Your top ten steam classes

Are you able to whittle down our amazing steam locomotive classes into just ten favourites?

Mine:

• LNER A3 -- I know, I know, it's stereotypical, but Flying Scotsman was my introduction to the railways through a VHS about her trip to Australia. I think they're the most dynamic-looking unstreamlined locomotives ever built.
• LMS Jubilee -- along with Scotsman and 40135, Leander is my favourite locomotive, so much so that she was my eighteenth birthday cake! When I was depressed back in 2009, a friend of mine on the footplate crew at the GCR invited me aboard No. 5690 for a footplate ride, and I almost well up just thinking of both his kindness and the experience of it.
• LNER A4 -- I don't need to explain this one, do I? Okay, maybe a little bit: my late grandparents introduced me to 4468 at the NRM when I was very small, and 60007 is the first locomotive I ever remember traveling behind. Plus, just look at them.
  
• GWR 28xx/38xx -- my favourite freight design, 3802 seriously impressed me when I rode behind her on the Lancs back in 2008. She was visiting with Kinlet Hall, which I also adore -- but I know which I prefer... Similarly, I always found 2818 at the NRM remarkably interesting.
  
• LMS Black 5 -- no list would be complete without the Black 5. Real go-anywhere, do-anything machines.
  
• GWR Castle -- my choice for best-looking -- and maybe best-sounding -- British steam locomotive. Wow.
  
• LMS 8F -- the third all-freight design on my list (with the LNER O4 and the SR S15 just missing out on the cut), the LMS 8F is a classic.
  
• SR West Country -- I love all of Bulleid's Pacific designs, especially when uncloaked, but, being a Norverner, the only one I've encountered other than BoB Tangmere, is Braunton. So the WC takes tenth place.
• GWR 57xx -- I had to put a Pannier in here somewhere, and since 7752 was the first one I encountered, the 57xx class takes this spot...
• BR 9F -- 92220 was obviously a childhood favourite, but 92214 is also the last locomotive I rode behind with my grandparents before they passed away. This, for me, is the epitome of BR Standard design. Maybe not the most attractive -- that would be the Standard 4 Tank! -- but the real pinnacle, perhaps even of British steam design in general.

 

• In no particular order, as they say on a certain programme (something to do with dancing, whatever that is?)
• A1
• A2
• A3
• A4
• B1
• Black 5
• Fairburn Tank
• J50
• Jubilee
• Royal Scot

Back in the day a day's spotting in Bradford/Leeds/Doncaster or York would almost guarantee seeing all of the above, plus haulage by several, (except the J50 of course). The J50 is included because they were always there, in any goods yard or on ECS duties, until replaced by 03/04 diesels. Never pulled by one but cabbed many.
If the list stretched to 11 I would include the "Brits", and to 12, the WD 2-8-0's. These latter were everywhere, never clean, always trundling around on freight. It was not till many years later that I was hauled by one on the K&WVR, funnily enough disguised as one of our "regulars, 90711, complete with Low Moor shedplate.

 

1. Royal Scots, (Rebuilt Patriots and rebuilt Jubilees.)
2. Coronations.
3. Unrebuilt Jubilees.
4. Black 5s.
5. 8fs.
6. Unrebuilt Patriots
7. Britannias.
8. Clans.
9. A3s (final version.)
10. A1s.

 

1 . A4s, 2. Black 5s, 3. V2s, 4. Jubilees, 5. Brits, 6. B1s, 7. K1s, 8. Duchesses, 9. Rebuilt Royal Scots, 10. A2s. But I admit I got a soft spot of all locos from the Big Four and the BR Standards.

 

Again in no particular order.
1. A4
2. A3
3. V2
4. P2 - not seen one in the flesh but won't be long now.
5. GMAM
6. 25NC
7. QJ
8. Any Spamcan large or small.
9. 9F
10. Jubilee.

 

In no particular order:
●Lawason Billinton's K class 2-6-0 .... built like battleships, worked well to the bitter end, before going down, all guns blazing, to a bookkeeping exercise
●Marsh I4 class 4-4-2T .... an attractive class which put the case for superheating beyond doubt
●Highland/Caley 'River' class 4-6-0 .... beautifully proportioned locos of surprisingly modern aspect
●Churchward's 29XX class 4-6-0 .... a handsome design which kick started all that followed
●Riddles class 4 2-6-4T .... a worthy (and better looking) successor to the Fairburn design, did their thing efficiently and unobtrusively. The only class on my list not needing a new build to see!
●Beattie (Beyer Peacock) 0282 Ilfracombe Goods 0-6-0 .... a very attractive lightweight loco for severely axle-load restricted routes. Gorgeous looking in both original and rebuilt form
●Glover (GNRI) U class 4-4-0 ..... Slieve Gullion's well proportioned little brothers, with wider route availability. Good enough for a reorder as late as 1948!
●Isle of Wight (Beyer Peacock) 2-4-0T ..... (any of 'em!) just 'because' ..... alright?
●McDonnell (GS&WR) Class 2 4-4-0 ..... a fine looking, long lived lightweight design and the first in these islands to employ the swing link bogie
●Bowman Malcolm (B&NCR) S/S1 class 2-4-2T .... chunky and business-like 3ft gauge VonBorries compound tank locos, lasted to the end of the Co.Antrim NG

