BR Standard Class 5

The British Railways Standard Class 5MT 4-6-0 is one of the 12 standard classes of steam locomotive built by British Railways in the 1950s. It was essentially a development of the LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 ("Black Five"). A total of 172 were built between 1951 and 1957.
==Background==
William Stanier's Black Five had been the most successful mixed-traffic type in Great Britain. Construction of the Black Fives had started in 1934 and continued past nationalization to 1951. A new set of 'standard' locomotives was to be built by British Railways, based on LMS designs and incorporating modern ideas.
In particular, the Standard design incorporated features designed to make disposal of the engine after a working "turn" easier: a self-cleaning smokebox and a rocking grate removed the necessity for crews to undertake dirty and strenuous duties at the end of a long shift. This was a necessary investment with the ever-increasing costs of labour following the Second World War.
The original design proposal for the class 5 locomotive had a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement, similar in concept to the Bulleid Light Pacifics that performed impressively during the 1948 Locomotive Exchanges. However, this was deemed unnecessarily large and costly for a class 5 power requirement, so the successful LMS Class 5 4-6-0 design was used as the basis instead. The pacific design went on to be enlarged and used for the BR Standard Class 6.
==Design and construction==
The design work was done at the ex-LNER Doncaster Works but the bulk of the construction was done at Derby Works. The locomotive featured a BR standard boiler very similar in dimensions to the Stanier Type 3B fitted to the Black Fives, but made from manganese steel instead of nickel steel. The most obvious visible changes were a higher running plate, slightly enlarged driving wheels (from 6 ft 0 in (1.829 m) to 6 ft 2 in (1.880 m)), increased cylinder bore (from 18½ in (457 mm) to 19 in (483 mm)), a standard cab with external pipework and the regulator gland on the driver's side of the boiler below the dome. Many of these changes were to reduce maintenance or to incorporate standard components that could be shared between other standard classes.
The first of the class, 73000, was outshopped from Derby in April 1951 and 30 were in service by January 1952. There was then a gap in construction before Derby resumed building its remaining 100 engines. 42 were built at Doncaster, starting in August 1955 and finishing in May 1957, with Derby's last engine following a month later.
Thirty engines, numbers 73125 to 73154, were built with Caprotti valve gear and poppet valves.
Table of orders
Number 	Date	Builder 	Tender	Valve gear 	Notes
73000–29 	1951	Derby 	BR1 	Walschaerts	25 for LMR, 5 for ScR
73030–49 	1953	Derby 	BR1 	Walschaerts	10 for LMR, 10 for ScR
73050–52 	1954	Derby 	BR1G 	Walschaerts	for SR (S&DJR)
73053–64 	1954	Derby 	BR1H 	Walschaerts	10 for LMR, 2 for ScR
73065–71 	1954	Derby 	BR1C 	Walschaerts	for LMR
73072–79 	1955	Derby 	BR1C 	Walschaerts	3 for LMR, 5 for ScR
73080–89 	1955	Derby 	BR1B 	Walschaerts	for SR
73090–99 	1955	Derby 	BR1C 	Walschaerts	for LMR
73100–09 	1955	Doncaster	BR1B 	Walschaerts	for ScR
73110–19 	1955	Doncaster	BR1F 	Walschaerts	for SR
73120–-24	1956	Doncaster	BR1B 	Walschaerts	for ScR
73125–34 	1956	Derby 	BR1B 	Caprotti 	Poppet valves; for WR
75135–44 	1956	Derby 	BR1C 	Caprotti 	Poppet valves; for LMR
73145–54 	1957	Derby 	BR1B 	Caprotti 	Poppet valves; for ScR
73155–59 	1956	Doncaster	BR1B 	Walschaerts	for ER
73159-171	1957	Doncaster	BR1B 	Walschaerts	for NER
==In service==
These locomotives had a trouble-free introduction in comparison to several of the other Standard classes and were used interchangeably with the pre-nationalization class 5 engines they supplemented. They were utilized as the haulage power on duties varying from fast passenger trains to slow unfitted freight trains, displaying their versatility.
