BR Standard Tank
4MT; 4P/4F
Like the
‘’Britannia’’ Class already mentioned on this website, the charming Standard
Tanks were not particularly numerous on the South Eastern Division. Indeed, as
far as the Southern Region is concerned, the type’s allocation was, from the
outset, exclusively to the Central Division. However, the 4MT Tanks have
certainly had a Kent county allocation from the earliest years, the shed at
Tunbridge Wells West (which itself was Central Division, under Brighton) being a
recipient of the engines. This, coupled with the fact that the locomotives have
delved deeper into Kent territory on stopping passenger workings, justifies them
for inclusion on the website.
The 2-6-4 wheel arrangement can be traced back to as early as 1916, when tank
engines built to this design appeared on the Great Central Railway, primarily
for freight duties. A year later, the locomotive and rolling stock engineer for
the SE&CR, R.E.L. Maunsell, produced a single example of a steam locomotive with
a 2-6-4 wheel arrangement. His project was perpetuated after the Grouping, with
a further nineteen engines to the same design emerging, all of which were named
after rivers (hence ‘’River’’ Class). What this class became notorious for was
severe instability at high speed – they were dubbed the ‘’Rolling Rivers’’
because of it. When the locomotives were deployed on ex-LB&SCR metals, their
performance improved and the tendency to ‘’roll’’ was reduced. The formerly
independent LB&SCR had kept the track work in markedly better condition than its
counterpart to the east, the SE&CR, the latter whose rails had seen years of
neglect and inadequate maintenance. There had been a number of comparatively
innocuous derailments of the ‘’River’’ Tanks on the former SE&CR network, but
the SR was seemingly unperturbed until a serious accident, involving No. A800
‘’River Cray’’, unfolded. A derailment between Dunton Green and Sevenoaks of a
coast-bound working fronted by this engine, on 24th August 1927, resulted in
thirteen deaths. Consequently, the SR took draconian measures and withdrew the
whole fleet, vowing never again to let an engine with such a wheel arrangement
to operate on its network. In the following year, these once distinctive tank
engines began emerging in a new tender guise: they became the ‘’U’’ Class.
Paradoxically, the procurement of a second 2-6-4 tank engine was swift, and in
1932, the ‘’W’’ Class was introduced, again a product of Maunsell. From the
outset, it was a dedicated freight locomotive, designed to haul cross-London
goods trains with a power and speed which were great enough to allow such
workings to be sandwiched in-between the intensive electric passenger schedules
on the SR.
Meanwhile, more significant steps had been taken on the LMS in developing 2-6-4
mixed traffic tank engines. The company’s Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME), Sir
Henry Fowler, had overseen the construction of 125 Tank Engines to this wheel
arrangement, the first examples being deployed in 1927. Subsequently being
classed ‘’4P’’, the wheel layout was evidently successful, for Fowler’s
successor, Sir William Stanier, observed his Chief Draftsmen pencil an arguably
more attractive locomotive around a 2-6-4 arrangement. Emerging in 1934, the
three cylinder engines were destined for the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway,
which the erstwhile Midland Railway had acquired in 1912. It was Stanier’s
development which became the fundamental basis for British Railways’ prototype,
but the CME’s engine would see further modifications first. A further batch of
two cylinder engines emerged in 1935, but with Stanier becoming an advisor to
the Ministry of Production in 1942 as part of the war effort, procurement of
further 2-6-4 locomotives was left to Charles Fairburn. Having been deputy to
Stanier since 1938, Fairburn became acting CME during the former’s absence, but
his time in office was brief. Stanier’s retirement saw Fairburn become CME of
the LMS in 1944, by which time the production of a modified 2-6-4 ‘’4P’’ was in
full swing. The main distinguishing feature between the Stanier and Fairburn
designs was the wheelbase – that of the latter had been shortened. Examples
began emerging from Derby in 1945, but sadly, Fairburn would not see the whole
of the production run – in October of that year, he died aged 58 of a heart
attack. Construction of what became a large class spilled over into
Nationalisation; in 1950, Brighton took over from Derby in the assembling of
engines. The last locomotive was completed in 1951, by which time there were 277
examples of Fairburn’s work in existence.
We now come to British Railways’ throw of the dice. In 1948, Robert. A. Riddles,
formerly of the LMS, was appointed the head of the then newly-formed Mechanical
& Electrical Engineering department of BR’s Railway Executive. As recounted
within the ‘’Britannia’’ section, Riddles was given the task of producing twelve
‘’standard’’ steam locomotive designs for deployment on all regions. The new
fleets would replace the more elderly of Grouping and pre-Grouping types, whilst
also bringing the cost advantages of standardisation. Parts between types would
be interchangeable, and maintenance would be comparatively simple to undertake.
Riddles was assisted by E.S. Cox and a design team, and by 1950 the first type –
later known as the ‘’Britannia’’ Class – had been finalised on the drawing
board. The first engine, No. 70000, emerged from Crewe Works on 11th January
1951, it having a distinctive LMS ring about it. Following this in April of the
same year was 5MT 4-6-0 No. 73000, built at Derby, and then in May, 4MT 4-6-0
No. 75000 was despatched from Swindon. By July 1951, Brighton Works had
completed the first 88 ton 10 cwt 4MT 2-6-4 Tank (which had also been designed
there), this interestingly being No. 80010. In total, the Central Division’s
primary works constructed 130 of a type which had an eventual total of 155
examples. Smaller batches of fifteen and ten engines were built at Derby and
Doncaster respectively, completion coming in 1956. With the advent of the 1955
Modernisation Plan, which advocated the use of diesel traction, the BR Standard
types were already doomed, and an outstanding order of fifteen engines – which
would have brought the Standard Tank total to 170 - was halted.
