The Last Stand of British Steam - BR Standard Class 9F
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ก.ค. 2020
- Hello again! :D
This week, we take a look at perhaps the greatest steam engine ever built in Britain based on its superb performance and efficiency. The BR Standard Class 9F was the last series of steam engines to be constructed by British Railways, but was the final chapter of a sweeping evolution in order to make steam locomotives work to the best of their abilities.
Sadly, with the tide changing in favour of diesel and electric traction, the 9F's career was criminally short, and most were retired from duty with less than 5 years of work under their belt, not even half their proposed lifespan.
All video content and images in this production have been provided with permission wherever possible. While I endeavour to ensure that all accreditations properly name the original creator, some of my sources do not list them as they are usually provided by other, unrelated TH-camrs. Therefore, if I have mistakenly put the accreditation of 'Unknown', and you are aware of the original creator, please send me a personal message at my Gmail (this is more effective than comments as I am often unable to read all of them): rorymacveigh@gmail.com
The views and opinions expressed in this video are my personal appraisal and are not the views and opinions of any of these individuals or bodies who have kindly supplied me with footage and images.
If you enjoyed this video, why not leave a like, and consider subscribing for more great content coming soon.
Paypal: paypal.me/rorymacve?country.x...
Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/rorymacve
Thanks again, everyone, and enjoy! :D
References:
- British Steam: BR Standard Locomotives by Fred Kerr (and their respective references)
- Wikipedia (and its respective references) - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
![CAMPปลิ้น | EP.75[2/2] คุยแบบนี้แล้วจะจบกี่โมงพ่ะย่ะค่ะ!!!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/N6E8njWH7Zg/mqdefault.jpg)
I remember in 1964 driving on the M1 matching the speed of a 92xx of about 80+ mph on the section of line which parallels the motorway. The fireman smiled and gave me a salute; a wonderful experience before the advent of the 70 mph road speed limit!
.........bet that was great......i reckon theres some who've tried to do same with a HST 125........after the 70mph limit in force !!!!!!
I matched one of the Electrics along there. 🙂
Was this on the old GC London Extension?
I have no idea; it was on the section approaching Newport Pagnal services
@@keplermission4947 A Lotus Elite and it was pre 70 mph speed limit restrictions.
Aged 5, standing on Stratford station waiting for our train to Southend. Two brand new 9Fs rolled by. I remember the shock and awe..
Obviously it was only some years later I realized what I'd seen. Start of an ongoing love affair...
Thanks.
92220 “Evening Star” was suggested because “Morning Star “ was a 2-2-2 loco built at Swindon for the G.W.R. during the rise of steam locos. It was deemed appropriate that at the end Evening Star would be one of the last. Both names coincidentally apply to the planet Venus.
Hi my name is Phil I did 50yrs on the footplate I started at edgeley shed on the 4th of April 1961in. 1962 I was made a fireman I fired a number of locomotives in my time I finished my time out at 9A as a driver I finished in 2011 Regards Phil.
I wish I could say that ... but I was born too late!
What types of traction did you drive post steam?
Yeah. Right.
I can't believe steam was still a thing less than 5 years before I was born.
Evening Star was practically "brand new" when retrired.
There is a schools class used in the South East that was retired after 10 years use. It was at the Spa Valey or Blue Bell Railway preservation societies.
I have one memory of seeing a steam loco in use before they disappeared. I would only have been about three years old, if that, at the time so I assume the fact I remember it probably means it was quite unusual to see a real chuff-chuff. North Kent line for those wondering.
Do you realise that pure sailing ships...with no auxiliary engines for propulsion (just donkey engines to work the winches for the sails) were carrying cargo around the world as late as the 1930s...even 40s? And doing this as commercial enterprises! It blows my mind..
And I can't believe steam was phased out so early in the UK. In West Germany we had regular steam services until 1977 and in East Germany until the very end in 1989, some steam services surviving after reunification in the Berlin area until 1994!