Different regional allocations had differing tender designs, with locomotives assigned to the Southern Region having tenders with high water capacity to make up for the lack of water troughs.
Like the "Clan" class locomotives, Standard 5s, with their high-stepped running board, were partly conceived to be more economical and serviceable replacements for the Bulleid Pacific, and the Standard Class 5 were fast, they could really fly with good steam, easily to just under 100 mph in the view of many engine drivers. Like the Clans, which could only manage one more carriage on an express than a 'Five' the Standard Fives took a long time to shake down, and only started to really pull when different firing techniques, which allowed them to steam using poor quality coal were developed. They pulled much of the traffic on the last express lines for steam in the mid and late 1960s: Edinburgh-Aberdeen, London- Southampton-Bournemouth- Weymouth and local express traffic in the North and Midlands around Sheffield and Leeds. They were also used on the locals between Liverpool, Manchester and Blackpool, some steam hauled to the last day of steam in 1968.
==Naming==
In 1959, 20 of the Southern Region locomotives were named, the names being transferred from SR King Arthur class locos that were then being withdrawn. These were:
*73080 Merlin
*73081 Excalibur
*73082 Camelot
*73083 Pendragon
*73084 Tintagel
*73085 Melisande
*73086 The Green Knight
*73087 Linette
*73088 Joyous Gard
*73089 Maid of Astolat
*73110 The Red Knight
*73111 King Uther
*73112 Morgan Le Fay
*73113 Lyonnesse
*73114 Etarre
*73115 King Pellinore
*73116 Iseult
*73117 Vivien
*73118 King Leodegrance
*73119 Elaine
==Withdrawal==
Table of withdrawals
Year	Quantity inservice atstart of year	Quantitywithdrawn	Locomotive numbers 	Notes
1964	172 	15 	73012/17/24/27/46–47/52/58/61/74/76,73109/16/61/64. 	
1965	157 	43 	73001/03/08/15/21/23/30–32/36/38/41–42/44/49/51/54/56/62–63/68/75/77/84/90–91,73103–04/06/11–12/22–24/47–48/52/62–63/65–68. 	
1966	114 	38 	73005/07/09/13/16/28/55/57/72/78/80–83/86–89/95/98–99,73101–02/05/07–08/14/20–21/45/49–51/53–54/69–71. 	
1967	76 	53 	73002/04/06/11/14/18–20/22/25–26/29/37/39/43/45/48/59–60/64–66/70–71/73/79/85/92–94/96–97,73100/10/13/15/17–19/27/29–30/37/39–41/44/46/55–56/58–60.	
1968	23 	23 	73000/10/33–35/40/50/53/67/69,73125–26/28/31–36/38/42–43/57. 	
==Accidents and incidents==
:
*On 25 August 1958, locomotive No. 73042 was hauling a sleeper car train which overran a signal and was in a head-on collision with a train formed from two electric multiple units at Eastbourne, East Sussex. Five people were killed and 40 were injured.
*In 1958, locomotive No. 73111 was hauling a passenger train that derailed at Millbrook, Hampshire due to a faulty point motor moving a set of points under the train.
==Variations & proposed changes==
The main variation across the class was the valve gear, with 142 using Walschaerts valve gear and the remaining 30 using British Caprotti valve gear. There was little difference in performance between the two groups, but the Caprotti fitted engines had a reputation for being good performers at higher speeds. There was potential for more BR standard locomotives to have Caprotti valve gear fitted as it allowed for longer periods between inspections, offsetting the higher initial cost of this valve gear.
Doncaster had designed double chimneys for the class, similar to the ones used on several of the BR Standard Class 4 4-6-0. If applied, this would have improved the draughting and increased the efficiency of the locomotives. With the Modernization Plan of 1955 and the good performance of the class from the outset, these plans were shelved permanently.
