Trivia: Rarest BR locos to survive into preservation

[DarloRich]

the class 15,

Does that "go"?

I second the class 17. An interesting beastie!

Anyone know where the Metrovick Co-Bo class 29 is at the moment?

class 28 surely? Is that not at ELR with the aforementioned class 15?

 

[D6130]

Anyone know where the Metrovick Co-Bo class 29 is at the moment?

Class 28 if you don't mind! I believe it's undergoing restoration at Bury.

 

[alexl92]

Of which there are projects in progress to construct a Clan Pacific and a Class 3 2-6-2T, and create a Class 2 2-6-2T (from a 2-6-0): leaving only the Class 3 2-6-0 unrepresented.

There was an attempt to build 77021, the next in class of the Standard Class 3 2-6-0, but it was a tiny team that never really made waves or funding.
I think the challenge with locomotives like that is that it doesn’t really the grab people’s imagination in the same way as perhaps a P2, so it will always be more difficult to secure funding. I would suggest that if one was going to be recreated, it would probably have to be backed by a preserved railway that was willing to put in the majority of the cash in return for use in future.

 

[Spartacus]

The Gresley W1 rebuild never made it, despite some historic importance!

It's tender did though.

 

[peteb]

Class 28 if you don't mind! I believe it's undergoing restoration at Bury.

Oops yes sorry about the typo. Aha I will try to get to see it. Thanks.

 

[Trackman]

I’d say the class 15, class 17, class 28 and prototype HST power car are all very interesting single surviving members of their types.

I was going to say classes 15,17 and 28. Saw the 28 dumped at Swindon works in the 80s, the owners had to pay 'rent' to BR and it wasn't cheap too.

18000 is a very unlikely survivor.

But it survived.

Well, it's bodyshell.
Saw it decades ago but I cannot remember where.

 

[Harvester]

It's tender did though.

Which one? It had one tender before rebuilding and a couple after, being withdrawn attached to tender No 5639 in June 1959. Yeadon’s Register states tender 5639 remained spare at Doncaster until January 1962 and was then sold for scrap.

 

[Spartacus]

Which one? It had one tender before rebuilding and a couple after, being withdrawn attached to tender No 5639 in June 1959. Yeadon’s Register states tender 5639 remained spare at Doncaster until January 1962 and was then sold for scrap.

Original 5484 which it had until 1948.

 

[Harvester]

Original 5484 which it had until 1948.

Yes indeed, 5484 does exist! The elusive A4 60004 had the tender from June 1948 until withdrawal in July 1966. Tender 5484 was then transferred to withdrawn 60009 prior to its sale into preservation.

 

[Iskra]

On the opposite theme, can anyone offer an explanation for why there are so many Class 14’s in preservation? Nice loco’s for sure, but they do seem disproportionately numerous.

 

[43096]

On the opposite theme, can anyone offer an explanation for why there are so many Class 14’s in preservation? Nice loco’s for sure, but they do seem disproportionately numerous.

They owe their survival to their time in industry. For a preserved line, they are pretty much ideal: can be used for shunting (much better visibility from the cab than an 08), p-way work and also working passenger trains. The 40mph top speed doesn’t matter on such railways and from an enthusiast’s point of view they make some nice Paxman noises…

 

[D6130]

On the opposite theme, can anyone offer an explanation for why there are so many Class 14’s in preservation? Nice loco’s for sure, but they do seem disproportionately numerous.

I suspect that it's because when they withdrawn at between 5 and 10 years old - due to the rapid disappearance of the traffic for which they were designed - they were still pretty new and in good condition. At about the same time the National Coal Board were looking to replace much of their large fleet of steam shunters at numerous collieries around the country and the 'Teddy Bears' were a natural 'shoe-in' for a seemless transfer from one nationalised industry to another. I believe that the whole class of 56 locos was sold into industrial service - the majority to the NCB - and most of their fleet were concentrated in the Ashington area of Northumberland for ease of maintenance and exchange of parts. As a result, a large number of these locos were still in service until the end of the coal industry in the late 1980s/early 1990s - by which time the railway preservation movement was well-established - and these suddenly available economical and lightweight, but powerful trip/shunting locos were ripe for the picking.

