Bulleid Pacifics - The Spam Cans

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  • Опубліковано 8 кві 2022
  • Good Morning! :D
    Among the line-up of famous, art-deco steam locomotives from the 1930s, the Bulleid Pacifics proved to be the last of this era to be released, as behind the crisp A4 Pacifics and the rounded LMS Coronation class, the distinctive Merchant Navy and West Country/Battle of Britain locomotives took on a style of their own, plying their trade as the mainstay of express passenger services across southern England for 25 years, despite inherent flaws in their design and their release during the protracted demise of steam throughout the 1950s and into the 60s.
    All video content and images in this production have been provided with permission wherever possible. While I endeavour to ensure that all accreditations properly name the original creator, some of my sources do not list them as they are usually provided by other, unrelated UA-camrs. Therefore, if I have mistakenly put the accreditation of 'Unknown', and you are aware of the original creator, please send me a personal message at my Gmail (this is more effective than comments as I am often unable to read all of them): rorymacveigh@gmail.com
    The views and opinions expressed in this video are my personal appraisal and are not the views and opinions of any of these individuals or bodies who have kindly supplied me with footage and images.
    If you enjoyed this video, why not leave a like, and consider subscribing for more great content coming soon.
    Paypal: paypal.me/rorymacve?country.x...
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    Thanks again, everyone, and enjoy! :D
    References:
    - KentRail (and their respective sources)
    - Wikipedia (and its respective references)
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 359

  • @briantitchener4829
    @briantitchener4829 Місяць тому +4

    As a boyhood trainspotter, I spent many an hour lineside on the Waterloo-Bournemouth line. Saw many Bulleid Pacifics, even managed to 'cab' a few. Lovely-looking machines and a tribute to British engineering. This video is a wonderful documentary, full of well-researched information about these great locos. Thanks for bringing back such memories.

  • @maunsell24
    @maunsell24 2 місяці тому +4

    Very interesting documentary. My paternal grandmother lived in West Byfleet which was where I first encountered the Bulleid Pacifics during the school holidays. No visit was complete without walking from her house across the footbridge over the Basingstoke Canal to the station. The London bound trains were frequently at full chat under clear signals on the fast lines. I can still remember the very first time. I was 7 years old and used to watching trains on a steeply graded branch line in Sussex. I was blown away (literally) by the gust of wind from a down express!
    Btw, Maunsell is pronounced Mansell (same as the British F1 champion), not Mornsell.
    Also, as Glenn Martin pointed out, Bulleid is not pronounced Bully-ed or Bully-id.
    The drawings for the Lord Nelson class formed the basis of the original LMS Royal Scot class.
    The Southern Railway provided them to the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow, the company that built the LMS engines.

  • @musicgarryj
    @musicgarryj 2 роки тому +50

    Someone taught me this little poem when I was a schoolboy trainspotter:
    Bulleid put his running motion
    In a sort of oily potion
    So it was the wheels went round
    But hardly ever touched the ground...
    From Waterloo they'd gently start
    With hefty push from rearmost part
    Speeding swiftly to the west
    Covered in a cardboard vest!
    It's not exactly up there with W. H. Auden's "Night Mail", but it's been stuck in my brain for all these years! lol

  • @carribob1992
    @carribob1992 2 роки тому +92

    10:45 Little note about that Merchant Navy hauled train, it has one of Bulleid's Tavern Cars which were essentially Pubs on wheels (They even had names and the interior was like that of a pub). They lasted until 1959 when they were rebuilt as normal Dining cars.

    • @johnjephcote7636
      @johnjephcote7636 2 роки тому +17

      The Tavern cars even had brick effect painting on the waist panels of the BR carmine.and cream and mock beams inside.

    • @fisherman501
      @fisherman501 Рік тому +4

      Tavern cars sound like the kind of thing that would run on the Titfield - Mallingford line

    • @Pikestnt
      @Pikestnt 5 місяців тому +1

      Another genius idea from OVS. Why hasn’t someone recreated one for preserved railways? Never mind a few warm tins in the guard’s van - a proper pub on rails 👍👍

  • @calex007
    @calex007 2 роки тому +233

    I can’t believe Ruairdh doesn’t have more subscribers by now. This is one of my favorite channels, always good and interesting

    • @DKS225
      @DKS225 2 роки тому +9

      I hear you on that Cale. Rudy does his research and narration thoroughly.