@@countluke2334 I remember walking in the countryside near the Black Forest in 1974. There was a railway line cutting through the fields and a steam engine came by. I got a little excited as I hardly remembered seeing steam in the UK. The driver waved. It could have been to a fairly excited young lad or maybe to my sister who was early twenties at the time.
Very enjoyable: no obstructive music, interesting content, a nice manageable length. These are great!
Oh, yes! I am tired of the loud, annoying music accompanying some beautiful videos.
The 9F was modeled on German hill-climbing heavy locomotives th-cam.com/video/mck1L2cT8DY/w-d-xo.html seen in this link. The British never mention a large amount of help they got in developing the 9F through their postwar role in Western Germany. It was something like the German stake in Rover, making the 75. The British weren't very good in the 20th Century and this led to a lot of wars with the US taking the lead superpower role and Britain rejected from Europe as an equal partner.
@@keplermission4947 What the hell are you talking about? The 9F - as stated in the video - was a logical development of the LMS 8F but with a better boiler and additional driving wheels. There was/is no connection with BMW buying Rover.
You Americans do come up with some funny ideas.
Yes, and also no annoying and unwanted VPN ads
@@keplermission4947 So in watching a vid of a German steam loco stalled on a hill that just happens to have the same wheel arrangement as a 9F to you proves the case that the British got 'a large amount of help they got in developing the 9F through their postwar role in Western Germany'....... really.... Whilst totally ignoring what was mentioned in the vid about the 9F being a further logical development of the old LMS 8F - The clue is in the number/letter. It night surprise you to know that the UK wasn't exactly some backwater hicksville that had little to no experience in developing steam locomotives. As for for your equally unusual deductions regards Rover/BMW let me quote from the article on the Rover 75 from Wikipedia - 'Work on the new model, codenamed R40, progressed with little operational interference from BMW' and in fact the Rover 75 Tourer / estate, I'll quote from Wikipedia again, '2001 saw the introduction of the Rover 75 Tourer (developed alongside the saloon but never authorised for production by BMW)'.
These are some amazing locomotives, huge, powerful, and efficient, unfortunately they served for such a short time. I played a game of OpenTTD a while ago with a UK rail set mod and these formed the backbone of my steam fleet for years even into the diesel era, as they were some of the most modern steam trains I could buy and they lasted longer than my earlier models. They were stronger than the first diesels too so they were worth keeping for my railroad.
I once read that any one of the 250 9F's could run passenger trains at 90+ MPH. This practice was banned as at that speed the piston and rotational speeds equaled that of Mallard when she broke the steam traction speed record. Mallard only achieved this speed once in her lifetime yet any given 9F on any given day was capable of this achievement. A true testimony of a great, really great locomotive.
Decades of development in engineering. I wonder what a 9P would have been like :)
And after one of these passenger trains , the driver said he was supposed to keep to time “Not break the bloody Sound barrier!”
I well remember climbing over the fence of Cox and Danks scrapyard at Wadsley Bridge in Sheffield as a lad and running my hand over that flangeless centre wheel in wonderment, and awe that such a magnificent machine could be cast aside as scrap . Seemed like the death of a spirit to me .
The video starts off with 92079 which was the Class 9F which banked on the Lickey Incline. I remember seeing it many times at Bromsgrove as a child trainspotter, sometimes banking with another 9F on the front of the train, especially on oil trains from Fawley - a really impressive site with up to 5 engines on one train. You can see it returning down the incline with another Jinty banker (As I remember it was No 47252) in the second shot of it.
The 9F on the bluebell is apparently "the next large locomotive" to go into the workshop according to the bluebell news they sent out which should be awesome!
Another Motion History corker! Love it.
As one of only eight existing, modern day Wellingborough depot drivers left, we have a soft spot for 9F’s. Crosti versions in particular, seeing as they were Wellingborough locomotives.