 

[Iskra]

I suspect that it's because when they withdrawn at between 5 and 10 years old - due to the rapid disappearance of the traffic for which they were designed - they were still pretty new and in good condition. At about the same time the National Coal Board were looking to replace much of their large fleet of steam shunters at numerous collieries around the country and the 'Teddy Bears' were a natural 'shoe-in' for a seemless transfer from one nationalised industry to another. I believe that the whole class of 56 locos was sold into industrial service - the majority to the NCB - and most of their fleet were concentrated in the Ashington area of Northumberland for ease of maintenance and exchange of parts. As a result, a large number of these locos were still in service until the end of the coal industry in the late 1980s/early 1990s - by which time the railway preservation movement was well-established - and these suddenly available economical and lightweight, but powerful trip/shunting locos were ripe for the picking.

Thanks for that wonderful explanation

 

[Spartacus]

On the opposite theme, can anyone offer an explanation for why there are so many Class 14’s in preservation? Nice loco’s for sure, but they do seem disproportionately numerous.

Despite being reliable they were non-standard and the work they were designed for was all but dead anyway, so they were sold into industries that just so happened to be on the decline or disposing of their internal rail networks about the same time as rail preservation had a boom in the late 70s and early 80s, this time not purely focused on steam, but on diesel too. They were ideal. relatively lightly used but typically well maintained, their fairly low speed's no disadvantage in preservation, but more useful than an 08's.
Having engines that saw pretty widespread naval use probably helped too and people knew spares would probably still be being produced at the time, and would at least be available.

 

[Iskra]

Despite being reliable they were non-standard and the work they were designed for was all but dead anyway, so they were sold into industries that just so happened to be on the decline or disposing of their internal rail networks about the same time as rail preservation had a boom in the late 70s and early 80s, this time not purely focused on steam, but on diesel too. They were ideal. relatively lightly used but typically well maintained, their fairly low speed's no disadvantage in preservation, but more useful than an 08's.
Having engines that saw pretty widespread naval use probably helped too and people knew spares would probably still be being produced at the time, and would at least be available.

Thanks for that great explanation too!

 

[mpthomson]

Counting prototype trains we can count the APT, but it never ran in revenue service unlike the 89.

Another one off prototype that ran in revenue service and made it into preservation would be the double decker 4DD.

The APT did run in revenue earning service for a time and quite successfully. They made some appearances on services normally loco hauled for about 18mths to 2 years in the mid 80s. My father was most surprised to discover that his normally 86/2 or 87 headed service from Euston was actually an APT-P on one occasion. They were never timetabled or adverrtised though.

 

[43096]

I suspect that it's because when they withdrawn at between 5 and 10 years old - due to the rapid disappearance of the traffic for which they were designed - they were still pretty new and in good condition. At about the same time the National Coal Board were looking to replace much of their large fleet of steam shunters at numerous collieries around the country and the 'Teddy Bears' were a natural 'shoe-in' for a seemless transfer from one nationalised industry to another. I believe that the whole class of 56 locos was sold into industrial service - the majority to the NCB - and most of their fleet were concentrated in the Ashington area of Northumberland for ease of maintenance and exchange of parts. As a result, a large number of these locos were still in service until the end of the coal industry in the late 1980s/early 1990s - by which time the railway preservation movement was well-established - and these suddenly available economical and lightweight, but powerful trip/shunting locos were ripe for the picking.

Not all the 14s went into industrial service and not all were nationalised industries. It was also not a majority to the NCB.

Disposal was as follows:
Scrapped: 8
Coal industry: 19
Steel industry: 23
Cement industry: 3
Oil industry: 3

Anyone wanting to know more about them, I would recommend reading the two books on the class by Anthony Sayer, published by Pen & Sword.

