BR Riddles 4MT 75069

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BRBritish Rail or British Railways RiddlesRobert Arthur "Robin" Riddles, Member of the Railway Executive for Mechanical and Electrical Engineering responsible for the design of the British Rail Standard Class locomotives 4MTThe British Railways system of classifying steam locomotives by power using a number from 0, least powerful, to 9, most powerful, followed by either F for freight, P for Passenger or MT for Mixed Traffic. 75069
75069 20190514.jpg
BRBritish Rail or British Railways Standard 4MTThe British Railways system of classifying steam locomotives by power using a number from 0, least powerful, to 9, most powerful, followed by either F for freight, P for Passenger or MT for Mixed Traffic. 75069
Built By BRBritish Rail or British Railways Swindon Works
Configuration 4-6-0
BRBritish Rail or British Railways rating 4MTThe British Railways system of classifying steam locomotives by power using a number from 0, least powerful, to 9, most powerful, followed by either F for freight, P for Passenger or MT for Mixed Traffic.
Status In service
Loco Number 75069
History
Built 1955
Designed By Robert RiddlesRobert Arthur "Robin" Riddles, Member of the Railway Executive for Mechanical and Electrical Engineering responsible for the design of the British Rail Standard Class locomotives
Type BRBritish Rail or British Railways Standard 4MTThe British Railways system of classifying steam locomotives by power using a number from 0, least powerful, to 9, most powerful, followed by either F for freight, P for Passenger or MT for Mixed Traffic.
1973 Arrived on SVRSevern Valley Railway
1984 First steamed in preservation
1994 Withdrawn for overhaul
2018 Return to service
Technical
Length 60ft 0"
Weight 67t 18cwt (without tender)
Tractive effort 25,515 lb
Pressure 225 lb/sq in

Steam Locomotives

75069 is a BRBritish Rail or British Railways Standard 4MTThe British Railways system of classifying steam locomotives by power using a number from 0, least powerful, to 9, most powerful, followed by either F for freight, P for Passenger or MT for Mixed Traffic. 4-6-0 locomotive designed by R.A. RiddlesRobert Arthur "Robin" Riddles, Member of the Railway Executive for Mechanical and Electrical Engineering responsible for the design of the British Rail Standard Class locomotives, one of six examples preserved from a total of 80 built. The Standard 4MTThe British Railways system of classifying steam locomotives by power using a number from 0, least powerful, to 9, most powerful, followed by either F for freight, P for Passenger or MT for Mixed Traffic. was designed for mixed traffic use on secondary routes where the BRBritish Rail or British Railways Standard Class 5 and its predecessor, the Black Five, would be too heavy. In essence they were a tender version of the BR Standard Class 4 2-6-4T and had similar characteristics to the GWR Manor class, although built to universal loading gauge.

The engine normally used a standard BR2 or BR2A tender weighing approximately 42 tons and carrying 3,500 gallons of water and 6 tons of coal. This gave a BRBritish Rail or British Railways route availability of RA4, almost universal over the BRBritish Rail or British Railways network. However the final batch of 15, which included 75069, were allocated to BRBritish Rail or British Railways's Southern Region where they were paired with a larger BR1B tender weighing approximately 49 tons and carrying 4,250 gallons of water[note 1] and approximately 7 tons of coal. This resulted in their becoming RA7 and therefore subject to the same weight and route restrictions as the Standard Class 5.

75069 in service

75069 was built in 1955 at BRBritish Rail or British Railways's Swindon works and entered traffic at Dover. It was fitted with a double chimney at Eastleigh in 1960, returning to traffic at Stewart's Lane.[1] After just 11 years in service around London and the South Coast, the locomotive was withdrawn from service at Eastleigh in September 1966.[2]

The cab side has a yellow triangle[note 2] below the number. This indicated that the locomotive was fitted with special equipment for water softening. The 'Alfloc' process jointly developed by BRBritish Rail or British Railways and ICI used briquettes placed in a sieve in the tender water filling opening, where they would dissolve in the water and fed into the boiler by the injectors. This reduced the build up of scale and allowed locomotives to be scheduled for fortnightly rather than weekly washouts, greatly improving locomotive availability.[3]

75069 in preservation

A notice appeared in SVRSevern Valley Railway News for winter 1971-72 advising that a fund to acquire 75069 from Barry Scrapyard was to be set up by "the same team that organised the funds for 43106 and later 80079". A meeting to discuss the proposal took place in Birmingham on 18 May 1972, by which time secretary Mick York could confirm that a deposit of £500 had been secured against Dai Woodham's asking price of £3,500 and the locomotive had been successfully moved from "the death rows" to a separate siding in the lower yard at BarryWoodham Brothers Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. The source of many locomotives now in preservation..[4] Further fund raising enabled the purchase of 75069 to be completed before the introduction of VAT, with the locomotive arriving on the SVRSevern Valley Railway from BarryWoodham Brothers Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. The source of many locomotives now in preservation. by rail on 31 March 1973.[5][6]

