Just one look can tell you that this is a business like locomotive. The British Rail Standards are often seen as boring compared to their cousins from the era of the great private railway companies eg GWR, LMS and LNER, LBSCR etc. The truth is they combine the best practices developed by the best of these companies engineers and re-interpreted by the brilliant British Rail C.M.E. Mr R A Riddles.
80079 was completed at Brighton Works in March 1954 and was withdrawn from service in the prime of life after only 11yrs in July 1965. Like so many others it was consigned to Woodhams at Barry Docks. 80079 was purchased and brought to the SVR in 1971. It entered service on the railway in 1977 and has been one of the hardest working members of the SVR stable ever since.
This is my favorite SVR locomotive. My children have grown up listening to the wonderfully crisp exhaust beat of this engine pulling a heavy spring gala weekend train out of Hampton Loade heading for Bridgnorth and we have had some spirited runs as passengers behind her too. This class was also a pattern for a Horby Dublo Trainset Loco namely 2-6-4T 80054.
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Copyright ©1999 Jim Rushton