Hi,my name is Phil i did 50yrs on the footplate I started at edgeley shed on the 4th of April 1961 as a cleaner in 1962 I was made a fireman I moved to Trafford Park shed as a fireman 1964 I moved back to edgeley I fired a number of different locomotive I finished my time out at longsight as a driver but on the 19th of February 1973 I fired the flying Scotsmen from Manchester to derby works and on the 25th of August 1973 I fired lender from derby to Manchester it was red then Regards Phil.
Kudos to you mate . We loved our visits to 15A . One time 9 of the 10 Crosties were on shed at on the same day .
@@philipholt9112 You might remember Syd Beet who was a relation of my Dad's from 9 B????
I'd never seen a 2-10 configuration before. I'm so glad so many of these beautiful engines were saved. Great video.
Fortunately there's a preserved one on a steam railway near me. Always a joy to be hauled by.
I love British steam locomotives, it's so sad that the BR Standards had such short working lives.
I did in childhood. Ish. I'm not British, but TTTE came to where I am and that's why. TTTE=my childhood and I'm here because I found this from something about TTTE as I got nostalgic. Do British steamers really peep-peep and poop-poop whistle like on the show?
1:06 "Upon its formation in 1948, the British Rail Board... [inherited] hundreds of aging steam classes... some of which dated to before the Grouping Act of 1923" Grouping was only 25 years before 1948 and a locomotive can easily work longer than that. The issue was that some of them were from _long_ before grouping, even from the 19th century.
My locospotters book of 1963 had the oldest loco being a Midland 1F shunter then dating from 1863! although the survivors were likely slightly later ones probably from about 1875. BR inherited 20,000 steam locos and built 999 standards and about 1,500 pre existing or under construction types so they scrapped more than 1,000 a year for 20 years, when my father told me they would all be gone by 1970 (back in 1965) I could not believe him but Aug 11th 1968 the great scrapping was complete although on the 12th 45212 shunted Preston yard the last steam working of a regular nature on BR.
Simultaneously the most successful and shortest-lived of all the BR Standards (perhaps one of Robert Riddles' finest designs too?). My picks of the bunch alongside the Duke of Gloucester and the Britannias too.
Cracking vid as ever BTW. :)
I remember an old video of a Pines Express driver and his fireman speaking well of the 9F. "They were the engine for the S & D" they declared.
That's because they had a load limit of 10 coaches unassisted over the Mendips and didn't need a pilot. All the other engines had a limit of 8 except, I think, the 7Fs which also had a limit of 10. Evening Star was unassisted on the very last PInes but that had 420+ tons behind it.
The 9F's have been my favourite steam engine since seeing one a couple of years ago on the Watercress line and they look so immense with the five big driving wheels. Great video about their history and particularly enjoyed the mix of different footage of them
Yes superb locomotives, my family treated me to a footplate experience on the Watercress 9f for my 70th birthday last year. What an afternoon! For interest it is number 92212.
I agree with his views and thoroughly enjoyed this documentary.
I remember reading somewhere that for a while a 9f held the British record for the heaviest train ever moved by a single locomotive. The 9fs although freight locomotives had a high turn of speed and could regularly run at 80 plus mph. This lead to many being used on passenger trains, the most famous being the pines express. It wasn’t uncommon for a 9f to stand in for a failed Britannia on a passenger train.
I think they could not do it in winter, as they were not able to provide train heating.
Always been my favourite class of British Steam loco
I grew up alongside the Great Central railway in southern Leicestershire, where most of the traffic in the late 1950's until the line closed were 9F hauled, the work they did on the "runners" from the Nottingham coalfields from Annesley to Woodford Halse were legendary, as were the speeds they got up to on passenger workings, nice nostalgic video well presented, thanks.
Most enjoyable with informative commentary. Evening Star only 5 years old when retired - such a waste.