    • @thomasfrederiksendk
      @thomasfrederiksendk 2 роки тому +8

      @barnabyjoy Perhaps the polite way of stating it is something like this: It is a lot easier to form uninformed opinions than it is to gain knowledge.

    • @ordinaldragoon
      @ordinaldragoon 2 роки тому +3

      I actually prefer the latter. I always love a good read about the railway’s and actually hate picture based books.

    • @JamieCrookes
      @JamieCrookes 2 роки тому +4

      @barnabyjoy It's because we are all getting old and slowly dying. I know quite a few younger rail obsessives but look at everything else that exists to take away their focus.
      They don't care how it came be be, they just want to buy or use it. Industrialisation up to mass production happened far too quickly in my worthless opinion. Constant change forced people not to bother with the past, only the future. :(

    • @PaulSmith-pl7fo
      @PaulSmith-pl7fo 2 роки тому +3

      @SamsTrainsIsRacist Hey, keyboard warrior, what helps you sleep at night? I have watched practically every video Sam's Trains has uploaded and not detected ANY racism!

  • @WilliamHBaird-eq2hp
    @WilliamHBaird-eq2hp 2 роки тому +35

    I love the "Spam Cans" ... They are indeed a great looking Steam locomotive.
    This is very well done report!

  • @1951GL
    @1951GL 2 роки тому +16

    The boilers on the Bullied pacifics were the best of the era. He had a varied experience in the railway industry, including time at the L&Y Horwich works, where fast and frequently stopping engines were the norm.
    This is an excellent video - a tribute to a fine engineer.

  • @RHTeebs
    @RHTeebs 2 роки тому +5

    I've never been a big Southern bloke. I usually drift towards the Great Western, LNER, or the old GCR. But, I will always make an exception when I see a King Arthur or Bulleid Pacific.

  • @Firebrand55
    @Firebrand55 2 роки тому +2

    As a lad, I was sat on a suitcase at Ashford Station when one of these engines screamed through at speed...the slipstream knocked me onto the unyielding platform!
    Later, the type trundled through Barnstaple regularly, always making a distinctive clanking sound.

  • @jeremypreece870
    @jeremypreece870 2 роки тому +10

    Southern Railway is my favourite of the old big four and I think that the Spam Cans were truly iconic. This is a really good and informative video. As for the lines West of Exeter, what a catastrophic failure it was to axe routes that got through Devon and Cornwall avoiding the notorious Dawlish. Then it was argued, railways were only profitable in August, the short holiday season. How things have changed and how those lines could have thrived in modern times as holiday season includes all of the school holidays and the pretty much the months May to September.

  • @aveedub7403
    @aveedub7403 2 роки тому +9

    I used to live very near Bluebell Railway in Sussex, Blackmoor Vale just took my breath away!! Amazing, and then to see Wadebridge, Eddystone et al together at a festival of giants was a once in a lifetime magic moment! Thank you Mr Bulleid. I have Hornby OO examples running at home to try to re-create that magic as I sadly moved away from my beloved Bluebell. 😥😥😥😥

    • @tocaat2410
      @tocaat2410 2 роки тому

      Are you coming down this August to join the throng enjoying the Flying Scotsman again? There's always the Golden Arrow if you want to stick with Southern.

  • @PaulLemars01
    @PaulLemars01 2 роки тому +47

    Once again a beautifully produced video. Exceptionally well researched and paced perfectly. Bravo!

  • @bazza945
    @bazza945 2 роки тому +4

    I went to the same Primary School that Oliver Bullied started at. Mind you, I started there quite a few decades later. This was in NewZealand, I think he was born here in 1885.

  • @geoffreyking4515
    @geoffreyking4515 2 роки тому +3

    We never got many up Nottingham way except on football specials on the G.C.but I always liked to see a spam can

  • @Shark30006
    @Shark30006 7 місяців тому +2

    Nice presentation on the video of the SR Merchant Navy and West Country and Battle of Britain Classes.

