, Early Emblem	Operational, Boiler ticket expires in 2025.
73096	BR1G	Derby Works	Nov 1955	Nov 1967	12 years	Mid Hants Railway	BR Green, late Emblem	Purchased by and transferred to the Watercress Line, at which it was formerly a resident under private ownership, in November 2017.
73129	BR1B	Derby Works	Aug 1956	Dec 1967	11 years, 4 months	Midland Railway - Butterley	BR Lined Black, Early Emblem	Static Display, Boiler ticket expired in 2016. One of only two engines left in Britain with Caprotti valve gear.
73156	BR1A	Doncaster Works	Dec 1956	Nov 1967	10 Years, 11 months	Great Central Railway	BR Lined Black, Early Emblem	Recently emerged from scrapyard condition and came into full traffic in May 2018. Boiler Ticket expires in 2027.

Notes

References

• 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
• Bradley, Rodger P. (1984). The Standard Steam Locomotives of British Railways. David & Charles. ISBN 0715383841.
• Atkins, C.P. (1988) The BR Standard 2-8-0s. Rly Wld, 49, 222-3.
• Cliffe, Joseph. (2012) It began with 'Turbomotive'. Backtrack, 26, 637.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to BR Standard Class 5MT.

• http://www.steamindex.com/locotype/brloco.htm#br5

• Southern E-group photo gallery