BR 4-6-2 'Manston' Battle of Britain Class - Hornby Club Exclusive
The Light Pacifics are on their way
The Light Pacifics - arriving soon
34070 Manston - credit Paul Isles
The Light Pacifics, West Country Class 7P5F and Battle of Britain Class 7P5F, were designed by O.V.S Bulleid as a lighter version of the Merchant Navy Class. Features included air-smoothed casing and Bulleid's innovative, if problematic, chain-driven valve gear. The concept was to save weight while retaining maximum power, creating a fast and powerful mixed traffic engine, allowing the Light Pacifics to work almost all of the Southern Region.
Initially introduced in 1945, a total of 110 Light Pacifics were built out of the Brighton and Eastleigh Locomotive Works. 66 early members of the Class were named after cities, towns and tourist spots in the West Country which were served by the Southern Railway. In 1946 the Class began working the Central and Eastern Sections and as a result the remaining 44 locomotives were named after aircraft, airfields, Royal Air Force squadrons and key personalities of the Battle of Britain. Other than their nameplates, the West Country and Battle of Britain locomotives were completely identical.
34001 Exeter ex-works at Brighton May 1945
Construction continued after nationalisation in 1948 until 1951. Nineteen of the Class were built after nationalisation with large 5,500 gallon capacity tenders. However, the original Southern Railway number series, based on Bullied's typically individualistic European 21C100 style, was superseded and the colour scheme updated to standard British Railways express passenger loco Brunswick Green, lined in black and orange.
Despite the power of Bulleid's boiler, by the 1950s the failings of these Light Pacifics were beginning to show. The demanding level of maintenance, high fuel consumption and numerous problems caused by the extremely high power to weight ratio, forced a major overhaul.
Between 1957 and 1961 a total of 43 West Country and 17 Battle of Britain locomotives were rebuilt into more conventional engines. There were many alterations and features adopted from the BR Standard locomotives that had been introduced since nationalisation, with fundamental changes including replacement of the chain gear with Walschaerts valve gear and the removal of the air-smoothed casing, which was replaced by large square smoke deflectors, creating a slightly slower, heavier but far more reliable engine. Electrification inevitably spelt the end for the Class with only 21 remaining until the last day of Southern steam on the 9th July 1967.
34070 Manston at Exmouth Junction 21-9-1963
Twenty of the Class survived and are in various stages of restoration and preservation with heritage railways. Five of the Class 34007 'Wadebridge', 34028 'Eddystone', 34046 'Braunton', 34067 'Tangmere' and 34070 'Manston' are certificated and operational.
We are very excited here at Hornby towers because in just a few weeks’ time, Battle of Britain Class BR 4-6-2 'Manston' (R3249) and Sir Winston Churchill’s Funeral Train Train Pack (R3300) will find their way on to layouts near you as well as further stock of West Country Class BR 4-6-2 "Exeter" (R3115) which we completed the design for way back in September 2013! With West Country Class BR 4-6-2 ‘Bude’ (R3310) following in early 2016.
Winston Churchill at NRM - credit Paul Isles
Battle of Britain Class BR 4-6-2 'Manston' (R3249)
Originally numbered by the Southern Railway 21C170, ‘Manston’ first went to traffic in November 1947. After nationalisation ‘Manston’ was renumbered 34070 and was eventually withdrawn from service in August 1964. Having languished at the Barry Scrapyard for several years, the locomotive was eventually purchased by the ‘Manston’ Preservation Society in June 1983. Currently under the ownership of the Southern Locomotives Ltd ‘Manston’ is at present on shed at the Swanage Railway, Dorset. Our model of this fantastic loco is a Hornby Club Member exclusive model.
Our Hornby Club Exclusives are only available to our Club members - find out more about Club membership from only £15, including 10% discount on orders from the website plus a £20 voucher to spend on Club Exclusive models.
Well, that about does it for this week. As always let us know your thoughts about the blog on our Official Engine Shed Forum. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter as well, so be sure to give us a Like and a Follow and until next time… happy modelling!
The Engine Shed Team
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