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 THE TRANSITION FROM STEAM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



BRITISH RAILWAYS WESTERN REGION (WR)

On January 1st 1948, the former ‘Big Four’ railway companies: London North Eastern Railway (LNER); London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMSR); Great Western Railway (GWR) and Southern Railway (SR) were amalgamated to form the new British Railways. A total of 20,211 steam locomotives were taken into State ownership consisting of: 1,838 from the SR, 3,856 from the GWR, 6,525 from the LNER, and 7,805 from the LMSR. The rest was made up of service engines and Departmental locomotives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1948, six new BR Regions were formed, their new boundaries corresponding closely to the lines of the former ‘Big Four’ railway companies. Britain’s railway network was now made up of the Western Region, Southern Region, Scottish Region, Eastern Region, North Eastern Region and London Midland Region - the old LNER being divided amongst the two newly-formed Regions - Eastern and North Eastern, whilst the Scottish Region was composed partly of the former LMS and LNER. Over the years, the Regional boundaries diminished significantly as many locomotives (from an operational standpoint) worked beyond their arbitrary Regions, so in many ways it is meaningless to classify any particular class of locomotive as belonging to any one of the six Regions during the transition from steam. For example, it was not unusual to find the LMS Ivatt Moguls working alongside more traditional ex-GWR engines at places like Barmouth (below) situated well outside the Region they were initially allocated.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

(Below) By the end of 1948, many locomotives were carrying their new BR numbers with the exception of the Western Region engines which retained their brass and cast iron cabside number plates below 10,000. British Railways eventually chose a dark Brunswick Green (lined out in black and orange) for BR’s fleet of express-passenger engines. Consequently, little had changed on the Western Region since GWR days. This photo shows a clean-looking ‘Castle’ class 4-6-0 No 5028 Llantillo Castle with the BR's first 'Lion and Wheel' totem (1948-1956) on the tender side. Photos © L Hanson, D Pritchard-D Hey collection


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Above) Whilst the GWR’s dark Brunswick Green survived for use on BR’s express passenger engines, the choice of black livery with a red, cream and grey lining for locomotives designated mixed traffic, and an even duller unlin ed black livery for its freight and shunting classes can hardly be described as adventurous. When George Jackson Churchward was CME at Swindon (1902-1921) he equipped the Great Western Railway with nine locomotive classes ranging from 2-6-2Ts, through 2-6-0 and 4-6-0 mixed traffic and express passenger locomotives, to 2-8-0 heavy freight engines of both tank and tender varieties. This Class 28xx No 2803 was photographed at Swindon shed in June 1950. Photo © D Pritchard collection.

(Below) Churchward’s successor, Charles B Collett (1921-1941) was responsible for 17 new locomotive classes, including the Castles, Kings, Granges, Manors and Hall classes. Although his predecessor was a hard act to follow, Collett took the sensible step of improving on Churchward’s successful formula, therefore many of his locomotives were of a modified designs as distinct from rebuilds. These included the modified Class 28xx 2-8-0 variants Nos 3800-66 introduced in 1938. Sporting a smokebox numberplate and a Newton Abbot (83A) shed plate, No 3834 is seen with Prairie tank No 5104 and Pannier tank No 8405 at Leamington shed in July 1955.Photo © P R Batty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


