Talking Stock #30 The 1948 Locomotive Exchanges from the freight perspective

Much has been written in the past about the locomotive exchanges that took place in 1948 shortly  after nationalisation; indeed my own Talking Stock #2 post here discussed the exchange trials and featured some of the locomotives that appeared on the Southern with respect to the Express Passenger, General Purpose locomotive trials.  Not discussed so … Continue reading Talking Stock #30 The 1948 Locomotive Exchanges from the freight perspective

Talking Stock #29 Black Motors, Drummond’s 700 class

Douglas Drummond's first locomotive class built after his appointment as Chief Mechanical Engineer to the London South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1895 was the 30 strong 700 Class of 0-6-0 goods engines later to be widely known as 'Black Motors'.  They were in fact very similar to a previous class of his built for the … Continue reading Talking Stock #29 Black Motors, Drummond’s 700 class

Talking Stock #28 The Atlantic Coast Express – ‘ACE’

The Southern Railway had many evocative and well known named trains such as: the Golden Arrow, Bournemouth Belle, the Devon Belle (as per my Talking Stock #20 post here) but one of the possibly most misnamed but well of them all was the Atlantic Coast Express. Why misnamed you might ask, well of the ten … Continue reading Talking Stock #28 The Atlantic Coast Express – ‘ACE’

Talking Stock #27 4mm Bulleid coaches – new R-T-R on the way?

The topic of Bulleid coaches has come to the fore again via a number of mediums. Firstly; the new Graham Farish Bulleid coaches in 2mm N gauge have hit the shops, a good review of them by Nigel Burkin can be found on the Model Railways Live website here. Secondly; current Model Rail magazine editor Ben … Continue reading Talking Stock #27 4mm Bulleid coaches – new R-T-R on the way?

Talking Stock #26 The four Urie G16 large tanks

I have a bit of a soft spot for all large tank locomotives and a number of classes of large tanks existed on the Southern Railway such as the H16 4-6-2T, W 2-6-4T, the Z class 0-8-0T that I featured in my Talking Stock# 19 post here and the topic of this post the G16 … Continue reading Talking Stock #26 The four Urie G16 large tanks

Talking Stock #25 Marsh got one Atlantic 4-4-2 tank right with the I3

Douglas Earie-Marsh will probably be best known for the popular and graceful H1 and H2 Atlantic express engines, although these were essentially Ivatt designs from the Great Northern with whom March previously worked. His fist design of Atlantic tanks the I1 and I2 classes were not at all successful performers. The I3 tanks  however changed … Continue reading Talking Stock #25 Marsh got one Atlantic 4-4-2 tank right with the I3

Talking Stock #24 3rd Series Merchant Navy initial livery variations

The third and final series of Bulleid's Merchant Navy Pacifics were not introduced until after the formation of British Railways in the Autumn of 1948. As a result they were numbered immediately into the new BR numbering series 35021 to 35030 but still initially appeared in malachite green whilst British Railways developed their own new livery schemes. The locomotives … Continue reading Talking Stock #24 3rd Series Merchant Navy initial livery variations

Talking Stock #23 Pull Push set 734 ex LSWR Emigrant Stock

The Southern Railway following on from its constituents made use of Pull Push sets across the network and this practice carried on well into British Railways Southern Region days. Other railways companies also made of such although they were often also known as autocoach, motor coach or push pull sets on these other railways. Originally many … Continue reading Talking Stock #23 Pull Push set 734 ex LSWR Emigrant Stock

Talking Stock #22 The Missing Mogul – the K class

With respect to the Southern Railway Mogul 2-6-0 locomotive fleet most people probably immediately think of the Maunsell Moguls,  the N/N1 and U/U1 classes. Their origins lead back to the SECR for the 5'6" driving wheeled N class followed by the later Southern built, also under the design auspices of Maunsell who was now CME of the Southern, the … Continue reading Talking Stock #22 The Missing Mogul – the K class

Talking Stock #21 – Bulleid’s Q1 ugly duckling or powerfully out of the ordinary?

During the second world war the need for a goods locomotive with wide route availability at a time of scarce raw materials and labour was to provide Bulleid with a challenge. He has already voiced his dislike of the Maunsell Q class 0-6-0 (appartently stating he would have cancelled the build if he had taken … Continue reading Talking Stock #21 – Bulleid’s Q1 ugly duckling or powerfully out of the ordinary?