BR standard class 5

BR Standard Class 5

No 73142 ready to depart with the 10.50 Express from London St Pancras to Leicester in 1957. Note the Caprotti valve gear.

Type and origin Power type Steam Designer R. A. Riddles Builder BR Derby Works (130) BR Doncaster Works (42) Build date April 1951 - June 1957 Total produced 172

Specifications Configuration 4-6-0 UIC class 2′C h2 Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Leading dia. 3 ft 0 in (0.914 m) Driver dia. 6 ft 2 in (1.880 m) Length 62 ft 7 in (19.08 m) Width 8 ft 9 in (2.67 m) Height 13 ft 0 in (3.96 m) Axle load 19.70 long tons (20.02 t; 22.06 short tons) Adhesive weight 58.05 long tons (58.98 t; 65.02 short tons) Loco weight 76.00 long tons (77.22 t; 85.12 short tons) Tender weight BR1/BR1H: 49.15 long tons (49.94 t; 55.05 short tons); BR1B: 51.25 long tons (52.07 t; 57.40 short tons); BR1C: 53.25 long tons (54.10 t; 59.64 short tons); BR1F: 55.25 long tons (56.14 t; 61.88 short tons); BR1G: 52.50 long tons (53.34 t; 58.80 short tons); Tender type BR1 (50), BR1B (62), BR1C (35), BR1F (10), BR1G (3), BH1H (12) Fuel capacity BR1C: 9.00 long tons (9.14 t; 10.08 short tons); All others: 7.00 long tons (7.11 t; 7.84 short tons) Water cap BR1/BR1H: 4,250 imp gal (19,300 l; 5,100 US gal); BR1B/BR1C: 4,725 imp gal (21,480 l; 5,674 US gal); BR1F: 5,625 imp gal (25,570 l; 6,755 US gal); BR1G: 5,000 imp gal (23,000 l; 6,000 US gal) Firebox:  • Firegrate area 28.7 sq ft (2.67 m2) Boiler BR3 Boiler pressure 225 psi (1.55 MPa) Heating surface:  • Tubes and flues 1,479 sq ft (137.4 m2)  • Firebox 171 sq ft (15.9 m2) Superheater: ​  • Heating area 358 sq ft (33.3 m2) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 19 in × 28 in (483 mm × 711 mm) Valve gear Walschaerts (73000–73124, 73155–73171) Caprotti (73125–73154)

Performance figures Tractive effort 26,120 lbf (116.2 kN) Factor of adh. 4.97

Career Operators British Railways Power class 5MT Numbers 73000–73171 Axle load class Route availability 7 BR (WR): Red Withdrawn February 1964 – June 1968 Disposition Five preserved, remainder scrapped

The British Railways Standard Class 5MT 4-6-0 was 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"). 172 were built between 1951 and 1957.

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 nationalisation 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 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.The Standard 5 was a much more economical high speed express engine than the Black 5. 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 100mph 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, for these low emission passenger locomotives, came into use. 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.

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)), a standard cab with external pipework and the regulator gland on the drivers side of the boiler below the dome.