  • @merape99
    @merape99 2 роки тому +4

    I was brought up in Portland close to Weymouth and was a keen trainspotter in my youth.
    Bulleids ran regularly to Weymouth and we sometimes travelled up to Yeovil Junction or Waterloo, to catch the locos on the Waterloo Exeter route. By around 1964 I had copped 27 of the MNs apart from 35001, 35003 and 35028 which never ventured away from the south east routes out of Vistoria. When steam finally ceased in the south east my missing three were redeployed and I did get to see 35001 and 35003. Clan Line 35028 however remained elusive.
    I attended Weymouth Grammar School and from the school you could look across the river to see the station a half mile or more away. I had to stay behind for a detention one evening and one of my friends came back to tell me that Clan Line was in the station. I could see it clearly from a distance but asked myself if that really counted, so I cycled over to the station to gaze at it for about a quarter of an hour.
    The irony is that I have seen it numerous times since. Around the late eighties I worked for a software house in Bristol which involved regular trips up to the city. As chance would have it, Clan Line was undergoing a major overhaul at Didcot and was standing outside the shed week after week.
    I now live in Richmond in south west London and Clan Line regularly hauls specials on the main line. I even saw it go through Richmond station when I was not aware that it was going to be coming.
    After being so elusive I sometimes think it is now following me.

    • @cr10001
      @cr10001 2 роки тому

      What a happy circumstance to be able to relate! :)

  • @andrewreynolds4949
    @andrewreynolds4949 2 роки тому +18

    The boiler was so good it was rumored it could run on sticks picked up on the side of the tracks in a pinch. Bulleid’s boiler design was used as the basis for the boiler design on the BR Standard Pacifics.
    I’d love to see one of those with the originally planned gear-driven valves, I didn’t know about that.

    • @highdownmartin
      @highdownmartin 2 роки тому +4

      You’d need a LOT of sticks! No dampers on the original Loco’s. “Why would I fit my boilers with something that would stop them steaming ?” said Bullied

    • @hughrainbird8190
      @hughrainbird8190 2 роки тому +4

      It'd take a lot of modification! One element to be addressed would be the tendency of the frames to flex when in movement, which I have read was a reason for the oil baths to lose oil tightness due to the stresses imposed.

    • @hughrainbird8190
      @hughrainbird8190 2 роки тому +2

      @@highdownmartin I have heard that the omission of firebox dampers was due to a future plan to convert the engines to oil burning after the War, where dampers would not be necessary. BR began with this, such as with the Black Fives based at Bath on the S&D, but a sudden increase in World oil prices following the Iranian nationalisation of their oil resources in the early 1950's put an end to this.

  • @simonbradshaw3708
    @simonbradshaw3708 2 роки тому +22

    Thank you for another very interesting and enjoyable video. The unrebuilt Bullied Light Pacific's are my favourite class of steam locomotive and have a unique sound due to their chain driven valve gear. I always look forward to see and being pulled by one at a steam gala.

    • @hughrainbird8190
      @hughrainbird8190 2 роки тому +1

      The distinctive exhaust sound was due to the uneven lengths of the exhaust passages, the ones from the outside cylinders being fed into the exhaust of the middle engine before being ejected through the multiple jet blastpipe.

  • @knuckles1206
    @knuckles1206 2 роки тому +8

    Great video! always nice to see a video from you on steam locos! One of the reasons why the Southern Railways didn't mass produce top link express locomotives between the King Arthur and Bullied Pacifics was that with the electrification scheme taking priority, there wasn't so much money ( or need ) to withdraw still far from old pre- grouping locomotives like the LBSC Alantics and SECR 4-4-0s (the latter infact evolving into the L1). Locos which under LMS ownership would have been scrapped by the mid 30s unless they were Midland designs.

  • @davedear929
    @davedear929 9 місяців тому +1

    As a teenage train spotter in the late 50s I never saw any Southern steam. I dreamed of seeing a spam can. Still haven't. Well researched and presented . Many thanks.

  • @jimdieseldawg3435
    @jimdieseldawg3435 2 роки тому +11

    Great video! I’m currently restoring a couple of Tri-ang Light Pacifics so this was timely and enjoyable. I didn’t know that the casing was for ease of cleaning rather than “air-smoothing”, but the slip on starting is legendary and definitive 😆 The gentle whistle of the Lemaitre chimney at low regulator openings, like blowing across the top of a glass beer bottle is also an endearing characteristic 🙂

  • @petey6415
    @petey6415 2 роки тому +26

    A thoroughly well researched and extremely interesting video. This has to be one of my favourite UA-cam channels. Keep up the amazing work!

  • @bigben5051
    @bigben5051 2 роки тому +17

    Fantastic video crammed with info and great archive and contemporary footage!
    A few notes:
    - The rebuilding of the locos by Jarvis wasn't a direct result of the Crewkerne incident. The crank axles were redesigned prior to the decision for a full rebuild.
    - The balance weights fitted to the rebuilt locos wasn't the cause of the hammer-blow. It was the increased reciprocating weight of the additional valve gear that caused this, the balance weights being fitted to partially alleviate the issue.