Yes sir sir Alan have to do thank him so very sorry to you you know you ok I will have a great night and you can play you on your day and get you a good morning and a little rest in my morning love I hope you had an enjoyable day and a lot
@Alexander Challis is a
WwwwwwwWWwwwwwwwwWwWWW@Alexander Challis is on a bus and I have
*Great Video, particularly liked the bit about the Franco Crosti's - remember seeing these in Leicester as a schoolboy on the Iron Ore Tippler trains from Wellingborough/Corby, shame none of the clips showed the side chimney exhaust. Well done.*
The sight of double headed 9Fs hauling iron ore up the bank in Wirral wil stay with me for ever. They could be heard 3 miles away. Incidentally, a 9F could not stop on the incline into John Summmers steelworks and whistling to let the signal box know the crew jumped for it, it came off thr track in Summers yard. Don`t know how long it took to re rail the beast!.
Nothing will ever compare to the grace and splendor of a steam locomotive.
First shot of 9f and Jinty is #92079, the dedicated 'Lickey Banker' (Headlight) descending the Bank as a raft with the ex-LMS tank, Then at the coal stage Bromsgrove.
Your picture research is immaculate - even locating an illustration of the crew being enveloped by steam after the deflectors were removed.
I love watching 9F 92134 running on the NYMR, she's a fabulous engine.
Many of those scenes were filmed on the Leeds - Manchetser route, between Milnsbridge amd Marsden, a few hundred yards from my home. I spent many happy hours on Golcar station platform, watching the changing scene. Great video - thanks.
I remember seeing many 9Fs close-up while trainspotting mostly at Wood Green in the very early 60s. I could spend all day on the platforms there, watching an amazing variety of tank and tender locos working freight, as well as the occasional glamorous Pacifics zooming through.
Many thanks for bringing back the memories! (Except that I never remembered them looking as clean as they do now!)
Thanks. As a resident of Swindon and GWR fan, I still have great respect for Evening Star and those that designed and built her at Swindon Works. A truly magnificent work horses of a bygone age.
These are some of the best documentaries anywhere. In particular, I really appreciate the correct photos and videos. Thank you for such excellence.
Must say your videos are absolutely superb, the content, narration, and editing are spot on.
A perfect documentary, well written, well informed and well naratted. Well done and thank you. 10/10 : )
A pity that none of the improvements and modifications executed proved to be of much use. What I find confusing is why were so many of this class, 9F built when plans were already afoot to change over to diesel and diesel - electrics? Excellent commentary.
Because they needed more locomotives immediately. Construction of the 9Fs started in 1953 but the successful BR diesel classes were all several years later than that. The class 20s, 31s and 40s were built from 1957-58 but classes such as the 25s, 37s and 47s didn't begin to be built until the 1960s. Sure, they could have started building more diesel locomotives sooner, but look at how disastrous many of the early British diesel classes were: many of them didn't last any longer than the 9Fs.
Remember that, when the first 9Fs entered service in January 1954, Britain was still struggling to recover from World War II. Yes, the war ended in 1945 but, for example, wartime rationing didn't fully end until July 1954.
@@beeble2003 That's all true, and don't forget that they were spread over the whole railway system - 251 locomotives then doesn't seem so many at all.
At the time it was expected that steam would continue significantly longer than it did. Initially he 9Fs were expected to last till the 80s.
It's surprising the end of steam came so early. Coal was cheap and available. It would probably have been cheaper to run them a while longer, as many countries on the continent did.
@@countluke2334 That's actually been proven, the problem, as so often, was mismanagement.
This is my personal favourite steam locomotive class, they have a gentle giant aspect to them and I just love them, evening star especially has its own unique character
I’m so glad this country preserved steam, these wonderful beasts are a sight to behold when fired up.
Excellent delivery and no messin’ ! Highly informative as all such docs should be! Compliments and thanks for showing this!
You're on fire mate - I wish you every success.