Another proposal was to produce freight locomotives based from this design in response to criticism by the Western Region on the BR Standard Class 9F. The management believed that the 9Fs were too large and powerful for most heavy freight traffic, along with being more far more expensive to build and operate than the older 2-8-0 locomotives they supplemented. In response to this, the British Transport Commission drew a 2-8-0 Class 8F based on the Standard Class 5, in a manner similar to the LMS class 5 and 8Fs. Changes included a higher boiler pressure of 250 psi and driving wheels 5 ft 0 in (1.524m) in diameter to increase tractive effort. Preparations were made for series production to begin, but the work ceased after the Modernization Plan was published.
==Preservation==
Five members of the class survive, and all have steamed in preservation with examples from both builders. 73050 was purchased directly from British Railways for preservation while the other four engines were rescued from Woodham Brothers scrapyard at Barry Island. To date 73096 has been the only member of the class to operate on the main line hauling Railtours but in 2018 no. 73082 was moved by rail from its home at the Bluebell Railway to the West Somerset Railway.
Number & Name 	Tender Attached	Builder 	Built 	Withdrawn	Service life 	Location 	Livery 	Status 	Image
73050 "City of Peterborough"	BR1G 	Derby Works 	April 1954	June 1968	14 Years, 2 months 	Nene Valley Railway 	BR Lined Black, Early Emblem	Boiler ticket expired in 2015, Under Overhaul 	200px
73082 "Camelot" 	BR1B 	Derby Works 	July 1955 	June 1966	10 years, 11 months	Bluebell Railway 	BR Lined Black, Early Emblem	Operational until 2031 	
73096 	BR1G 	Derby Works 	Nov 1955 	Nov 1967 	12 years 	Mid Hants Railway 	BR Green, late Emblem 	Purchased by and transferred to the Watercress Line, at which it was formerly a resident under private ownership, in November 2017. Boiler certificate expired in September 2011 awaiting overhaul	
73129 	BR1B 	Derby Works 	Aug 1956 	Dec 1967 	11 years, 4 months 	Midland Railway - Butterley	BR Lined Black, Early Emblem	Static Display, Boiler ticket expired in 2016. One of only two engines left in Britain with Caprotti valve gear. 	200px
73156 	BR1B 	Doncaster Works	Dec 1956 	Nov 1967 	10 Years, 11 months	Great Central Railway 	BR Lined Black, Late Crest 	Recently emerged from scrapyard condition and came into full traffic in May 2018. 	
==Gallery==
73082Camelotin102Dalmatians.jpg|73082 in "102 Dalmations".
24249937544 53c04a6b6f b.jpg
Cam.png
File:The Best of...No. 73082 "Camelot"
File:I282319414652044157.jpg|Camelot at Woodham Brothers Scrapyard
File:Steam locomotive - 73096 - at Virginia Water station - 280404.jpg
File:5119966431 fd914ba8a6 o.jpg
File:BR Standard Class 5 73129.jpg
File:City of Peterborough (locomotive).jpg
File:Br-5mt-4-6-0-73050-city-of-peterborough-steam-locomotive-559-p.jpg
File:Ropley Station, looking towards Alresford - geograph.org.uk - 548267.jpg
==References==
*A Detailed History of BR Standard Steam Locomotives, - Vol 2 - The 4-6-0 and 2-6-0 Classes. RCTS 
*Atkins, C.P. (1988) The BR Standard 2-8-0s. Rly Wld, 49, 222-3.
*Cliffe, Joseph. (2012) It began with 'Turbomotive'. Backtrack, 26, 637.
==External links==
*http://www.steamindex.com/locotype/brloco.htm#br5
*Southern E-group photo gallery
Category:4-6-0 steam locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:Derby Works locomotives
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Category:Doncaster Works locomotives
Category:British Rail Standard Class locomotives
Category:Six-coupled locomotives
Category:4-6-0 locomotives
Category:British Rail locomotives
Category:Standard gauge locomotives
Category:Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain