1958 BR 'Britannia' Class details:
BR Nos; 70000-70054.
Location; 70000-13, 30, 34-42 ER main lines Liverpool St.-Norwich. 70004, 14, SR Victoria-Dover. 70015-29 based in Cardiff.
70031-3, 43-4, Manchester-Euston. 70045-9 Holyhead-Euston. 70050-4 based in Glasgow.
Origin; B.R. Introduced; 1951. Designer; R.A.Riddles.
Driving Wheel; 6 ft 2 in. Bogie Wheel; 3 ft. Trailing wheel; 3 ft. 3.5 in.
Weight; Engine, 94 tons. Tender, Type 1 47 tons 4 cwt. Type 1E 55 tons 10 cwt. Length; 68 ft 9 in.
Boiler Pressure; 250 lbs. sq. in. Cylinders [2]; 20 in. x 28 in. Tractive Effort; 32,150 lb.
Coal; 7 tons or 9 tons. Water; 4,000 gals. or 4,725 gals.
Classification; 7-MT

Notes: The first of twelve new 'Standard' BR designs after nationalisation, designed at Derby and built at Crewe with sections desined and built at Brighton, Doncaster and Swindon, under the direction of R. A. Riddles, with post-WW2 pressures, the engines drew on skills from all the above workshops, and were not entirely without teething problems, mostly minor and having a lot to do with the nature of the times; with high labour costs, shortage of skilled labour,
First used with success on London-Norwich expresses, these engines never perhaps acheived the glory of pre-war express engines, but were competent and strong and easy to maintain and drive. The two engines pictured here were stationed at Holyhead and Stafford respectively, working Euston-Crewe-Holyhead with fast 'Irish Mail' trains with the larger 1E tenders. With 2-cylinders and certain design compromises, all of the class could sustain around 80mph and considerably more if needed, strengths being in sustained steaming and ability to 'slog'. A larger version represented by the single 'Duke of Gloucester' 71000 was built in early 1954.
BR in the mid 1950s had a around 23,000 steam locomotives and was essentially all-steam. 'Britannias' were used mostly in areas where heavy services were required outside the main trunk routes and where servicing and maintenance was likely to be less-than-ideal for fast hard-worked engines, although there were notable exceptions, as in Scotland where the culture was different, and on the Western Region where they were looked-upon as rather mundane 'workhorses'.
In this picture, 2007 Hornby model 70045 'Lord Rowallan' starts a heavy train from 'signals'... 'Anzac' approaching with an ex-LNWR-line express at 80 m.p.h. is enough for the fireman on 'Lord Rowallan' to pull his head in, 'Anzac' is perhaps late has a fire on, the exhaust hinting at this. The fast staccato beat of a two-cylinder at this speed is quite sharp. ...listening as the train passes, 70045's fireman says, "He's in a hurry today" ...