  • @v8pilot
    @v8pilot Рік тому +1

    Wonderful to see these nostalgic film views.
    I used to go to school daily from Weymouth to Dorchester. The lower front of the West Country engines were always drenched in layers of black oil. Often the train would run out of steam in Bincombe Tunnel and would sit in the tunnel until it managed to get moving again. The local train managers eventually caught on and from then, a Great Western 2-8-0 banker would assist the train, dropping off at the end of Bincombe Tunnel.

  • @kevatcrewe
    @kevatcrewe 2 роки тому +5

    Thank you for this! Two of my favourite loco types.

  • @Shark30006
    @Shark30006 6 місяців тому +1

    Sir Eustace Missenden and Sir Trafford Leigh Mallory are my favorite Battle of Britain classes

  • @andrewhowe555
    @andrewhowe555 2 роки тому +4

    Brilliant (as always) , so informative and brilliantly put together 🚂🙏😊

  • @stephenmcdonald7908
    @stephenmcdonald7908 2 роки тому +2

    That certainly brought back some memories. Thank you.

  • @paulashley2707
    @paulashley2707 2 роки тому +4

    Excellent video, as always. Thank you so much Ruairidh for sharing your perspective on Bullied's pacifics - my favourite steam locos; which have such a distinctive design.

  • @jcj3281
    @jcj3281 2 роки тому +1

    A pleasure to watch this informative piece of British history,and many thanks for not ruining it with toots and music.

  • @robinforrest7680
    @robinforrest7680 2 роки тому +2

    Magnificent Mr McVeigh. Thankyou!

  • @heritagemodeller8456
    @heritagemodeller8456 2 роки тому +1

    I've been watching these videos for years and never once commented, so Thank you for broadening my knowledge on Br railways!

  • @laurieharper1526
    @laurieharper1526 2 роки тому +2

    Another excellent film, Ruairidh. Many thanks.

  • @Shark30006
    @Shark30006 7 місяців тому +1

    I like the Bulleid Pacifics in their unrebuilt and rebuilt forms.

  • @robinforrest7680
    @robinforrest7680 2 роки тому +1

    Excellent as always. Thankyou.

  • @macjim
    @macjim 2 роки тому +3

    I can just see the reaction of the H&S bods when they watched the shunter hanging onto the door exterior seen at the end of the show… changed days.

    • @neiloflongbeck5705
      @neiloflongbeck5705 2 роки тому +2

      Shunters could be seen doing similar things long after the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 provided they had been properly trained and such activities had been properly risk assessed and passed as safe.

  • @Tindallhall
    @Tindallhall 2 роки тому +3

    Excellent video and a pleasure to watch - informative narrative delivered with pace and accompanied by some stunning archive footage. We could also mention their appearances on the Somerset and Dorset!

  • @0759trainz
    @0759trainz 2 роки тому +5

    The design of these locomotives look amazing

  • @dwaynejohnson4892
    @dwaynejohnson4892 2 роки тому +1

    Amazing video and close attention to detail and facts. I have and will always have a never ending love for these class of locomotives.

  • @michaelmorley7719
    @michaelmorley7719 6 місяців тому +1

    The Bulleids are some of the prettiest streamlined steam locomotives ever built, right up there with the N&W Class Js and the SP Daylights.

  • @johnnypoker46
    @johnnypoker46 2 роки тому +2

    I 'spotted' most of the Merchant Navy class and the majority of the light Pacifics when I lived near the LSWR main line in the early 1960s. Oddly enough, most of the preserved Merchant Navys are among those I missed, so I reckon I have a second chance while I'm still here

  • @lovewidors6thtoc658
    @lovewidors6thtoc658 2 роки тому +1

    A superb potted history of these beautiful Pacific machines, they've been a favourite of mine for years along with the BR 4MTs. Nice touch with acknowledging Mr Woodham in the preservation of so many Bulleids. Thoroughly enjoyed everyone's entertaining comments on here, too.

  • @Daan_0172
    @Daan_0172 2 роки тому +1

    Another great video lad, always informative and fun to watch. Keep up the good work.

  • @alanobiwala6822
    @alanobiwala6822 2 роки тому +2

    Another superb video history lesson. Keep up the good work of maintaining our UK railway heritage.

  • @2949james
    @2949james 2 роки тому +1

    As a boy living in Beckenham I used to watch the Golden arrow
    Passing through Kent House station on its way to the coast.