Fundamentally, the 2-6-4 was intended to be a tank engine version of the 2-6-0
4MT 750XX series, and superficially, this would appear to be the case. However,
excepting the wheel arrangement and tender, there was another quite significant
difference between the two types - that of the boiler. The 2-6-0 utilised a
‘’BR4’’ boiler and the 2-6-4 incorporated a ‘’BR5’’ boiler. The former measured
13 foot in length, against the 12 feet 3 inches of the latter. The total boiler
output of the 2-6-0 was also 2,500 lbs greater than the tank engine, when
running at its power limit. Despite this, the 2-6-4T, which cost an average of
£17,650 (about £371,000 by 2005 prices) each to build, was capable of reaching speeds of up to 90 MPH.
Allocation of the ubiquitous type, was to every region except the Western, which already had large fleets of Prairie Tank engines from the 1930s. The largest recipient was the London Midland Region, where the class displaced several new Fairburn Tanks, these of which were subsequently cascaded to the Central and South Eastern Divisions of the Southern Region. Plaistow, Tilbury, and Shoeburyness sheds became hosts to both the BR Standard Tanks and the products of Stanier and Fairburn. The ‘’Tilbury Tanks’’, as they were known colloquially, were economical, but powerful engines, and they remained in existence on Fenchurch Street to Tilbury, Southend and Shoeburyness services until the advent of 25 K.V. overhead catenary on the line. The first electric services on the whole of the LT&SR initiated on 6th November 1961, but the full electric timetable was not implemented until 17th June 1962. Consequently, the Standard Tanks on this route were transferred to Shrewsbury on the Western Region, where steam traction was being phased out rapidly in favour of diesel hydraulics. The WR acquired yet more of the type on 1st January 1963, when those lines west of Salisbury were transferred to it from the SR, Exmouth Junction shed subsequently becoming a WR depot. Naturally, the Standard Tanks’ existence on the WR was short lived, and the next move they made was to the scrap yard. The type had a happier existence at Polmadie and Corkerhill sheds at Glasgow, on the Scottish Region, where they fronted suburban services in and around the city. Of course, their South Eastern Division involvement must not be forgotten. Peculiarly, this appears to fall mainly during the period of the Kent Coast Electrification, between 1959 and 1962, when Tonbridge and Ashford sheds received a few examples. They became quite familiar sights on the Maidstone East line, and around Ashford, but with the full electric timetable coming into effect on the ex-SER main line on 18th June 1962, all examples were transferred to the South Western Division, being re-allocated to Nine Elms. When on the SR, the type was known by the power classification 4P/4F (4 Passenger / 4 Freight), rather than the 4MT (4 Mixed Traffic) used on all other regions.
The doyen of the class, No. 80010, was withdrawn from the Central Division in
June 1964, where it had been based for its whole career. The Standard Tank
lasted a few years longer on the South Western Division, right up to the end of
steam on this section on 9th July 1967. From an original class number of 155,
some fifteen remain in existence today.
Central Division
On 9th October 1966, Standard Tank No. 80154 was observed at London Bridge ''low-level'', fronting the
''Four Counties'' rail tour for the ''Southern Counties Touring Society''. The locomotive hauled the train to
Wimbledon, where it was joined by USA Tank No. 30072, and the pair proceeded onto Tooting Junction
goods yard. After returning to Wimbledon, both locomotives were replaced by Bulleid Light Pacific No.
34052 ''Lord Dowding'', which took the tour onto Salisbury via Guildford. David Glasspool Collection
Western Region
The Western Region eventually acquired numbers of this useful type when the ex-SR lines west of Salisbury
were transferred to its control. Indeed, steam traction on WR lines was being phased out much more quickly
than it was on the SR, and consequently, 4MT Tanks had a short-lived existence on the former. A sorry
looking pair, Nos. 80033 and 80068, are depicted withdrawn in Westbury Yard on 31st December 1966.
Sadly, neither survive. David Glasspool Collection
Western Region
From steam to scrap: No. 80072 is seen sandwiched within a line of 4MT Tanks at Barry Scrap Yard, not
long after its arrival there in January 1966. Its coupling rods and 5' 8'' driving wheels remain intact. For
the majority of its short twelve year career, No. 80072 was on the London Tilbury & Southend line, working
out of Fenchurch Street alongside Fairburn's LMS Tanks of 1945. Overhead electrification in 1962 saw the
locomotive transferred to the Western Region, but with the rapid dieselisation of those lines, it soon found itself
surplus to requirements. Behind the engine can just be seen No. 80150. Happily, both locomotives survived into
preservation, but No. 80150 remains in scrap yard condition and, indeed, still resides on Barry Island, at the Vale
of Glamorgan Railway. No. 80072 is due to be steamed for the first time since BR days in the latter part of 2008,
twenty years after it was saved from Barry Scrap Yard. At time of typing, the boiler was being restored at Crewe,
and was due back at the Llangollen Railway around July/August. Restoration of the locomotive is being undertaken
by The Llangollen Standard Four Trust. David Glasspool Collection
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