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Swiftwin4ds — Where it All Began

Published: 2018-11-24 22:19:24 +0000 UTC; Views: 4032; Favourites: 42; Downloads: 47
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Description The 2-6-4 tank engine became a staple of secondary passenger and mixed traffic duties of most British Railways by the 1950s, represented by the BR Standard 4 tank. The Standard 4 Tank can trace its roots all the way back to 1927, with the LMS-designed class 4P 2-6-4, designed by Sir Henry Fowler. 125 Were built by Derby Works between 1927 and 1934. Most of the class was used for long distance commuter trains, but some were also used on the West Coast Mainline for banking at Shap incline, and some still were also used for trains between Shrewsbury and Swansea. All told, Fowler, Stanier, Fairburn, and Riddles produced a combined total of 800 2-6-4 tanks to roughly the same general design. Seen above are two versions of the class, one with and without side window cabs. Numbers 2300 to 2394 were built to the first pattern, with windowless cabs, and the remainders, number 2395 to number 2424, had window cabs. When British Railways inherited them, they were renumbered as 42300 to 42424, and were also reclassified as 4MT. All were withdrawn by 1966, but none were saved for preservation. However, the LMS Patriot Project has announced that when number 45551 The Unknown Warrior is completed, they will begin the construction of a new 4MT tank, this one a replica of the last of the originals, number 42424. 

Another fact worthy of note, the LMS adapted the design as a 2-6-0 tender engine and re-gauged to 5 feet, 3 inches for work in Northern Ireland as Northern Counties Committee Class W, where a tank version was also built, the Class WT, one of which is preserved. 
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