  • @theunknown2470
    @theunknown2470 2 роки тому +1

    love these locomotives. too iconic. hope to see one in person. great video

  • @gangleweed
    @gangleweed Рік тому +1

    Just as a matter of interest, a model loco designer and builder who went by the pen name of LBSC, as Curly Lawrence was known to thousands, redesigned the spam can to what he would have designed it and added it to the plethora of engine designs in the Model Engineer magazine during the 60's........the engine was named Pamela.......it is a 2 cylinder 4-6-2 with Walshaearts valve gear or Baker valve gear in 3 1/2 inch gauge.......drawings supplied by Percival Marshall and co.

  • @louislamonte334
    @louislamonte334 2 роки тому +1

    Excellent, thorough and extremely interesting documentary! Highest possible rating!

  • @Shark30006
    @Shark30006 6 місяців тому +1

    21C1 Channel Packet and 21C2 Union Castle are my favorite prototypes of the Merchant Navy

  • @adrianharris9091
    @adrianharris9091 2 роки тому +1

    Superb documentary. Very informative and clearly narrated. Thank you and well done.

  • @johnkeepin7527
    @johnkeepin7527 2 роки тому +7

    The overall design was up to date when it was new, and while you mentioned the use of all steel for the boilers, other significant items were the use of Le Maître exhaust (which has a noticeable audible effect on their performance), and the use of Traitment Integrale Armand (TIA) for the water, to minimise problems with hard water. Both concepts being acquired from across the channel.

  • @marvwatkins7029
    @marvwatkins7029 2 роки тому +1

    An excellent, comprehensive report on an excellent locomotive.

  • @felixthecleaner8843
    @felixthecleaner8843 Рік тому

    Awesome Gen - thoroughly enjoyed this epic - Good Work!

  • @adrianrutterford762
    @adrianrutterford762 2 роки тому +3

    Wonderful stuff!
    Thanks for an interesting video

  • @htimsid
    @htimsid 2 роки тому +1

    Super video, packed with information (as usual).

  • @Mounhas
    @Mounhas 2 роки тому +2

    Although I had easy access to every mainline station in London my home line of the SR was my favourite, I actually enjoyed the variety of locos and wish that I had used the years 65-67 more wisely and savoured the last days of steam out of Waterloo. Once again Ruairdh puts together a fascinating selection of clips and well written dialogue. Cheers.

  • @rwm2986
    @rwm2986 2 роки тому +3

    Thank you. I have several fond memories of these amazing locomotives. Bournemouth Belle Pullmans and Atlantic Coast Expresses when trainspotting at Weybridge. Travelling to and from Weymouth on a Boat Train en route to Jersey. Seeing Winston Churchill passing through Virginia Water on funeral duty

    • @dointheokecoke5548
      @dointheokecoke5548 Рік тому

      i used to train spot at Woking ,Waterloo side of the station, our local was just the 2 car electric, some mornings mum used to wake me early to catch the Coffee Pots moving up jenkins hill,. the other times steam came to us was Ascot races week

  • @barryphillips7327
    @barryphillips7327 Рік тому +1

    Very good video, CLEAR narration as always with RMV.

  • @martinthatsall1518
    @martinthatsall1518 8 місяців тому +1

    Top class video - very informative without being patronizing. Well Done!