(Below) A lesson in ‘panning’ shots - ‘King’ Class 4-6-0 6009 King Charles II approaches Bentley Heath Crossing with the 4.30pm Wolverhampton-Paddington express on Sunday 5th July 1959. By the middle of the 1960s, the entire class of Kings, Duchesses, Princess Royals, and Schools became casualties of th e diesel era, leaving just 4,970 steam locomotives at the end of 1964. At the same time, The closure of steam motive power depots in the new inter-regional shed-code renumbering scheme was to radically change the scene. The revision of the six regional boundaries led to the closure of the former Great Central line from Sheffield to London after it was transferred from the ER to the LMR. The same fate befell the Somerset & Dorset line over the Mendips when it was transferred from the SR to the WR. Inevitably train services were deliberately run down to facilitate closure, and both routes were destined not to survive the Beeching era…Photo © M Mensing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Above) A rather grimy ‘Hall’ class No 5971 Morevale Hall was photographed at Wolverhampton Oxley Road Shed (84B) on 31st March 1965. By this time, the diesel-hydraulics were well to the fore and in view of the deplorable working conditions, shed staff found it difficult to maintain a standard of cleanliness. In this evocative shot, the poor operating conditions are clearly evident, as the offside nameplate is missing, yet the nearside nameplate still remained in place. It begs the question whether No 5971 could have been the last WR steam loco to bear a name by this date. Indeed, with steam in rapid decline BR found it necessary to remove nameplates when their value as collectors items led to unlawful disappearances from steam depots. Doubtless this is the case here - all things considered, the WR would have removed both plates, surely? Photo © M Mensing 

(Below) Photographed from the entrance of the car park to Tudor Grange Park (No 6857 in the WR’s 6800 class) the driver of ‘Hall’ class 4-6-0 No 4918 Dartington Hall  awaits the right away from Solihull station with a train of empty coaching stock on 3rd September 1960. Of interest are the two advertising hoardings beneath the bridge, which display a variety of interesting posters (from left to right) - a local Revue Bar advertising Folies Striptease three times daily; Swan Vesta matches; Ilford Film; The Regular Army (Guardians of the Peace); the WR’s new Blue Pullman service between Birmingham and Paddington; Bottled Beer; Co-op Dividend Stamp and a 1960’s advertising slogan I’m sure we’ll all remember: the Milk Marketing Board’s ’Drink-Pinta-Milka-Day’ campaign. Photo © M Mensing 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Below) Churchward’s 2-6-2T No 4570 - one of a class of 4MT tank locos introduced in 1906 for light branch work on the GWR - heads a St Erth-St Ives train near Corbis Bay in July 1960. Photo © M Pope

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



In 1948, the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission (BTC) announced its preference for developing future steam power rather than dabbling with new, untried diesel traction. This led to the Locomotive Interchange Trials, supervised by RA Riddles, then member of the BTC’s Railway Executive who was responsible for mechanical and electrical engineering. He was assisted by ES Cox, then executive member of the British Transport Commission for design - both ex-LMSR men, who doubtless had in mind their well intentioned plan for evaluating the relative performance of former companies engines in normal operating conditions. However it came as no great surprise that out of the twelve new BR standard classes (numbered in the 70-80,000s and 92,000s) many designs incorporated the latest features taken from LMSR practice.

BR Standard Class 4 No 76040 pauses at Machynlleth on 20th August 1966. The ‘BR4’ mixed traffic Moguls - numbered 76000-76114 - were derived from the ex-LMS Ivatt Mogul numbered 43000-43162, but the ‘BR4’ was nothing like as ugly as their progenitors. Perhaps by the time the ‘BR4’ appeared in traffic, those steam enthusiasts brought up on a diet of asthetically-pleasing locomotives (brass nameplates mounted on curved footplates upswept over driving wheels) had grown accustomed to the stark appearance of the new Cox/Riddles standard designs? Th e ‘BR4s’ low axle loading of under 17 tons gave them a wide route availability, but by the mid-1960s the volume of traffic on many secondary routes was rapidly decreasing and a more useful Standard Class 3 type would have sufficed. Indeed, had Churchward still been alive - or Collett, for that matter - both men would have turned in their grave at the very un-Great Western look of the new engines (Swindon Works designed and built the ‘BR3’ mixed traffic 2-6-0 engines Nos 77000-77019, using a slightly shortened version of the Swindon standard ‘No2’ boiler, as fitted to the large GWR ‘Prairie’ tanks (51XXs) and 0-6-2 tanks in the 56XX series). The boiler was modified to carry a dome and normal type of superheater. The 2-6-0 was essentially a tender engine version of the Swindon-built 2-6-2T 82000s, having identical driving wheels, cylinders, boiler pressure and tractive effort. Photo © EA Wood collection

