Modified Bulleid WC/BB 'West Country' and 'Battle of Britain' class 4-6-2

Modified Bulleid WC/BB 'West Country' and
'Battle of Britain' class 4-6-2

How was it decided which engines were to be modified? The order of the work has often seemed to be random, but it was based on when an engine was due a full General Overhaul. By the time the programme was authorised a number of the earlier members of the class had already received their second GO, so 34002/6/7 etc. weren't modified as they didn't then become due for a further GO until the modifying programme had ceased. Depending on their allocation some locomotives had higher annual mileages so they would come in for a GO more quickly than those where mileages were low.
A GO would take around five weeks whether or not the locomotive was modified, so modifying took no more time than usual overhauls.
The three locomotives which never had their tenders cut down all came in for GOs in the period between modifying batches in the late summer of 1959.
Despite the modifying programme, BR(S) hadn't given up on the original design, as witness the alterations to the smoke deflecting of two locomotives and the fitting of a Giesl Ejector to 34064. The deflector experiments took place in the period between the modifying batches and the Giesl was fitted in September 1962, just 9 months before the first withdrawal. It was the catastrophic changes brought about by Dr Beeching in 1963 that brought everything to a shuddering halt, but GOs were well down in 1962 compared with previous years anyway.
Only 34045 Ottery St Mary came in for overhaul whilst modifying was underway and avoided being modifyied, but then later returned and was modified.

34043/11/65 had all been "altered" to some extent in 1952 and were overhauled but not modified in 1957, although any other locomotive coming in was modified. Eastleigh could handle two at one time, with a two week overlap. 34080 escaped at the end of that year as it arrived ten days before 34001's modifying was completed. 34066 came in in February 1958 after the Lewisham disaster but wasn't due a General and as there were two engines being worked on at that time it returned to work repaired but not modified, although its tender was cut-down, the first Original to be so altered after the three 1952 ones.

34100 Appledore running tender-first at Datchet, following Standard 3 2-6-0 77014 on the LCGB "South West Suburban" Tour on 5 February 1967.

photograph by Keith Harwood

Nº34013 Okehampton entering Shawford station with the 12:30pm service from Waterloo to Bournemouth on 11th February 1967.

photograph by Trevor Tupper

Shortly after that 34067 and 34070 (the latter's tender receiving the left and right-facing later crests although it wasn't cut-down despite the fact that 34067's was) escaped being denuded as the first five of the final series of MNs had taken up residence for modifying. 34110/063 appeared within a week of each other in June that year but the last MN was still in works and 34028 was using the other slot. 34045 had sported an unsuccessful spark arrestor since its GO a year earlier, (the last one to have a GO before modifying commenced), and was laid up for a month or so before getting an unscheduled General in July 1958 and being modified, taking 11 weeks instead of the normal 6 weeks. As a result 34073 came in and was returned to service in original condition.

34068 was the next escapee, in December 1958, as 34029 had come in four days earlier and was butchered. 34083 came in the day after 34039, so was spared. 34075 also came in just after another engine and wasn't altered.

At the end of March 1959 34062 was the last of the first batch of 30 modifications, so all other engines coming in for Generals for the rest of 1959 were merely overhauled, although most had their tenders cut down (except*). They were 34035 (which had its cowling modified), 34041/49 (also modified cowling)/51/54/66/69/72*/74*/76/78*/79/81/86. Eastleigh then spent the summer of 1959 rebuilding the last 10 MNs

There was no escaping the strippers in 1960 as all 24 engines in for Generals that year were modified, probably because they'd upped the anti and could do four at once now, and the last six were the first of the 1961 Generals. The first one after the programme was completed was 34020, which entered Eastleigh Works on 7th April 1961, some three weeks after the last modified, 34104. Another 16 had Generals that year but none was modified, and one (34084) was overhauled for the Western Region. Just five had Generals in 1962 and that was it for the Originals. Eastleigh overhauled seven Modifieds in 1963/4, the other 53 never having a General at all.