BR Riddles 4MT 75069

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75069 at Hastings circa 1992

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. 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.

75069 in service

75069 was one of the final batch allocated to the BRBritish Rail or British Railways Southern Region, which were built with a larger tender giving greater coal and water capacity but with the same route restrictions as the Standard Class 5.

75069 was built in 1955 at BRBritish Rail or British Railways’s Swindon works and entered traffic at Dover. After just 11 years in service around London and the South Coast, the locomotive was withdrawn from service at Eastleigh in September 1966.[1]

Being a Southern engine 75069 is paired with a BR1B tender. This weighs approximately 49 tons (49.94 t), carrying 4,250 gallons of water and approximately 7 tons of coal.

75069 in preservation

75069 arrived on the SVRSevern Valley Railway from BarryWoodham Brothers Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. The source of many locomotives now in preservation. on 31 March 1973. After a restoration lasting more than 11 years, the locomotive finally entered service in 1984.

While at the SVRSevern Valley Railway, 75069 saw service on the main line as well as the SVRSevern Valley Railway itself. This included attending the Ashford 150 celebrations in 1991/1992.

75069 is currently (February 2015) in the early stages of an overhaul at Bridgnorth Works.

One major task that has already been completed is that of complete replacement of the dragbox. Additionally, during dismantlement of the cylinders the flange of one of the rear cylinder covers was found to be broken. A pattern for the replacement (along with its other handed partner) is in the course of construction in the SVRSevern Valley Railway's pattern shop.

The locomotive is owned by The 75069 Fund.

See also

Steam Locomotives

The Severn Valley Railway on the main line
  1. BRDatabase Retrieved 29 January 2015.