"70000 'Britannia' feathers as she awaits the signal"
One of the positives of working in an office adjacent to the Northampton loop line is the regular passing of steam workings to and from the smoke. Both Saphos and West Coast regularly bring steam and diesel locomotives either north or south, to or from their Southall base in London, giving a minute or so of brain break on a working day! Today it was another Saphos working, headed by BR Standard pioneer No70000 "Britannia". The 7P Britannia class 4-6-2: of 1951 vintage: arrived on time from the north with her lengthy rake of immaculate blood and custard coaches...
Riddles' 55-strong BR Standard Class 7 pacifics were built between 1951 and 1954 as the first of the BR Standard range. Riddles and his team took everything learnt from pre-nationalisation designs of the previous decades and designed the best of those features into his locomotive classes. "Britannia" is one of two survivors (the other being NRM-owned "Oliver Cromwell") of this class and today lives as part of the Saphos fleet in her build town of Crewe. It was lovely to see her today. I think I caught a glimpse of her in steam once before, although a good while back in 2011 at speed through Banbury on a charter. Since then she has alluded me so it was nice to see her briefly this lunchtime, slowing to a stand for a red signal at Northampton's north junction...
After simmering away at the peg for a while (with the occasional lift of the valves), the engine received the road to continue her journey southward. With a crisp, loud bark at the chimney, off she went into the distance with her long train, tailed by an idling Class 47. The noise of the two-cylinder Brit was something to behold as she got the weight moving, accelerating towards London leaving her voice on the breeze. What a fine machine: "Rule, Britannia!". Thanks all for reading...
Please note that the above images were taken from land outside of the NR boundary fence.
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