Great work, these documentaries are very professional and I really enjoy the format 👍
The 9F is one of my favorite British engines. Something about it. Probably admiration for its performance.
I can only agree with the many favorable comments already made about this presentation. I also appreciate all of the other historical and technical topics covered in the "Motion History" series. Thank You for producing these excellent informative videos!
Excellent documentary, and flawlessly and interestingly narrated - thank you !
A excellent and informative posting. I was lucky enough to have been hauled by 92220 from York to Scarborough and return circa 1976, something that won't be repeated due to the current ban on 9Fs on the mainline. Their premature disposal was a disgrace, but symptomatic of the way the railways were being managed at the time.
Sad to hear 9Fs are not approved on NR metals:-(()
I am so proud that my grandfather helped to write the book on these (ISBN 090 1 1159 59). Having seen evening star and black prince in the flesh many times, to me the 9F's are the epitome of main line steam, and whilst a lot of Gresley's locos are undeniably beautiful, it was these in the end that were the final hurrah for steam in the UK, particularly for those whose family or friends worked at the Crewe or Swindon works, and should perhaps be a bit more recognised than they are. Thanks for the great video.
A great report on the history of our large steam locos.....
Beautifully researched and presented. Do keep them coming please.
Excellent video , Well thought out and thanks for sharing
Fantastic Video Mate, Keep them coming :)
Such an impressive presentation. Educated me a lot. Thank you.
Excellent history of these engines. Thanks. Rob
Thank you for a very interesting and informative program about the 9f locomotives. Well done.
Great video including the clear narration, nicely presented facts along with excellent vintage (and modern) footage. Many thanks!
Another cracking video! Please keep them coming!!!
As a schoolboy, I would sit by the line side at Mitre Bridge, Scrubs Lane, just east of Old Oak Common shed. On one occasion when I was all alone, a 9F ran out of the shed and was held at a signal right in front of me, as if to pose for my examination and waited there for about 5 minutes, the longest time I've ever looked at a 9F and I've seen dozens of em. This particular example was the cleanest and shiniest I ever saw, after all, it was 92220 Evening Star.
One of my Dads favourite engines along with the Britannia he fired and drove them , we had soundtrack of the Evening star at his funeral . Another great video thanks
One of the Britannia Classes was named after William Shakespeare.
Thank you, enjoyed that, most informative.
Great vlog as always! Be safe!
Super video. Thanks for sharing.
I love the intro of the film, night mail, when introducing the train leaving Euston, postal down, class 6 weighing 340 tons 12 vehicles, I might be a bit wrong with the weight but just love the film
Excellent summary history spliced with appropriate video clips - thank you for making!
Brilliant film. Great shots and editing
Great stuff, really enjoyed it.
Thanks for this. I remember seeing 92220 outside Old Oak Common shed whilst our family was returning from a holiday in Cornwall. Don't remember the year, but she looked brand new and gleaming (I was 7 in 1960). My father remarked that she was the last steam loco that would be built. Shame she is now a static exhibit, although better that than being scrapped.
I'm constrained to comment that this excellent video has the best commentary I've ever had the pleasure of listening to.
Lovely set of videos. Two areas not mentioned. New England MPD at Peterborough provided 9F's for the GN equivalent of the GC windcutters to Hornsey yard in North London, whilst the work down on the Shotton ore trains by Birkenhead crews surely deserves coverage! Maybe another video? Best Regards Andrew Walley.
Excellent - clear, precise and informative commentary. Where do you get your archive footage from?
An excellent and very enjoyable appraisal!
Very enjoyable, full of interesting facts and nostalgia and just the right length.
A very good video. These were impressive machines and their ability to haul a 2,000 + ton train as stated at the end is remarkable.
92203 Was bought out of service along with standard 5 75029 by the late David Shepherd [the wildlife artist]. So like Evening Star avoided the scrapyard.
I love 92203 Black Prince
Splendid video! Thanks!
