After WWII the existing railway companies were all put into the control of the newly formed British Transport Commission and that government organization spawned British Railways, which came into being on 1st January 1948. The railway infrastructure had suffered badly during the war years and most of the steam locomotives were 'tired' and badly maintained and or life expired. Although the management of British Railways was already planning to replace steam power with diesel and electric engines/units they still took a decision to build more steam locomotives (as a stop gap). Some 999 (yes just 1 short) Standard locomotives were built in 12 classes ranging from super powerful express and freight engine to suburban tank locomotives. The locomotives were mainly in good order when the order came in 1968 to end steam, some only 8 years old.There still exists a fleet of 46 preserved Standards of which 75% are in working order in and around the UKs preserved railways, furthermore 3 new build standard locomotives are proposed. Steam fans who were around in the 1960s all remember the 'Standards'.

A history of post second world war steam locomotive design and construction in Great Britain, the perfect gift for railroad history buffs. After WWII the existing railway companies were all put into the control of the newly formed British Transport Commission and that government organization spawned British Railways, which came into being on January 1st 1948. The railway infrastructure had suffered badly during the war years and most of the steam locomotives were “tired” and badly maintained and or life expired. Although the management of British Railways was already planning to replace steam power with diesel and electric engines, they still decided to build more steam locomotives as a stop gap. Some 999 Standard locomotives were built in twelve classes ranging from super powerful express and freight engines to suburban tank locomotives. The locomotives were mainly in good order when the directive came in 1968 to end steam, some trains were only eight years old. There still exists a fleet of forty-six preserved Standards of which 75% are in working order in and around the UKs preserved railways, furthermore three new build standard locomotives are proposed. Steam fans who were around in the 1960s all remember the “Standards.”

John Walford and Paul Harrison present the complete story of the powerful and successful Class 9Fs. Enthusiasts will find this book a delight as the engines were allocated to more than 60 depots and worked nationwide. Full details of each engine's construction, allocation and use, modification and disposal and a chapter on the 9 preserved engines is included .

In this volume Paul Chancellor covers the construction at all six main workshops. With local livery variations and national use there is something for everyone to savour in this book. Diagrams for each design are included.

This book by Paul Chancellor presents the Standards' design history and for each of the Britannia, Duke and Clan classes their complete construction, modification, allocation and operating history.

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 30. Chapters: British Railways standard classes, BR Standard Class 6, BR Standard Class 7, BR Standard Class 9F, BR Standard Class 8, Steam locomotives of British Railways, BR Standard Class 4 2-6-4T, BR Standard Class 3 2-6-2T, BR standard class 9F 92220 Evening Star, BR Standard Class 4 2-6-0, List of BR 'Britannia' Class locomotives, BR standard class 7 70013 Oliver Cromwell, BR standard class 5, BR Standard Class 2 2-6-2T, BR Standard Class 2 2-6-0, BR standard class 4 4-6-0, BR Standard Class 3 2-6-0, BR Standard Class 5 73050, List of British Railways steam locomotives as of 31 December 1967, BR standard class 7 70000 Britannia, BR Standard Class 5 73129, BR Standard Class 5 73096, List of BR 'Clan' Class locomotives, BR Standard Class 5 73156, BR standard class 7 70048 The Territorial Army 1908-1958, BR Standard Class 5 73082 Camelot. Excerpt: The Standard class 6, otherwise known as the Clan Class, was a class of 4-6-2 Pacific tender steam locomotive designed by Robert Riddles for use by British Railways. Ten locomotives were constructed between 1951 and 1952, with a further 15 planned for construction. However, due to acute steel shortages in Britain, the order was continually postponed until it was finally cancelled on the publication of the 1955 Modernisation Plan for the re-equipment of British Railways. The Clan Class was based upon the Britannia Class design, incorporating a smaller boiler and various weight-saving measures to increase the route availability of a Pacific-type locomotive for its intended area of operations, the west of Scotland. The Clan Class received a mixed reception from crews, with those regularly operating the locomotives giving favourable reports as regards performance. However, trials in other areas of the British Railways network returned negative feedback, a common complaint being that...