MOVED - the best tank loco

[Hatfield Shed]

Glad to see the N2 get a couple of mentions, it had a very strong reputation during its working life. It was a design significantly constrained by the Metropolitan widened lines loading gauge and weights, and every day from introduction to displacement by diesel power had to get away on a gradient as steep as the Lickey incline, on a sharp curve (think it was seven chain radius) on a greasy rail with two very fully loaded quad art sets behind. And it ran well at speed, noted for brisk acceleration from the many stops on the KX inner suburban routes. Had the Midland had to operate Hotel curve platform it would have needed at least two of their locos up front and a ten coupled banker in rear...

The best BR could do for a diesel replacement was the 1250hp engined Brush 2, and with a smaller passenger capacity train.

Incidentally, if anyone knows of a single deck coach type which could load more walking freight per unit length than a quad art, I would be interested to know.

[Steve05]

Hi,

This is a hard one for me… the N2 closely following by the V1/3. So many great tank loco's made by the groupings.

Steve