In view of my three Irish nomimationss ..... I'm cheekily gonna try to sneak the 3ft gauge IMR's BP 2-4-0Ts in too!

 

LMS Duchess, Jubilee, Black 5, 8F, 2-6-4 tank, any of them, Fowler, Stanier, Fairburn, WD 2-8-0, Britannia, LYR A class 0-6-0, Bulleid Pacific's, any, in either form, LNWR super D. Slight LMS bias perhaps?

 

Combination of tours and personal reasons for my “Top 10”


1 - A1 - Tornado - Elizabethan in 2012, Cornishman 2017, Border Raiders have all been fantastic tours – the Ebor Flyer “could” have topped the lot, the schedule, the speed that we went through the 80’s before reaching 90 was amazing, then the rather ignominious failure - will the 90 MPH running and that schedule ever happen again I ask myself?

2-A2 - Blue Peter - won a Blue Peter competition (Guess the mileage) when I was young - alas I was too young to go on the Footplate ride that was supposed to be the top prize, so the next closest "old" enough winner got to do it instead - 30+ years later I'm still very jealous of him and I’ve yet to even climb into her cab! Hopefully put that right soon - even if it’s just to photograph my son being the lucky one!

3-A3 - Ask any non-rail enthusiast to name a steam loco and a massive percentage would say Flying Scotsman. London - Edinburgh non-stop, first (authenticated (possibly!)) 100mph run to say nothing of their graceful lines.

4-A4 – The fastest of them all - Number 9 was my first A4 for sight, hauled my first main line tour and I've completed the set by being able to say I've fired (badly!!!) and driven her. No prizes for guessing my all-time favourite!

5-V2 - My grandads favourite locomotive and the reason behind my passion for steam (yep and here come the tears...).

6 - Royal Scot – Just something about them that looks right, highly capable performers in rebuilt form and the namesake put up a stunning performance up Shap with the returning Scot Commemorative.

7- Patriot – Love of these stem from reading magazine articles when I was young - I really hope that The Unknown Warrior is a big success. Looking forward to a trip behind her when she is finished.

8 – Duchess/Coronation – One of the first footplates I remember getting on as a youngster at Bressingham and my first Horndy Dublo model.

9 - Merchant Navy – ACE, Pullmans and Immaculate are three words that spring to mind – yep Clan Line it is.

10 – Castle – Bristolian, Cheltenham Flyer and 1Z48 behind the “Earl” special tours, amazing performances.

Try as I might - no room for (but could change mind in future!) Duke, Black 5, 8F, Brit and probably many others!

 

1. GWR King.
2. GWR Castle.
3. GWR 2884 class (28xx & 38xx classes).
4. GWR City of Truro.
5. GWR 14xx class.
6. GWR 57xx class Pannier tank.
7. LNER A4.
8. LMS 6201 Princess Elizabeth.
9. SR rebuilt Merchant Navy.
10. BR 9F.

A very slight Swindon bias there

 

In no particular order, and not necessarily still in existence:

1. Talyllyn No 2 'Dolgoch' - without which we wouldn't be doing this.
2. LSWR S15 4-6-0 (I's be shot at dawn if I didn't put these in!).
3. DR 03.10 4-6-2 (Rebuilds).
4. JZ 25 Class 2-8-0 - first seen in 1973 at Prevalje.
5. USA S100 0-6-0T.
6. DR 99.22 and 99.23 2-10-2T on the Harz.
7. DR 50 2-10-0 - standing inside the shed at Dresden Altstadt while everyone else was outside doing night photoshooting, lights out and a 50 rolled in next to me. By the time the lights came on the driver had got himself up beside the boiler to attend to something; just how sheds were in everyday use, working in the dark.
8. LSWR C14 0-4-0T - who could not like the Potato Cans?
9. GS&WR 101 Class 0-6-0 - when most Irish classes struggled to make double figures these went to 111, something must have gone right!
10. West Country/ Battle of Britain - Jarvis not Bulleid (waiting for the hate mail).