  • @hughrainbird8190
    @hughrainbird8190 2 роки тому +2

    Thank you for this study of the class of loco that were omnipresent during my boyhood linesiding days in South London during the 1950s, and of which I had the good fortune and privilege of realising a boyhood dream and working on with no. 34092 "City of Wells" in preservation.
    However I'd like to make two points about your commentary:
    The overall width of the first batch of Light Pacifics is 8'6", or "Thanet" Restriction "1", which precluded their use between Grove Junction Tunbridge Wells and Bo Peep on the Hastings line, where a width restriction of 8'1" was in force.
    The cause of fires under the airsmoothed casing of the "originals" was more commonly due to the boiler lagging becoming impregnated with oil thrown up from the lubrication of the motion big ends. On braking, sparks and even fragments of hot metal would be thrown up from the shoes of the clasp brakes on the driving wheels, and this could ignite the oil in the lagging, which fanned by the slipstream, would burst into flame. Peter Smith relates such an incident at Radstock during the 1950's in his book on the Somerset & Dorset Railway. On Bullied's Q1 "Austerity" 0-6-0's this oil-throwing tendency led to an unpleasant fine spray of oil being thrown up into enginemen's faces when they looked out over the cabside.
    Much has been discussed about the oil leaking from the oil baths, and the perceived "stretching" of the chains of the valve gear affecting performance of the "originals". Rather than simply poor welding, the cause of loss of oil-tightness could be attributed to stresses caused by movements of the main frames to which the oil bath was attached, during running.
    As a boy, on my first ride behind a "Spamcan" I recall the problems that the locomotive had in "lifting" our up Kent Coast express away from the platform at London Bridge up the tightly curved incline over the girder bridge across the Borough, and round to Borough Junction.
    During my time with 34092, while running main line, I had the pleasure of meeting the late Harry Frith of Eastleigh Works, fount of all knowledge on the Bulleid Pacifics, and one of the subjects touched on was the experimentation that was carried out on the springing of the driving wheels to try and dampen the slipping tendencies of the class. It's highlighted with the Bulleids, but all Pacifics are prone to it, as where, say a 4-6-0 tends to "sit back" on its rear driving wheels when starting away giving adhesion, the rear axle supporting the firebox and cab assembly of a Pacific precludes this.
    While the rebuilding of the classes gave improved reliability, most enginemen who had experience of both versions of the Bulleids would be of the opinion that the "originals" were more free-running, the introduction of three sets of walschaerts valve gear in the rebuilding tending to slightly inhibit this, but all gave credit to the free steaming of Bulleid's boiler design. Too free, at times in my experience, as with no ashpan dampers to control combustion the result could be an embarrassing expression of steam from the safety valves at the rate of around ten gallons a minute!

  • @Mehtaru
    @Mehtaru Рік тому +1

    Hands down my favorite British steam locomotives, sure they had some problems, but I can't help but love them for their looks.

  • @Infrared73
    @Infrared73 2 роки тому +21

    I was really surprised with hearing that they wanted to keep the Steam trains running until the 1990s. What a weird concept. The Shinkansen started operating in 1964.

    • @Isochest
      @Isochest 2 роки тому +16

      Japan had steam later than the UK. Rapid dieselisation was a bad mistake in the UK. It would have been better to electrify instead.

    • @Isochest
      @Isochest 2 роки тому

      @Alfred Wedmore Politicians botched the GWML electrification on purpose. Big oil wants to promote Hydrogen even though this is only any good for fertiliser. Look up the Liebreich table. Anyway £50000 gets you a place at the table and a take at the public purse. We can't afford corruption but it "works" for them.

    • @kw9849
      @kw9849 2 роки тому +8

      They were a proven, mature technology. The viability of classes like the 9F to have served into the 70's or even 80's shouldn't be underestimated.

    • @thecrazyjamman
      @thecrazyjamman 2 роки тому +2

      @@kw9849 Its thinking like that which led to the strategic steam reserve theory. A fascinating concept

  • @bjoe385
    @bjoe385 2 роки тому +5

    34046 and 35018 are running today (9th of April) on railtours.

  • @davemitchell9941
    @davemitchell9941 Рік тому +1

    Good overall description except for the oil bath trap.
    All my info came from ex chief erecting shop foreman @ Eastleigh, (the late Harry Frith), who gave us immeasurable help & information, in the restoration of 34007 & other Bulleid outfits. For which we were all very grateful!
    Oil on tyres came from missionary tray axle box feeds ( when standing the trimmings continued feeding), (( have a look in 4’ when an unconverted moves off!!)), this ran down into wheel pockets & was also flung around to mix with brake dust, sand, ballast dust etc. Ignition was prompted by brake blocks sparking under heavy braking igniting vaporised oil from sump breathers & catching hold of the encrusted oil soaked lagging, aided by an effective draught from airflow up under casing.
    A solution was provided in the form of steel belly lagging sheets,material change of brake block to prevent sparking & regular steam cleaning of wheels & motion,(practised at Exmouth Junc).
    The M N’s weighed around 92T after Mr Bulleid went through Eastleigh works wielding a piece of chalk over the erected frames of 21c3, marking where lightening holes were to be cut. This was his drawing office staff in hit pursuit. Fabrications in place of steel castings & limpet board casing achieved the 5T reduction in weight.
    Rebuilt they weighed ironically 94T.
    WC’s were 86T as built & 91T as rebuilt & lost their route availability as a result which thankfully is why so many unconverteds survive today!🙂
    Mr Bulleid’s great legacy!!

