Historical Background to the Battle of Britain Class - Part 3

Vital Statistics

Driving Wheel Diameter; 6ft 2 in
Locomotive weight; 86 tons, (rebuilt 90 tons) tender 47 tons.
Boiler Pressure; 250psi
Tractive effort; 27,720lb
Cylinders; three 16 3/8 inch diameter X 24 inch stroke
Length 67ft 4¾ in with tender

Fully laden, a West Country/Battle of Britain pacific tipped the scales at 133 tons 5cwt. They were given the power classification 7P5F (7 for passenger, 5 for freight). Unrebuilt engines had a tricky reputation with some train crews and all shed fitters, with high coal consumption, but were speedy and powerful when running well.

Their original Southern Railway number series was Bulleid's typically individualistic European style 21C100 series, showing the engine number and wheel arrangement. The number of coupled driving axles was indicated by the appropriate letter of the alphabet - in this case, C for three - and the first numeral showed the number of carrying axles in front of the driving wheels (two) while the second shows the number of carrying axles behind the drivers (one), plus, after the letter, the serial number of the locomotive.

Their original colour scheme was malachite green with yellow lining, with nameplate with coat of arms or badge on each side of the original streamlined casing. From August 1949 this changed to standard British Railways express passenger loco Brunswick Green, lined in black and orange, repainting the whole class taking until March 1953 to complete; earlier, a few had briefly received an experimental apple green livery.