Great video. Especially loved the footage of the ex-NER J27s and Q6s near the beginning. Shame there were no mentions of the few fitted with air pumps for the Consett iron ore trains.
Great presentation, very enjoyable.
Fascinating film, very well explained. Thank you.
Great video I really enjoyed it 👍🏻
Evening Start is a gorgeous loco
The 9F looks great! Nice documentary
I was so young. But these majestic brutes hauled coal up and down the valley in South Wales where I lived. Alongside the ex GWR 2-8-0 and 2-8-2 tank engines they were amazing to see.
Very entertaining video , greatly enjoyed .
Great new video .Thanks very much.
Great videos! Thankyou!
Nice one a'Rhuairidh! I'm about to take on a Dapol Kit in OO Gauge of the 9F and the confirmation about the Evening Star being turned out in Early BR Green is correct. A friend thought he'd painted his the wrong colour, although LNER Apple Green is still brighter. Great stuff, sir. Thanks again. Keep Well there. Cheers!
Awesome as usual, thank you. I think the strangest uses of 9Fs was on the SDJR, where a single 9f construct would be 3rd Brake, composit, 3rd Brake of either Bulleid suburbans or ex LMS suburbans in Southern Region green or crimson respectively. Add the even odder sight of a 9f double header dragging 8 BR Crimson coaches from Bristol down the SDJR and we have a OO gauge model railway ultimate must. Cheers and thank you once again.
I think that would be after the 1962 rerouting of all the expresses and the 9Fs had not been transferred away.
There might be potential for a series here, "The last steam engines of (insert country here)", or something along those lines.
Interesting that the last-built BR steam locomotive was a designated freight locomotive (though obviously working as a multirole locomotive). In Germany, both East and West, the railway companies decided that their last steam locomotives ought to be express engines, with the Western Br10 and Eastern BR18 being extremely fast and efficient prototypes, the former an entirely new construction, the latter a rebuild. Though they ran in limited revenue service, they were moreso designed as representative, with the Br10 even featuring streamlining.
Throughout the 50s in Western Germany the thinking was similar to that of BR, with the electrification of the main lines being a priority and several new classes of passenger steam locomotives being designed to replace the old ones, which mostly predated WW1. A lot of existing steam locomotives during this time also received new and more powerful boilers. Most of the new classes weren't really successful, and in the end, the BR23, designed in the 50s to replace the Prussian P8, only outlasted it by a few months. Freight locomotives had been built aplenty from the mid-3s onwards, and lasted into the late 70s.
In Eastern Germany the plan was similar to what eventually happened in Britain, with diesels intended to quickly replace steam, before eventual electrification would take place. However due to issues with procurement and reliability, as well as general engine shortages, steam engines lasted well into the late 70s, and during the 80s some steam engines that had received new boilers during the 50s and 60s were even temporarily brought out of retirement for scheduled freight service. During that time the GDR's electric locomotive program was prioritized (which is where the lack of diesels came from), but only one series was produced in large number before reunification and the end of the DR (in 1994, interestingly), and subsequently used up until a few years ago in local services across Germany. The at the time modern electric freight prototype wasn't further developed, and it would take an additional 5 years before the Bombardier Traxx was introduced to replace the formerly West German electric freight and passenger locomotives, mainly built in the 50s and early 60s, and which lasted well into the 2000s.
Hi folks. I grew up in Broadstone, the end of the SDJR. Evening Star ran through Broadstone Junction with that last Pines Express. Brings back memories. BobUK.
I loved the fact that pennine steam in the 60s was used for your clips
British rail line is still alive in sylhet, Bangladesh. we are great full to ancient British government... to established such a great way....
Excellent content. Love steam trains!
Brilliant appraisal, thank you :-)
The real hangup on the BR plans was the lack of power braked wagons! Back in 1900,the Parliament should have taken the hint from the US Congress,and made ( mandatory),all freight stock,to have power brakes,and there would have been far less accidents,and a general speedup of the transport network! This is one of Churchill's failures as he was on the Board of Trade prior to WW1,and the air brake was in use for 30+ years by the as time!