Pat

 

Only 10?

Caledonian Railway Conner Class 98 2-4-0
LSWR Adams X2 4-4-0
NER Wilson Worsdell class Q1 7ft 7in 4-4-0
GWR Dean Bogie Single
LBSC Marsh 4-6-2T
NBR Reid Atlantic
GWR Saint
LMS Stanier Princess Coronation Pacific
SNCF 241P
Norfolk & Western J class 4-8-4

 

Thrash machines par excellence.

 

In no particular order...

Stanier 8F 2-8-0
Fowler Patriot 4-6-0
LYR Aspinall Atlantic
MR Johnson 0-4-0ST
Riddles WD 2-10-0
Gresley K3 (original with GNR cab)
Gresley P1 2-8-2 (after booster removal)
Urie H15 4-6-0
Stanier Class 5 4-6-0
Stanier Coronation 4-6-2 (both streamlined and unstreamlined / destreamlined)

Richard.

 

Class 26?

 

Can I just start by congratulating the OP who, when faced with wanting to know what people's favourite locos were, came right out with the question "what is your favourite loco?" Rather than the myriad ways that the question normally gets asked while pretending to ask something else (With a nod to @LMS2968 )

There's 200 years of history to choose from. I thought about imposing some conditions - maybe locos I've been on, or locos I've seen, or only locos that exist. But in the end just decided to go with favourites, either that have particular personal attachment, or are just intriguing or beautiful or both. One or two sadly no longer exist. But if my Euromillions numbers came to pass, these would be in my personal museum.

No particular order, except - obvs - for No. 1

1. Wainwright H class. Well, no-one expected me to say anything else did they? The epitome of the archetypal British passenger tank.
2. Wainwright D class - the British 4-4-0 was a classic type, so why would you choose other than the most beautiful of them all?
3. Maunsell S15. For personal reasons - I passed part of my firing test on one, and also had a real morale-boosting day on one some months before that with the heaviest train I've ever worked.
4. Adams 0415 class Radial Tank. Almost the earliest locomotive I can remember seeing, aged about 5 or 6. There also happened to be a mural of one above the station of the town I grew up in, so I have had a bit of a soft spot for the class ever since.
5. Stroudley D tank. Go anywhere, do anything engine 19th century style. The last of them went about ten years before anyone would have been interested in saving one.
6. Fletcher "901" class. I'm a Southern man at heart, but I'm sure most of us from time to time hanker after a bit on the side, and for me it's the NER. Not the later NER of big Raven and Wordsell engines, but the older, more mysterious NER of Edward Fletcher, a mix of sprightly passenger engines of ancient appearance and even more ancient goods engines slogging along with long trains of mineral wagons. Talking of which ...
7. Bouch 1001 class long-boiler 0-6-0. The fact that (just) a loco that looks like it had its origins in the North East of Hackworth and Stephenson made it past the grouping to overlap with Gresley pacifics is a fabulous thought. I've fired Flying Scotsman, but I'd give it up in a flash for the opportunity to fire old 1275. And while on the subject of ancient goods engines:
8. Kirtley 700 class 0-6-0. The old Midland engines had a beauty of line, so I'd take an outside frame 0-6-0 - still with round top firebox, the curved frames over the wheels, outside springs, Salter safety valves and all.
9. New Zealand Railways JA class. Because every now and again you need a foreign holiday. I had a memorable cab ride on JA 1250 some years ago.
10. BR Standard 4MT tank. I'm sure even Michelin starred chefs every now and again think "f*ck it, it's a Friday night, can't be bothered to cook, I just want a pizza." So after all the delights above, a good homely comfortable do anything engine. LMS heritage, but it took the artistry of the Brighton drawing office to make them look right.

Tom

 

1. 3031 Dean Single.
   
   
2. Baldwin 8-26-C
   
   
3. Wainwright D Class
   
   
4. 4073 Castle class
   
   
5. 4 1/2” Bagnall(Groudle Glen, Rye & Camber)
   
   
6. Churchward County
   
   
7. 14xx
   
   
8. 57xx
   
   
9. A3
   
   
10. A4
    

This is probably my top 10, they definitely all in my top 20. Its a pretty hard question, this.

 

Isle of Man 2-4-0 to Erin
Darjeeling 0-4-0 to Snaefell
Zillertalbahn 3 0-6-2 two cylinder compound to Peel

Raven B16/1 ,Thompson B16/3 and Swedish 4-8-0 class E compared dailly over Ais Gill

9F, BR 52 and Raven 0-4-0 (3 cyl) on NYMR

Adams 4-4-2 on Bluebell

 

Is there not a gauge problem with these two?