BR Standard Class 5 73129

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BRBritish Rail or British Railways Standard Class 5 73129
73129 20140910.jpg
73129 at Bridgnorth, September 2014
Built By BRBritish Rail or British Railways Derby
Configuration 4-6-0
BRBritish Rail or British Railways rating 5MTThe British Railways system of classifying steam locomotives by power using a number from 0, least powerful, to 9, most powerful, followed by either F for freight, P for Passenger or MT for Mixed Traffic.
Loco Number 73129
History
Built 1956
Designed By RA RiddlesRobert Arthur "Robin" Riddles, Member of the Railway Executive for Mechanical and Electrical Engineering responsible for the design of the British Rail Standard Class locomotives
Type BRBritish Rail or British Railways Standard 5MTThe British Railways system of classifying steam locomotives by power using a number from 0, least powerful, to 9, most powerful, followed by either F for freight, P for Passenger or MT for Mixed Traffic.
1968 Preserved
2005 First steamed
2014 Hired by the SVRSevern Valley Railway
Technical
Length 62ft 7"
Weight 76 long tons
Tractive effort 26,120 lb
Pressure 225 lb/sq in

Steam Locomotives

Caprotti valve gear on 73129
73129 spent a period on hire to the SVRSevern Valley Railway in summer and autumn 2014.

It is a British Railways Standard Class 5MTThe British Railways system of classifying steam locomotives by power using a number from 0, least powerful, to 9, most powerful, followed by either F for freight, P for Passenger or MT for Mixed Traffic. 4-6-0 locomotive, one of the twelve standard classes of locomotives designed for BRBritish Rail or British Railways by RA RiddlesRobert Arthur "Robin" Riddles, Member of the Railway Executive for Mechanical and Electrical Engineering responsible for the design of the British Rail Standard Class locomotives in the 1950s. The 5MTThe British Railways system of classifying steam locomotives by power using a number from 0, least powerful, to 9, most powerful, followed by either F for freight, P for Passenger or MT for Mixed Traffic. was essentially a development of the LMS Stanier 'Black 5'. A total of 172 were built between 1951 and 1957, of which 30 were equipped with Caprotti valve gear and poppet valves instead of the more normal Walschaerts valve gear.

Five Standard 5MTs have survived into preservation of which 73129 is the only Caprotti fitted example. 71000 Duke of Gloucester is the other preserved BRBritish Rail or British Railways locomotive to be so fitted[1].

Service

73129 was built at Derby and was allocated new to Shrewsbury during August 1956. In 1958 it was re-allocated to Patricroft in Eccles, Greater Manchester, from where it was withdrawn in December 1967[2].

Preservation

73129 arrived at Barry in February 1968. It was chosen for preservation by Derby Council as an example of a Derby-built locomotive, and was moved by rail from BarryWoodham Brothers Scrapyard, Barry, South Wales. The source of many locomotives now in preservation. to Derby via Kidderminster in January 1973, initially in a convoy with several vehicles for the SVRSevern Valley Railway.[3] A move to its current home, the Midland Railway Centre at Butterley, followed in 1975.[4]

Restoration began in 1994, and the locomotive was steamed for the first time in May 2005. 73129 is owned by Derby City Museums and Art Gallery and is on long term lease to the Midland Railway Trust[5][4].

73129 at the SVRSevern Valley Railway

73129 was hired by the SVRSevern Valley Railway in summer 2014, as the SVRSevern Valley Railway fleet was 'one short' at the time. It entered service in early June and quickly became popular with footplate crews and visitors alike. The combination of Caprotti valve gear and roller bearings was found to produce little rolling resistance, while the locomotive was noted to be very ‘vocal’ when climbing gradients. The hire period included an appearance in the Autumn Steam Gala and ended in September 2014 with a total of 3,550 miles recorded[6].

See also

References

  1. Wikipedia
  2. BR Database (Retrieved 11 April 2018)
  3. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 27, Locomotive News, p.29.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Beckett and Hardingham (2010)
  5. Midland Railway Centre Class 5MT (retrieved 11 April 2018)
  6. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 187/188

Links