2MT  78000 – 78064  2-6-0  BR Standard Class 2

Power Classification	2MT
Introduced	1952 – 1956
Designer	Riddles, designed at Derby
Company	BR
Weight – Loco	49t 5cwt
Tender	36t 17cwt
Driving Wheels	5ft 0ins
Boiler Pressure	200psi superheated
Cylinders	Outside – 16½n x 24in
Tractive Effort	18,515lbf
Valve Gear	Walschaert (piston valve)

These locomotives were designed for light passenger work. Sixty-five engines were built at Darlington and they were the smallest engines in the BR range of standard types. They were similar in design to the 46400 LMS Ivatt class of 1946. They had a lower running plate than most of the BR Standard designs, and were fitted with BR3 3,000 gallon tenders.

The 84000 Standard was a tank engine version of the 78000 class design.

	LMS 46400 class introduced in 1946 by Ivatt. Last one built at Swindon in 1953.
	Standard 78000 class introduced in 1952
	Tank engine version – 84000 class introduced in 1953

The cab of the 78000 class locomotives was reduced from that fitted to the LMS engines to enable it to fit into a universal loading gauge.

Like the LMS predecessor the BR design had a tender cab to enhance crew protection and visibility when running tender-first.

These locomotives were often known by the nickname Mickey Mouse.

Number in Service.

	Built		Withdrawals	No. in Service
	BR Numbers	Quantity		78000	46400
1952	78000-78003	4		4	115
1953	78004-78011	8		12	128
1954	78012-78044	33		45	128
1955	78045-78054	10		55	128
1956	78055-78064	10		65	128
1957-60				65	128
1961				65	127
1962				65	115
1963			1	64	111
1964			4	60	103
1965			17	43	82
1966			31	12	42
1967			12	0	0

The first locomotive to be withdrawn from service was 78015 which was withdrawn from service whilst based at Darlington in November 1963 after a working life of less than ten years. The record for the shortest length of time in service goes to 78053 which was completed Darlington in November 1955 and was withdrawn from service in July 1964 having spent its entire working life based in Scotland.

The 78000 class engines remained in service longer than the Standard 84000 class tank engine version which were all withdrawn by the end of 1964.

Allocation of locomotives in service as at 1st of January.

	1955	1957	1961	1964	1965	1966	1967
Scottish Region		10	10	12	10	9
Western Region	10	10	10	5	3
North Eastern Region	10	10	6	6
Eastern Region			6
London Midland Region	25	35	33	41	47	34	12
	45	65	65	64	60	43	12
Scottish Region
Aberdeen Ferryhill				2
Aviemore			1
Bathgate				1	5	4
Corkerhill					1	1
Dawsholm				2
Dumfries				2	1	1
Hawick		2	4	4	2	1
Keith			3
Kittybrewster		1
Motherwell		5	2
Stirling				1
St Margarets		2				1
Stranraer					1	1
		10	10	12	10	9
Western Region
Gloucester					3
Gloucester Barnwood				3
Hereford			1	1
Machynlleth	6	5	6
Oswestry		1
Worcester	4	4	3	1
	10	10	10	5	3
North Eastern Region
Farnley Junction				3
Kirkby Stephen	3	4
Northallerton		6	5
Tweedmouth				3
West Auckland	7		1
	10	10	6	6
Eastern Region
Canklow			2
Millhouses			4
			6
London Midland Region
Aintree		1		2
Bangor			2	4	4
Bank Hall	5	4	4	3
Bescot	1
Bolton							8
Cancklow	2	2
Chester			3
Chester Northgate		7
Coalville				1
Crewe North		1	1	2
Crewe South				2	5	4
Derby					6	1
Gorton					5
Kettering	2	2
Kirkby in Ashfield			1
Lancaster	1
Leicester Midland	2	2			4	4
Lostock Hall				2	4	6	4
Millhouses	3	4
Northwich			2
Nottingham			4	3	5
Nuneaton						5
Oxley				1	1	1
Preston	3	2	2
Rhyl	5	1	3
Sheffield Grimesthorpe	1
Shrewsbury						4
Skipton				2
Stoke				2	2	2
Toton						3
Trafford Park						4
Watford				3	3
Widnes		4	3
Wigan		5	6	6
Wigan Springs Branch			2
Willesden				8	8
	25	35	33	41	47	34	12
	45	65	65	64	60	43	12

• Oxley depot was transferred from the Western Region to the London Midland Region in September 1963.
• Canklow and Millhouses depots were transferred from the London Midland Region to the Eastern Region in February 1958.
• During 1962 four locomotives spent time at Stratford, Doncaster and March depots.

Accidents and Incidents

BR Standard Class 2 2-6-0 No. 78018, hauling the 4.20am goods train, set out from Kirkby Stephen on the morning of Thursday, 24 February 1955, hauling eight 20-ton wagons of limestone and minerals. At 5am, it became stuck at Bleath Gill near Stainmore Summit which at 1370 feet high was the highest point on any railway line in England until its closure in 1962. The train, along with its crew remained stranded there until 3pm the following Monday, when the first rescue teams arrived hauled by 78019.

The task was an arduous one; winds of 40 mph were blowing across the summit, which coupled with the arctic-like weather conditions to produce a terrible wind chill factor.

Having dug the engine out of the snowdrift during the night, moving the steam locomotive was another difficult task; when a steam train gets becomes stuck in snow, the heat from its boiler melts the snow around it, but as the boiler cools the melted snow refreezes as ice, meaning that the engine is frozen solid. Workmen had to drape paraffin-soaked rags around the moving parts of the engine and set fire to them to thaw the motion.

Photo (c) David L Quayle

78051 at Dumfries-April 1966. 78051 spent all of its working life based at Scottish sheds. It was withdrawn from service in November 1966 whilst based at Dumfries.

Preservation

• 78018
• 78019
• 78022
• 78059

• Back toBR

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