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visit the exellent wikipedia, free encyclopedia website Cornwall Railway Viaducts

 

  A PICTURE GALLERY OF KINGS, CASTLES, GRANGES, MANORS AND HALLS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Above) Upon nationalisation in 1948, the newly-formed Western Region inherited a total of 3,857 locomotives, 8,653 coaches, 88,918 goods vehicles and 3,743 route miles of track. The bulk of locomotives originated on the GWR, though a small number of surviving locomotives were taken into stock from absorbed lines, including several Hudswell-Clark 0-6-0Ts from the Swansea Harbour Railway.  This shot here of Danygraig Swansea Motive Power Depot on 7th July 1947 shows Nos 1103, 1945, 943, 968, 359 and 942. Photo copyright HC Casserley 

(Below) Take a butchers at this shot! Is it any wonder that Western Region fans dubbed their beloved Great Western Railway (GWR) - 'God's Wonderful Railway'? Taken before nationalisation, Churchward's Class 0F 0-6-0ST No 1362 - built in 1910 specifically for dock shunting duties (where there were severe curves) rests at Newton Abbot shed. Photo copyright L Hanson 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Below) As for the changeover to WR dmu services? With the rank and file of steam classes in rapid decline, it became increasingly difficult for the operating department to find a suitable steam locomotive with a power classification relative to its train formation; either being too heavy or too light for the purpose. The diesel multiple units offered a practical solution to this problem as the engines of several railcars could be coupled together to meet varying traffic needs, therefore the power available became proportional to the length of the train. In the case of the Swindon-built Class 126s, however, pragmatism - rather than aesthetics - was the main item on the agenda, for the 70mph Inter-city units were not the best looking vehicles. Powered by two AEC 150hp engines, the 3-car sets had two front ends - a full-width cab and a half-cab incorporating a central gangway connection which allowed through access within a 6-car set. Prior to commencing service in Scotland, the first six 3-car sets were introduced on the WR’s Birmingham-Cardiff-Swansea service in June 1957, the usual formation being comprised of six cars with the two gangwayed trailers coupled together in the centre of the train. Sporting a ’V’ chevron on the front-end, a 3-car set arrives at Gloucester. Photo © EA Wood collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


(Above) Despite the economies the new dmus brought, many branch line closures could not be prevented. This included the former LSW’s Sidmouth branch on the Devon coast which was dieselised in November 1963, but succumbed to the Beeching axe in March 1967. Here a pair of Derby Class 108 dmus occupy the single platform - the one on the left retains its 2-character train description panel beneath the driving cab windows and a small destination panel in the cab roof, whilst the newer vehicle from 1960 onwards (right) has been modified with a 4-panel route indicator box moulded as an integral part of the roof canopy and the destination panel relocated aboye the central cab window. Here the 4-character train description blind displays 2C55, as a 2-car unit - sporting a white cab roof - awaits departure in May 1964. Photo © EA Wood collection. 

(Below) Although committed to replacing steam with diesel and electric power, the British Transport Commission continued to show a keen interest in developing any type of new motive power which showed promise of economies in rail operation, including the conversion of a number of steam locomotives to oil firing. Meanwhile, the GWR had begun experiments in conjunction with the Swiss firm of Brown Boveri to build a gas-turbine electric locomotive capable of producing the equivalent power of a ‘King’ class locomotive. In fact, the GWR gas turbine did demonstrate its ability to produce a power well beyond any steam locomotive then operating on the Western Region, but the BTC took the decision to abandon all forms of main line traction other than steam and the interesting gas-turbine experiment came to an end. The Brown Boveri A1A-A1A gas-turbine No 18000 is seen at Swindon. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IN ORDER TO MAXIMISE WEB SPACE THE DIESEL-HYDRAULIC PHOTOS HAVE BEEN MOVED TO A SEPARATE PAGE. A LINK IS PROVIDED HERE