These trains are magnificent. It's lovely to see them shot in black and white and colour.
Excellent . Thank you .
A very good program. Just to give Indian side of it. The last steam loco produced was in 1970 (Antim Sitara - Last Star; similar name to evening star). By 1980 most of the main line express trains were running on diesel engines and electrification was ongoing . Around 1993 most of the steam engines were phased out.
As a young guy I travelled around the sub-continent for a year or so in the early '70s largely on Indian Railways. I just loved those steam locos. The smell of coal, smoke, hot oil and stream, the sounds, what a thrill! Sipping sweet milky 25 paise (do anna) chai from an earthenware disposable cup at four o'clock of a chilly morning at some station in the middle of nowhere. That's real India.
The Indian Railway network is a fascinating operation, has the metre gauge system been replaced yet? That stuff was lovely!
@@Gribbo9999, yup those were the days, I suppose. I finished my year 12 in 1985 and did my degree between 1985 and 88. My father was an officer in the Indian Railways, in one of the railway divisional head quarters. We lived in a Officers bungalow (huge one with garden). I have traveled in one of the last passenger trains on Meter gauge hauled by steam engine up to 1988.
@@72stu52, They are replacing them at a good pace now. Electrification is also happening at a good pace. Following are some numbers I got from the web,
In 1952 Indian railways had approx. 25270 KMs of Broad gauge and 24237 KMs of Meter gauge and 5403 KMs in Route Kilometers (total:54,909 KMs Approx.).
This year only Approx 3100 KMs in total of Meter gauge and Narrow gauge are left and are under conversion, as I type, to Broad gauge. A very very small number of Meter gauge and narrow gauge tracks have been scrapped.
In early 2020 Indian railways have totally 68,155 route Kms (95% Appox in Broad gauge). Approx 40,000 KMs have been electrified.
By the looks of it all these conversion may get done by 2024-2025 leaving only Broad guage in India.
Just for your reference, the following can be applied to Indian railways,
Broad gauge is 1.676 meter distance between the tracks
Meter gauge is 1 meter distance between the tracks
Narrow gauge is less than 1 meter distance between the tracks
Thank you for some lovely little gems of information in this video especially the 8f designation for the rebuilt crosti, shame no mention of the Tyne dock 9fs though.
The 8F designation is mentioned on the Wikipedia page for the Crosti 9Fs.
That was wholly entertaining!
I read somewhere that about the late 1950s German engineers visited either Didcot or Swindon shed and were astonished at how lightly used the 9Fs were, in terms of weight of trains and hours worked. So it is not surprising that 92203 was able to haul a much heavier train in preservation than it ever did in service. In general, British Raiways were very unambitious with the resources that they had. Testing in the late 1940s showed that the then new A2s and A1s (like Tornado) with their big grates and high steam-raising capacity could haul heavy trains at speed. But they were not required to perform so hard in service. So prolific railway writer O.S. Nock dismissed them as inefficient!
O.S. Nock. Possibly the most boring man in the world. Ever.
love steam trains ,makes me actually weep when I think how many have gone. The horrible modern trains and stations. Grandad was a signalman so my nan got cheap tickets and we went all over the place.
"actually weep"? ffs, get a grip! Do you have any memory of BR in steam days?
pepercorn was reconstructed in dalingtons original north road workshops & i along with many were lucky enough to see it being built & tested
Thanks for sharing
A good effort on your part no doubt about it. As someone who has a interest in the Locomotives of East German Railways a perverse thought has entered my tiny mind. Fit a 9F with Witte Smoke Deflectors a bit more pipework and hey presto a passable Baureihe 52. I wonder whether or not the Br 52's did have a influence on some aspects of the 9F design. Anyway once again a good effort on your part. Cheers