Riddles Class 6/7 Standard Pacifics

In January 1951, the first of 999 BR Standard locomotives emerged from Crewe Works. Designed by R. A. Riddles, No 70000 later named Britannia was the first of 66 Pacific locomotives to be constructed as part of the programme: a total of 55 'Britannias' along with 10 'Clans' and the solitary No 71000 Duke of Gloucester. The last-named was produced as a one-off to replace the Stanier Pacific destroyed as a result of the Harrow & Wealdstone accident of 1952. As a result of the Modernisation Plan of 1955 and the declining need for traction after the Beeching cuts, the BR Standard Pacifics were destined to have a relatively short career. With construction being completed by 1954, many of the locomotives had barely a decade of service before withdrawals commenced in the early 1960s. The 'Britannia' class in particular was to prove successful as a mixed traffic design, seeing operation over much of the BR network, including such prestigious services as the 'Golden Arrow' from London to Dover. Three examples survive in preservation, two 'Britannias' and No 71000 Duke of Gloucester. This is the third contribution to Ian Allan Publishing's new 'Locomotives in Detail' series by David Clarke, who lives in Derby, where is is involved in a business that specialises in the construction of detailed model locomotive kits,