BR Standard Class 4 4-6-0


The British Railways Standard Class 4 4-6-0 is a class of steam locomotives, 80 of which were built during the 1950s. Six have been preserved.

Background

The class was introduced in 1951. They were designed for mixed traffic use on secondary routes where the otherwise ubiquitous BR standard class 5 and their predecessors, the Black Fives, would be too heavy. They were essentially a tender version of the standard 4 2-6-4T, with similar characteristics to the GWR Manor Class, though unlike the Manors they were built to the universal loading gauge. They used the same running gear as the tank engine, and substantially the same firebox, smokebox and boiler, although the boiler barrel was increased in length by.
Design work was done at Brighton by R. A. Riddles, with help from Swindon, Derby and Doncaster. Construction was at the BR Swindon Works.
The engine weighed, was long, with diameter driving wheels. It had two cylinders of diameter and stroke operated at maximum boiler pressure of, to produce tractive effort. Its British Railways power classification was 4MT.
It normally used the standard BR2 or BR2A tender, which weighed and carried of water and of coal. In this configuration its route availability was 4, almost universal over the British Railways network.

In service

The class was initially allocated to the London Midland Region and the Western Region. The last 15 were allocated to the Southern Region. The Southern batch were built with BR1B tenders, which weighed, and carried of water and of coal. This reduced their route availability to 7, the same as the Standard Class 5.
YearQuantity in
service at
start of year		Quantity
withdrawn		Locomotive numbersNotes
196480275001/67
1965781175000/03/05/07–08/22/25/28/38/72–73
1966672075011/14/23/31/36/44–45/49–51/53–54/56–57/63/65–66/69–70/79
1967473775002/04/06/10/12–13/15–18/24/26/29–30/33/35/37/39–40/42–43/46–47/52/55/58–61/64/68/71/74–78
1968101075009/19–21/27/32/34/41/48/62

Preservation

Six members of the class have survived into preservation, with all of them apart from 75079 having run at some point. Two members of the class were purchased directly from BR for preservation ; the remaining four engines were rescued from Woodham Brothers' scrapyard at Barry Island.
No member of the class is presently main line approved but three of them have worked on the main line at various points in preservation. 75029 was passed to work on the main line between Grosmont and Whitby with occasional visits to Battersby during galas, but now the engine is out of service waiting for work to be undertaken on the boiler and firebox. Three members of the class are presently operational, with 75069 being the most recent engine to return to service, doing so in December 2018. 75027 has been cosmetically restored for display as part of the Bluebell Railway's 'Steamworks!' exhibition.
Number & NameTender AttachedBuiltWithdrawnService lifeLocationLiveryStatusImage
75014 "Braveheart"BR2ANov 1951Dec 196615 years, 30 daysDartmouth Steam RailwayBR Lined Black, Early EmblemOperational, boiler ticket expires: 2026.
75027BR2AMay 1954Aug 196814 years, 3 monthsBluebell RailwayBR Lined Green, Late CrestStatic Display
75029 "The Green Knight"BR2AMay 1954Aug 196713 years, 3 monthsNorth Yorkshire Moors RailwayBR Lined Green, Late CrestUndergoing overhaul
75069BR1BSept 1955Sept 196611 yearsSevern Valley RailwayBR Lined Black, Late CrestOperational, boiler ticket expires: 2028.
75078BR1BJan 1956Jul 196610 years, 5 monthsKeighley and Worth Valley RailwayBR Lined Black, Late CrestOperational, boiler ticket expires: 2024.
75079BR1BJan 1956Nov 196610 years, 10 monthsMid-Hants RailwayN/AUndergoing restoration.

Modelling

and Hornby have both recently released models of these engines in 00 gauge.