R.o.B Motive Power
SR West Country Class 4-6-2
Specifications: SR and BR build 'West Country' and 'Battle of Britain' class 4-6-2 built from 1945-1951
BR numbers: 34001-34110
Tractive effort: 27720lb
Driving wheels: 6 ft 2 in
Bogie wheels: 3 ft 1 in
Trailing wheels: 3 ft 1 in
Length: 67 ft 4 3/4 in
Total weight: 86 tons later 90 tons after rebuild
Fuel capacity: 5 tons
Water capacity: 4500 gallons
Cylinders: (3) 16 3/8in x 24 in
Boiler pressure: 250lb psi
BR power classification: 7P5F
Purpose: Express passenger
These engines were designed as a smaller version of the SR 'Merchant Navy' class of locomotives though looked very similar with the air smoothed casing weighing in at 18 3/4 tons per axle allowing the class access to most of the Southern Railways network unlike their predecessors. He first of the class was rolled out of Brighton works in the May of 1945 with 109 other members of the class following, the new class being named after towns and tourist attractions in the South West of England where they were intended to see their most use on services from London Waterloo. By 1948 the new engines were starting to be based in the Central and Eastern regions of the SR and the company decided to name new locomotives that would be used in those areas as Battle of Britain Royal air force squadrons with between one and four locomotives appearing from the works per month. By the December of 1948 there were 89 of the engines in traffic though production slowed in 1949 mostly due to the change of company to British Railways and the un-surety of the future of locomotive design, this was the year Eastleigh also started production of the class. Between the February and May of 1950 nine more engines entered traffic seeing the end but one of the class to be built this appearing in the January of 1951. 1957 saw the plan unveiled to re-build 60 the class for the same reasons as the 'Merchant Navy' engines to minimize the unnescessary maintence the design caused and to improve reliability with the removal of the air smoothed casing and the introduction of smoke deflectors instead. With the electrification of more of the BR southern region the locomotives started to become surplus to requirements and most were sent for scrap though 21 remained in use until July 1967. Twenty of the engines entered preservation nine of which were still in un-built condition though as of 2000 only nine were in operating condition, some seeing regular main line operation.
'Bodmin' No.34016: This locomotive was completed in at brighton works in the November of 1945 becoming SR number 21C116 though the engine initially did not have a name, which it was given on the 28th August 1946 when it made a trip to Bodmin in Cornwall where the naming ceremony took place. The engine was one of the 60 that had the modifications made in the April of 1956 having been sent to Eastleigh works though it returned to its home shed of Exmouth Junction in Devon where it remained until 1958. The locomotive spent its last years operating out of Eastleigh where it worked services between London and Southampton docks before it withdrawl from BR service in the June of 1964 after covering 800,000 miles, as with many other engines it was sold to Woodham Bros scrapyard on the island of Barry in Wales where it arrived in February 1965. Fortunately the engine was purchased privately in 1971 and moved to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre before moving to the Mid Hants Railway in 1976 where it was returned to operating condition returning to traffic on 8th September 1979 being re-named by the mayor of Bodmin two weeks later. The engine was again withdrawn from traffic by the Mid Hants railway in the January of 2005 for major work and is still today (MAY 2006) out of traffic.
'Taw Valley' No.34027: This engine is another of the re-built West Country class and in original condition entered traffic in the April of 1946 having been built at Brighton works and allocated the SR number of 21C127. The engines initial home shed was Ramsgate in Kent though was moved in 1947 to Exmouth Junction where it would have joined its sister engine 'Bodmin' working trains around Devon and Cornwall hauling the famous Atlantoc coast express and Devon belle trains. With the re-build at Eastleigh in September 1957 the engine was transferred to Bricklayers arms depot in South east London where it remained until 1961 when the lines in that area were electrified making the engine redundant though it was sent to Brighton to work commuter trains until it was transeferred to Salisbury in 1963 where it was withdrawn in the August of 1964. When withdrawn it was taken to Barry where it remained until 1980 when it was privately purchased and delivered to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and later to the East Lancs and then on to the Severn Valley Railway where the restoration was completed in 1987. Today, May 2006 the engine is awaiting a major overhaul as the boiler certificate has now expired.
'Tangmere' No.34067: This locomotive is of the Battle of Britain naming rather than the West Country though is essentially the same class of locomotive but 'Un-rebuilt' retaining its air smoothed casing and chain valve gear. The engine is named after an airfield that was once sited in Sussex during WW2 and was introduced in to traffic from Brighton works in the September of 1947 when it received the SR number 21C167, the engine receiving its BR number in July 1949. When in service it saw operation from Stewarts lane and Salisbury depots and was eventually withdrawn from service on 16 November 1963 at Eastleigh depot after 700,000 miles of running. The original plan had been for most engines to have been cut up on site at Eastleigh, 'Tangmere' being among this number but it was soon decided that this would be impracticable so they were sold to Woodhams of Barry for scrap where the engine arrived in the April of 1965. At the scrapyard the engine was privately purchased and was moved to the Mid Hants railway for restoration in 1981 though the restoration work was only completed as late as 2002 with it returning to steam on the East Lancs Railway in 2003 with a return to main line traffic in the March of that year. Today the engine sees regular main line operation and is regularly seen hauling the Urmine and cream VSOE trains.