  • @Shark30006
    @Shark30006 5 місяців тому +1

    21C166 Spitfire, 34086 219 Squadron, 34019 Bideford, 34069 Hawkinge, 34050 Royal Observer Corps, 34087 145 Squadron, 34056 Croydon, 34052 Lord Dowding, 34008 Padstow, 34006 Bude, 21C117 Ilfracombe, 34009 Lyme Regis, and 34001 Exeter are also my favorite West Country and Battle of Britain locomotives

  • @rogerhill138
    @rogerhill138 Рік тому +1

    Excellent and detailed commentary.

  • @brianwillson9567
    @brianwillson9567 Рік тому +2

    Both in original and rebuilt forms, Bulleid’s Pacifics are beautiful and powerful machines. Bulleid’s problem, emphasised in the Leader, was that his brain was a quarter century ahead of the available technology. Hence the decision to rebuild and get rid of the ingenious but problematic valve gear. End result a more reliable machine, but without some of the elan of the original machines when they were fully ‘on song’Thank you for this video.

  • @edwinleslie1330
    @edwinleslie1330 2 роки тому +1

    I love the 'spam can' engines. Back in the day ONE with the Golden Arrow use to come past my school in Battersea from Victoria. Also at that time I was a 'Train Spotter' and would go to Clapham Junction. Happy Days...

    • @hughrainbird8190
      @hughrainbird8190 2 роки тому +1

      I'd see the same train pass by Petts Wood Junction a little further on in its journey to Folkestone. There's no sight like them on the railways today, even with preserved steam charters. We were fortunate to witness it.

  • @djdaz72
    @djdaz72 2 роки тому +1

    What an excellent video great footage and presentation 👍🏻

  • @michellebell5092
    @michellebell5092 2 роки тому +1

    An extremely interesting video packed with details, facts and analysis. Ruairdh certainly did a thorough research for this one.

  • @michaeloreilly657
    @michaeloreilly657 2 роки тому +2

    Wonderful to see your own work featured in the video again.

  • @Shark30006
    @Shark30006 5 місяців тому +1

    21C1 Channel Packet, 21C14 Nederland Line, 35023 Holland Afrika Line, 35004 Cunard White Star, 35012 United States Lines, 35003 Royal Mail and 35030 Elder Dempster Lines are my favorite Merchant Navy locomotives

  • @martinblunden4689
    @martinblunden4689 5 місяців тому

    As a kid ,i was lucky enough to have a railway mad uncle....and to live near Bournemouth,so i spent many happy hours down at the former motive power depot at Bournemouth Central,goggling at these marvelous beasts....even in their sometimes shabby condition at the end....and,no "health and safety "back then ,iwas taken in to see the whole world of the sheds...the smell and feel of the place stays with me to this day,sixty odd years later😊

  • @Kolej100Filmy
    @Kolej100Filmy 2 роки тому +3

    Wow, fantastic locomotive 🙂

  • @thecolourblindartist9412
    @thecolourblindartist9412 5 місяців тому +1

    I was born in 1951. Train spotting was the thing of the day. I was born in Hampshire during the time of the steam demise, a sad but understandable end. However, the diesel period proved equally unpleasant. Now there are gantries, festooned a cross the country, far more invasive from a scenic point of view.

  • @duncancurtis1758
    @duncancurtis1758 2 роки тому +1

    34028 and sister 34027 were our faves in the 80s in the Woodhams restoration era. Clan Line was always around Salisbury and Yeovil.

  • @Earthshaker513
    @Earthshaker513 2 роки тому +1

    Love the Bulleid Pacifics. I have the Hornby oo models of the rebuilt version of Ellerman Lines and the unrebuilt spamcans Tangmere, 92 Squadron, and Sir Eustace Missenden.

  • @LMS5935
    @LMS5935 2 роки тому +3

    And when I found out that you’re making a video about bullied Pacifics I click the video quicker than the Road runner running away from a coyote

  • @TheNovum
    @TheNovum 2 роки тому

    top notch channel. thank you

  • @DKS225
    @DKS225 2 роки тому +3

    During my U.K visits in 2010 and 2014 i rode behind two of The Preserved West Country Class. As built 34007 Wadebridge in 2010 at The Mid Hants railway. And Rebuilt 34028 Eddystone at The Swanage railway in 2014. Though my memory of the latter is a bit vague as it may have been 34046 Braunton.

  • @mcguire2038
    @mcguire2038 2 роки тому

    This is a really great channel.

