LB&SCR Billinton Tank Engines

Evening All

I have added a collection of Billinton tank engines with some photos dating back to 1924
http://tinyurl.com/qxnk2tx

& the newest a colour photo from 1962
http://tinyurl.com/pl4ybdp

Full collection
http://tinyurl.com/pcmdzvb

Neil

 

Hi Neil

Nice photos - but a couple of corrections / clarifications.

Firstly, there were two Billinton's, father and son. The 0-6-2Ts and 0-4-4Ts in the collection are the work of the father, Bob Billinton. The big Baltic tanks are the work of his son, Lawson Billinton.

With photos 7 and 8, it is a bit misleading to give an alternative BR number of 32333. Although it is technically correct, the locos had been rebuilt as 4-6-0 tender engines long before BR days, so that BR number is really the number of an N15X tender engine, not an L tank engine.

The two Billintons were separated as CME of the Brighton by Douglas Earle Marsh. A few of your photos are actually locos by him, for example photos 4 and 5 are Marsh I3s, not Billinton locos.

Tom

 

Hi Tom

It all gets a bit blurred going back all those years, have looked at the 2 locos in photos 4&5 and found they are indeed 2087 & 2089 Marsh is it I3 or 13 class (L B Billinton development of Marsh design with superheater and larger cylinders)

changed the gallery title also

Neil

 

Hi Neil

It is I3, not 13.

Not sure quite what you mean by saying they are a Billinton development of a Marsh design. It's true that the last examples (including 87 and 89 in your photos) were built under LB Billinton's regime with very minor detail variations, but they are every bit as much a Marsh design as a BR-built Castles, West Countries and A1 pacifics are Collett, Bulleid or Peppercorn designs. You wouldn't call a 1950-built Castle with a double chimney and four row superheater a Riddles design, would you? Certainly the main innovation, which made them so celebrated - probably the first successful superheated loco in the country - was made by Marsh; it wasn't a development by Billinton.

Tom

 

Hi Tom

I was going by this bit of info
http://www.railuk.info/steam/getsteam.php?row_id=5715

I will be putting them into the collection of Marsh locos that I have

Neil

 

Not sure that page is particularly authoritative. Try here for decent potted histories of SR and pre-grouping locos:

http://www.semgonline.com/photoind.html

And, specifically for the I3s, here:

http://www.semgonline.com/steam/i3class_01.html

Tom