Although the Funds for the three Class 4 locomotives 43106, 80079 and 75069 had separate shareholders, they were closely connected with effectively one group of volunteers working on all three. When 75069 arrived, 43106 (which had arrived in working order) was undergoing an overhaul while 80079 was already awaiting restoration from ex-BarryWoodham Brothers Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. The source of many locomotives now in preservation. condition. The intention was therefore that work on 75069 would only begin once 43106 and 80079 were in service.

Work on 80079 began in late 1973.[7] 75069 was initially stored at Bewdley, moving to the headshunt at Bridgnorth in Autumn 1974 after space became available. While work continued on 80079, attention was focussed on obtaining replacement fittings for 75069. The 80079 and 75069 funds jointly published a book "British Railways Steam" in 1975 to help raise funds.[8]. The 75069 fund also organised a number of railtours, both steam[note 3] and diesel hauled, with profits going towards the locomotive's restoration.

After 80079 entered service in summer 1977, the volunteers turned to 75069 which was moved into the cattle dock at Bridgnorth. Work on the tender took most of 1978, with the body repair work contacted to Wagon Repairs Ltd at Stoke-on-Trent. The first half of 1979 saw the locomotive prepared for a boiler lift which took place on 17 July 1979.[9] A further SVRASevern Valley Railway Association raffle to help fund the restoration and boiler re-tube had taken place in 1978.[10]

On 5 November 1982 the boiler was successfully steam tested, after being 'siamesed' to LMR 600 Gordon which provided the injectors. One cylinder liner required replacement; the process of fitting its replacement using liquid nitrogen was filmed and later screened on BBC's 'Midlands Today' in June 1983.[11] In 1983 another raffle organised by the SVRA Birmingham Branch was held to raise funds for superheater elements.[12]

On 31 July 1984 the locomotive moved under its own power for the first time, reaching Highley on a light engine trip,[13] and the restoration was completed in time for the locomotive, still in green undercoat, to take part in the September 1984 Enthusiasts' Weekend.[11] A full repaint into BRBritish Rail or British Railways lined green then ensued.[11]

In addition to service on the SVRSevern Valley Railway during the following 10 years, 75069 also made a number of appearances on the main line. In March 1985 during a railtour from Newport to Gloucester it returned to Swindon where it was originally built.[14] In 1987 the locomotive was due to work a full Cardigan Bay Express season along with 7819 Hinton Manor, but was unable to complete this due to a crack in the back left hand flange of the firebox.[15] 'Mickey Mouse' 46443 was sent to Machynlleth to deputise and proved a worthy replacement. The firebox was repaired by the insertion of a new copper lap and a re-studded seam;[16] however subsequent investigation of the boiler led to 75069 missing the 1988 season while the flue tubes were replaced.[17]

75069 resumed SVRSevern Valley Railway service shortly after Easter in 1989. In Autumn 1990, John Robinson's locomotive notes suggested other locomotive crews could "take a leaf out of Trevor Matthews' book and try to beat his record – all week on 75069 without taking coal."[18] (a feat undoubtedly made possible by the large BR1B tender). 75069 also returned to main line duties in 1991.

75069's last main line tour was a one-way working from Kidderminster to Minehead in April 1994, after which it spent the season on hire to the West Somerset Railway. During the visit, the boiler incurred some failures to tubes and elements and following a return by road, cracks were found in the back firebox flange, resulting in the locomotive being withdrawn from service.[19]

A full list of 75069's main line appearances between 1984 and 1994 is as follows:

