Bulleid WC/BB 'West Country' and
'Battle of Britain' class 4-6-2
| Engines were built as follows: 21C101-21C148 (renumbered 34001-34048) 1945/46 WC "class" (narrow cab) 21C149-21C170 (renumbered 34049-34070) 1946/47 BB "class" (narrow cab) 34071-34090 1948/49 BB "class" (wide cab) 34091-34108 1949/50 WC "class" (wide cab) 34109-34110 1950/51 BB "class" (wide cab) all were built at Brighton works except 34095/7/9/101/2/4 which were built at Eastleigh "Class" is in quotes as there was no difference between the Battle of Britain and West Country locomotives, other than the style of their nameplates. All of the narrow cab locos were originally supplied with a 4500 gallon capacity tenders but the 1948/49 BB batch came with the heavier 5500 gallon tenders. From 1952 onwards BR modified all bar five of the tenders by removing the raves to allow easier coaling and access for the water column bag when filling the tank. (Note that the modifying of tenders preceded by up to 5 years the modifying of many of the locomotives.) Corrosion, buckling and split welds were a big factor in the need to modified the first 70 as the metal was too thin, stemming from efforts to cut down on weight, and areas such as the joints of the raves which allowed water to collect. Between 1954 and 1956 the boiler pressure was lowered to 250 psi. |
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34006 Bude at Eastleigh Works in 1964
photograph Keith Harwood |
| 34079 141 Squadron arriving at Barnstaple Junction with a
train from Ilfacombe, 20th April 1960. The first coaches are Bulleid 3-set 782
of 1947 consisting of BSK 4325, CK 5763 and BSK 4326.
photograph reproduced with kind permission of Joanes Publications |
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34078 222 Squadron on an up train at Ashford Strand by
the River Taw between Braunton and Barnstaple. The date is sometine in the
summer of 1962.
photograph by John Bradbeer |
| 34063 229 Squadron in ex-works condition on Saturday,
24th August 1963 at Nine Elms shed.
photograph by Mike Morant |
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34051 Sir Winston Churchill photographed at Eastleigh,
date unknown.
photograph: Mike Morant collection |
| On 30th January 1965 Sir Winston Churchill was given a State
Funeral and, as part of the proceedings, the locomotive named after him, 34051
Winston Churchill, was used to haul the funeral train from Waterloo to
Handborough. Here the locomotive is at Nine Elms, being prepared for the day
ahead.
For further information about this journey see our Sir Winston Churchill funeral pages and the Railway Magazine archive. photograph by Roger Merry-Price |  |
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Another photograph of Wadebridge, this time at Nine
Elms on 21st February 1965, less than eight months before withdrawal. At this
time she was shedded at Salisbury.
photograph by Ray Soper |
| Original condition West Country 34105 Swanage on the
withdrawn line, but still displaying nameplates, at Eastleigh mpd.
Swanage was to have a better fate that some of her companions on the
withdrawn line.
photograph by Keith Harwood |
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Not so lucky original spamcan Chard on Eastleigh mpd in
1965. Withdrawn 19th December 1965 she was cut up the following May.
photograph by Keith Harwood |
All photographs are copyright
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Preserved LPs |
Modified LPs |
Tenders |
Nameplates |
Data |
About those fires...
This page was last updated 13 July 2010