  • @EllieMaes-Grandad
    @EllieMaes-Grandad 2 роки тому +1

    At 7.20 > 7.30 lovely to see the "Devon Belle" Pullman train with its observation car. Nostalgic for me - my father and his friend worked on it for a time after its inauguration.

    • @trainman864
      @trainman864 2 роки тому +1

      Nostalgic for me too - every year from the age of 5 to10 I rode in that car to our holiday in Ilfracombe. It was the only part of the train where you couldn't reserve seats, but there were seats available most of the time as the train never seemed to be very crowded. I guess that was part of the reason that it only had a short life.
      Who knows, I may even have seen your father and/or his friend on the train.... 🙂

  • @laurenceskinnerton73
    @laurenceskinnerton73 6 місяців тому

    I love these!

  • @struck2soon
    @struck2soon 2 роки тому +1

    Nice collection of archive footage.

  • @johnclayden1670
    @johnclayden1670 2 роки тому +1

    Excellent: I always thought one of their most underrated plus points were the (original) boilers.

  • @billlucas8124
    @billlucas8124 2 роки тому +2

    I've been waiting for this video for a long time. my favourite class of steam in the uk. Another fantastic documentary from Ruairidh, I thought I might add though for those who are interested:
    35003 "Royal Mail" was the last steam engine to hit over 100mph authenticated under BR (105.88mph). Only to be beaten by new build Tornado in 2017.
    35011 "General Steam Navigation" is the only British steam locomotive to actually contain the word "steam" in its name. It is also currently undergoing restoration, as its hulk was purchased without valve gear the society have decided to rebuild it to original air-smoothed condition at great expense. Meaning itll be the only air smoothed merchant navy around. Worth checking out their progress.

    • @RunawayTrain2502
      @RunawayTrain2502 2 роки тому +1

      A case could be made for 35006 "Peninsular & Oriental S.N. Co" where the S stands for "Steam" but it is a weak case. Also preserved at the Gloucester and Warwickshire Railway BTW.

    • @Shark30006
      @Shark30006 9 місяців тому +1

      35003 Royal Mail hit Flying Scotsman’s record. So is it possible that 35003 Royal Mail could have been the second famous steam engine of the Southern Railway?

  • @davidshenton6313
    @davidshenton6313 Рік тому +1

    City of Wells on E.L.R. East Lancashire railway is in regular use on this heritage railway, often seen in my home town, Rawtenstall.

  • @torgeirbrandsnes1916
    @torgeirbrandsnes1916 Рік тому

    Great job!

  • @barleyarrish
    @barleyarrish 2 роки тому

    nicely presented and well researched

  • @stephenjcuk7562
    @stephenjcuk7562 2 роки тому +1

    Can you imagine steam traction still in use in the 1990's? Wow!

  • @carnebidwell9508
    @carnebidwell9508 2 роки тому

    Your knowledge of trains is like my knowledge of football. And I love both so win win for me 🙂. Keep up the good work my friend 👍

  • @Pedro_Dactyl
    @Pedro_Dactyl 2 роки тому +3

    Uploaded after I saw Clan Line in person for the first time yesterday. What a coincidence

  • @Morganstein-Railroad
    @Morganstein-Railroad Рік тому

    Brilliant!

  • @321gj
    @321gj 2 роки тому

    Nice specifics about the Pacifics :)

  • @daniellxnder
    @daniellxnder Рік тому +1

    Love me some good ol' clunky streamlined locos!

  • @Olivers-trains
    @Olivers-trains 2 роки тому +2

    Nice video. Very interesting.

  • @rogercantwell3622
    @rogercantwell3622 5 місяців тому +1

    Jarvis did a good job on those, turning Bulleid's frankly wild creations into good solid locomotives, the only real problem being the increased hammer blow. Almost unbelievably, he later worked on the HST.
    Bulleid was described as an "enfant terrible" by E S Cox. Some of his ideas worked, some were crazy, and he threw the whole lot at the spam cans. I think British Railways were relieved to see the back of him.

  • @tracya4087
    @tracya4087 9 місяців тому

    brilliant stuff

  • @Shark30006
    @Shark30006 4 місяці тому +1

    35011 General Steam Navigation is currently being restored to its original condition with the air smoothed casings when it was first built in 1946.

  • @glenhadley7107
    @glenhadley7107 2 роки тому +2

    What away to start a Saturday, especially as I'm in Ilfracombe!