Description:
Pictured are Herbert Tinsley (fitters mate) on the left and Herbert Cook (fitter) on the right.
The ‘Black 5’ locomotive was built to a design by William Stanier, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London Midland Scottish Railway (LMSR). Stanier had joined the LMSR from the Great Western Railway in 1932. One of his first tasks on joining the LMSR was the design of a much needed ‘general purpose’ locomotive. The resulting Class 5 engine had a 4-6-0 wheel arrangement. The design included domeless boilers (the regulator was housed in the smokebox) and a low degree of ‘superheating’. (Superheating is the process whereby the steam generated by the boiler is heated again to increase the energy the steam provides. The process is performed by a device inside the locomotive.) There would be 842 of these ‘mixed traffic’ locomotives built between 1934 and 1951. Builders would include the famous Vulcan Foundry at Newton-le-Willows and an order for 227 locomotives from Armstrong Whitworth on Tyneside. The contract with Armstrong-Whitworth was the largest ever placed by a British railway company for a single locomotive.
The locomotive proved itself able to go virtually anywhere on the network and could deal with all types of goods and passenger services. Carrying the black LMSR livery, this Class 5 locomotive, became known as simply a ‘Black 5’.
The design was developed over the years and several experimental versions emerged post nationalisation in 1948. Indeed, the design of the British Railways (BR) Standard Class 5MT owes much to Staniers design.
The versatility of the ‘Black 5’ would ensure their survival to the very end of BR Steam. The class hauled the very last steam hauled passenger service in Britain on 4th August 1968. The following week three ‘5’s’ were among the locomotives chosen to haul the last of many special rail tours marking the end of BR Steam. It is perhaps then, unsurprising, that many have found their way into preservation.
Taken from http://www.fleetsteam.co.uk/id11.html.