Date Tour name Route Notes Web SVRSevern Valley Railway News
02 Mar 1985 Red Dragon Newport - Swindon - Gloucester 75069 first main line run 76-30
27 Jul 1985 Red Dragon Newport - Worcester Shrub Hill D/H with 92220, after attending Newport open day SBJ 77-10
27 Aug 1985 GW150 Celebrations Excursions Swindon - Gloucester - Swindon Shared duties with Clun Castle SBJ 77-16
01 Sep 1985 GW150 Celebrations Excursions Swindon - Gloucester - Swindon Shared duties with Clun Castle SBJ 77-16
22 Mar 1986 South Yorkshireman Tyseley (LE) - Saltley - Marylebone Took over from 777 Sir Lamiel SBJ 79-6
12 Apr 1986 William Shakespeare London Marylebone - High Wycombe - Banbury - Stratford SBJ 80-14
31 May 1986 Red Dragon Hereford - Newport - Swindon D/H with 5690 (SBJ incorrectly shows as 31 March) SBJ 79-20
28 Jun 1986 Swindon-Newport-Herfeford D/H with 5690 81-40
28 May 1987 Cardigan Bay Express Machynlleth - Barmouth + return x2 85-33
29 May 1987 Cardigan Bay Express Machynlleth - Barmouth + return x2 85-33
12 Sep 1987 John Player Special Nottingham - Tyseley Tour continued to London with Clan Line 86-11
13 Sep 1987 Derby - Matlock x2 87-2
16 Jun 1991 Cambrian Limited Barmouth - Shrewsbury (7819 worked the outward leg) SBJ 100-38
23 Jun 1991 Cambrian Limited Barmouth - Shrewsbury (7819 worked the outward leg) SBJ 100-38
19 Oct 1991 Cam 85 Special Crewe - Hereford - Kidderminster W.A. 'Cam' Camwell Birthday special SBJ 106-50
07 Jun 1992 Ashford 150 Festival Ashford - Hastings - Ashford SBJ 103-19
28 Jun 1992 Devon Belle Exeter Central - Salisbury SBJ 103-19
28 Dec 1993 Christmas Steam Special London Victoria - Brighton - London Victoria SBJ
27 Apr 1994 Exmoor Explorer Kidderminster-Minehead 111-41
For further information on sources and references, see The Severn Valley Railway on the main line

After a lengthy period in storage awaiting overhaul by the SVRSevern Valley Railway, hopes of a return to service were raised in early 2009 when work was carried out to assess the condition of the boiler. However this assessment revealed that significant work would be required[20] and 1501, seen as a potential quick turnaround, was selected for overhaul instead.[21] 75069’s Heavy General repair finally began in early 2013[22]: the boiler barrel and much of the firebox was entirely new and many of the fittings and almost all of the pipework were replaced. A new cab, new smokebox and chimney, replacement steelwork in the tender coal space and new drag box were among other major repairs. Work cost over £900,000 and involved more than 25,000 man hours of effort.[23][24] Although initially advertised as returning to traffic prior to both the 2017 and 2018 Autumn Steam Galas, the locomotive's first test runs started 11 December 2018 with her boiler exam two days later.[25] She returned to traffic 16 February 2019 at the start of the season's services.

In the early morning of 22 July 2019, 75069 collided with a fallen tree between Hampton Loade and Country Park Halt while running light engine from Bridgnorth to work a service train from Kidderminster. The locomotive’s bogie was derailed and although the bogie axles were found not to have been bent, a number of front end fittings were damaged including the guard irons, steam heat and vacuum pipes, and a cylinder drain cock casting and drain pipe.[26] After repairs, the locomotive resumed service on Friday 6 September.

At the end of 2019, 75069 had recorded a total of 63,467 miles in preservation on the SVRSevern Valley Railway. The reported total may include mileage on the main line and on hire to other railways.[27] The locomotive is owned by The 75069 Fund.

See also

Notes

  1. The additional water capacity was useful in the Southern region where 'third rail' electrification prevented the use of water troughs for taking water on the move.
  2. Originally a yellow circle was used, but this was changed to a triangle to avoid possible confusion with the GWR coloured weight discs used in the Western Region.
  3. At least two of 60009 Union of South Africa's railtours to Scotland were for fundraising on behalf of 75069.

References

  1. Heaton, John, 'Oxted Line Steam: 1961', The Railway Magazine, January 2021
  2. BRDatabase Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  3. Worcester Locomotive Shed: Engines and Train Workings, Steve Bartlet
  4. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 22, 23, 24
  5. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 28
  6. SVRSevern Valley Railway Stock Book Ninth Edition
  7. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 29
  8. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 35
  9. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 54
  10. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 47
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 SVRSevern Valley Railway News 74
  12. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 66, 67
  13. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 73
  14. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 76
  15. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 85
  16. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 86
  17. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 87-91
  18. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 97
  19. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 110/112
  20. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 168
  21. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 169
  22. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 180
  23. Express Points, January 2019
  24. BBC News 15 February 2019 (Retrieved 16 February 2019)
  25. The Railway Magazine, January 2019, p.66
  26. Steam Railway Magazine Issue 496, p 13, Severn Valley '4MTThe British Railways system of classifying steam locomotives by power using a number from 0, least powerful, to 9, most powerful, followed by either F for freight, P for Passenger or MT for Mixed Traffic.' derailed after hitting tree, statement attributed to ESMP Manager Neil Taylor.
  27. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 210, SVRSevern Valley Railway-based Steam Locomotive Mileage 2017-2019, Duncan Ballard

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