 

[paul1609]

BR Class 1600 Pannier Tank 1638 at the K&ESR is the only survivor of a class of 70 all built by BR.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

As has been pointed out upthread, no master and slave shunter aka Class 13 made it. I thought John Wade may have bought one for Heritage Shunters Trust at Rowsley.

 

[ejstubbs]

BR Standard 5mt No: 73129 is said to be one of 2 locos with Caprotti valve gear left in the UK, with the other being Duke of Gloucester.

BR Standard Class 5 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

73129

73129 was built at Derby in August 1956 as one of a batch of 30 locomotives fitted with Caprotti valve gear. It is the only surviving member of the class with Caprotti valve gear. The only other pr…

preservedbritishsteamlocomotives.com

Funnily enough, I was scanning some old negatives the other week and came across this:



I must have been intrigued by the unusual valve gear (though ignorant of what it actually was), because I took a closer photo of it:



Best guess, based on the subject matter in preceding and subsequent images, is that these was taken sometime in 1975. I actually have no recollection of ever having visited the Midland Railway Centre, but when I scanned the negative my vague guess was that the pictures were taken there, and the second link in the quoted post would seem to confirm that as the location. Other shots clearly of the same location feature Midland Railway 4-2-2 number 118, a Midland Railway 2-4-0 with no number visible (presumably 158A, which would make the photos no earlier than 1975), that old Triang-Hornby favourite 0-6-0T number 16440, steam crane "Stanton No 24", tank engine number 189 from Broad Oaks Ironworks, and LMS 4F number 44027 (again dating the photo no earlier than 1975).

 

[xotGD]

As has been pointed out upthread, no master and slave shunter aka Class 13 made it. I thought John Wade may have bout one for Heritage Shunters Trust at Rowsley.

You'd think someone would take a couple of 08s and make 13004.

 

[cce]

You'd think someone would take a couple of 08s and make 13004.

Give it "09" gearing and it'd be a very handy thing at many preserved lines

 

[xotGD]

Give it "09" gearing and it'd be a very handy thing at many preserved lines

Then it would have to be 13101.

 

[Snapper37]

The “other” BR built 15, 1501 pannier tank. One survives out of ten built.

 

[43096]

As has been pointed out upthread, no master and slave shunter aka Class 13 made it. I thought John Wade may have bought one for Heritage Shunters Trust at Rowsley.

They may well have been too valuable to BR as spares donors for the 08 and 09 fleets.

 

[Richard Scott]

As has been pointed out upthread, no master and slave shunter aka Class 13 made it. I thought John Wade may have bought one for Heritage Shunters Trust at Rowsley.

Didn't think that existed when they were withdrawn? Think last one was scrapped around 1986?

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Didn't think that existed when they were withdrawn? Think last one was scrapped around 1986?

Yes you are probably right.

 

[andythebrave]

The APT did run in revenue earning service for a time and quite successfully. They made some appearances on services normally loco hauled for about 18mths to 2 years in the mid 80s. My father was most surprised to discover that his normally 86/2 or 87 headed service from Euston was actually an APT-P on one occasion. They were never timetabled or adverrtised though.

0802 from Glasgow southbound, can't remember the other times.
1630 from Euston northbound, 1900 from Preston, arrive Motherwell 2056 and Glasgow Central 2112.
Monday, Wednesday and Friday only and it was timetabled; caught it northbound from Preston many times.

 

[Sun Chariot]

I’d say the class 15, class 17, class 28 and prototype HST power car are all very interesting single surviving members of their types.

+1 for the HSDT (as was originally known). It set the scene for fast and reliable inter-city transit. BR's most successful product.

 

[Class15]

I’d say the class 15, class 17, class 28 and prototype HST power car are all very interesting single surviving members of their types.

The 15 is interesting, as they would almost certainly have gone extinct had it not been for D8233 and 3 others (sorry don’t have the numbers to hand) being saved for ETH (electric train heating) purposes. I forget how the 17 got saved but the 28 was also departmental of some sort. The 15’s close cousins the Class 16 are extinct, which is hardly surprising given how poor the class was.