SR Battle of Britain class 21C151 Winston Churchill

SR 21C151 / BR 34051
Winston Churchill

SR 21C151 (BR 34051) Winston Churchill in the Station Hall of the National Railway Museum, York. The 'V' headcode is that used for Churchill's funeral train (and for breakdown trains)

Type and origin Power type Steam Builder Brighton Works Build date 1946

Specifications Configuration 4-6-2 Driver dia. 6 ft 2 in (1.880 m) Length 67 ft 4.75 in (20.54 m) Loco weight 86 long tons 0 cwt (192,600 lb or 87.4 t) Fuel capacity 5 long tons 0 cwt (11,200 lb or 5.1 t) Water cap 4,500 imp gal (20,000 l; 5,400 US gal) Boiler pressure 280 lbf/in2 (1,930.53 kPa), later 250 lbf/in2 (1,723.69 kPa) Cylinders Three Cylinder size 16 3⁄8 in × 24 in (416 mm × 610 mm) Valve gear Bulleid

Performance figures Tractive effort 31,046 lbf (138.10 kN), later 27,719 lbf (123.30 kN)

Career Operators SR » BR Class Battle of Britain Numbers SR: 21C151 BR: 34051 Official name Winston Churchill Delivered 30 December 1946 Withdrawn 19 September 1965 Current owner National Railway Museum

21C151 Winston Churchill is a Southern Railway Battle of Britain class 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive that has been preserved as part of the United Kingdom's National Collection. It is on display at the National Railway Museum.

21C151 was built at Brighton Works in 1946, being released to traffic on 30 December of that year. Initially it was unnamed and paired with 4,500-imperial-gallon (20,000 l; 5,400 US gal) tender 3301. It was first allocated to Salisbury locomotive shed for services on the West of England Main Line between London and Exeter.

21C151 was officially named Winston Churchill in a ceremony at Waterloo railway station on 11 September 1947. The former prime minister, by then Leader of the Opposition, was offered the chance to name the locomotive, but turned it down, claiming a prior engagement. The locomotive was named by Lord Dowding, who also named his own eponymous locomotive at the same ceremony. Churchill became the only person to decline the opportunity to name a Battle of Britain class locomotive after himself.

In July/August 1947 it had its original flat-front cab altered to a more streamlined wedge-shaped, with a larger front window.

It passed to British Railways in January 1948 as part of nationalisation of Britain's railways. However it was October 1948 before it received its British Railways number 34051. It also kept its Southern Railway malachite green with chrome yellow striping until November 1950 when it was repainted into British Railways Brunswick green.

During an overhaul at Eastleigh Works in March 1949, 34051 swapped its tender (number 3301) for tender number 3280, formerly coupled to 21C128 Eddystone (tender 3301 was then attached to 34042 Dorchester).