BR STANDARD CLASS 5

The British Railways 'Standard Class 5MT' 4-6-0 was one of the standard classes of steam locomotives built by British Railways in the 1950s. 172 were built, essentially being a development of the LMS black five.

Contents

Background

Design and construction

In service

Preservation

References

External links

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.

Design and construction

The design work was done at ex-LNER works at Doncaster but the bulk of the construction was done at Derby. The locomotive featured a Type 3B boiler almost identical to the black fives'. A higher running plate and slightly enlarged driving wheels from 6' to 6' 2" and a standard cab were the most obvious visible changes.
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.

In service

In 1959, 20 of the Southern Region locomotives were named after SR King Arthur class locos that were then being withdrawn.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 Guard''

★ 73089 ''Maid of Astolat''

★ 73110 ''The Red Knight''

★ 73111 ''King Uther''

★ 73112 ''Morgan Le Fay''

★ 73113 ''Lyonnesse''

★ 73114 ''Etarre''

★ 73115 ''King Pellinore''

★ 73116 ''Iseuit''

★ 73117 ''Vivien''

★ 73118 ''King Leodegrance''

★ 73119 ''Elaine''

Preservation

Five have survived. These are:

Number	Name	Home	Notes	Link to database
73050	-	Nene Valley Railway	Named ''City of Peterborough''	database
73082	''Camelot''	Bluebell Railway		database
73096	-	Mid Hants Railway	Mainline operational	database
73129	-	Midland Railway Butterley	Caprotti Valve Geared locomotive	database
73156	-	Great Central Railway		database

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

★ Henry the Green Engine.

External links

★ Southern E-group photo gallery

★ http://www.midlandrailwaycentre.co.uk/73129/page1.html Website for 73