Bathing a Bulleid.

One of the original reasons for the 'air smoothed' casing on the Pacifics was, apparently that they could be cleaned in the carriage cleaning plants.

Was this ever done? Was it even possible?

 

Sort that title out man! I think I read of one or two going through, probably to prove it could be done more than anything else, but I don't think it was done on a regular basis. Much like freight trains it was supposed to haul I suspect...

 

Some West Country nameplates, and indeed King Arthurs, have extensive horizontal marks, which has been attributed to going through carriage washing plants.

 

I don't know about Bulleids, but jet washing of steam locos was definitely done, even with no air-smoothed casing - see here. The rest of it is worth a watch as well.

 

I believe Sir Lamiel somewhat accidentally about 20 years ago went through the carriage washer somewhere like Clapham Junction maybe? The crew on the footplate were having a quiet chat amongst themselves until they realised what road they were on and where they were going...

 

If I remember right, I saw an article some years back about the Eastern Region of BR, in East Anglia, using both steam cleaners and pressure washers on their steam locos.

 

There were regular freight diagrams for Light Pacifics, e.g. the 12:45 Torrington - Exmouth Jct and perishables from the Channel ports to London.

 

Thanks, and MNs?

 

I need to get my copy of Winston Churchill and the Bulleid Pacifics to confirm this but wasn't there a goods diagram from Salisbury to run the MN's in from about 1944? I may be totally wrong about this btw

 

Around 1960 the return working for the loco working the Waterloo-Exeter leg of the down ACE, which would normally have been an MN, was an express perishable goods.

I believe the Okehampton turntable was even replaced to allow them to be used on Meldon ballast trains (the route was presumably cleared for them that far and no further), but Exmouth Junction in fact tended to send whatever they had to hand, since the route is nearly all downhill to St Davids and the train would be banked up to Exeter Central anyway, where a 4-6-0 would usually take over.

 

Top Rank express locos were frequently used on 'express' freights eg Castles on the Plymouth - Bristol Express Perishables & LNER Pacifics on the fast overnight van trains

 

I didn't know that Top Rank owned steam locos. - I thought they just did bingo halls.

Bob.

 

So it is well known that the MNs were described as mixed traffic to get them built during the war - but who was this description invented for? It wasn't the Government or the Ministry of Supply - it was for the Southern Railway's own workforce. This is described by Holcroft in "Life with Locos"...

I was told that when a date was fixed in early December for the start of erection of the first engine, the men declined to undertake it. "We will not build experimental locomotives in wartime"; that was their attitude. The General Manager went to Eastleigh with Bulleid to face the situation. Their line of action was to point to the size of the coupled wheels, 6ft. 2in, and explain that the new engine was thereby suitable for either passenger or freight working. It would be capable of hauling trains of war material and munitions of a much greater weight than any existing engine could. It would contribute to the war effort in that way. They managed to mollify the men and get them to call off the ban.

 

I believe Kings were used on Milk trains too