Birmingham New Street Station

BR Period Locomotives: lnwrbns_br346

An unidentified ex-LMS 4-6-0 'Black 5', considered one of the finest mixed traffic locomotives in the country, is seen at the head of a three-coach local stopping train to Wolverhampton on 19th March 1954. A true utility locomotive that could do anything and go anywhere, they were designed by Stanier who had been brought in from the GWR in the early 1930s to resolve the crisis caused by the feuding design offices of Derby and Crewe and the high maintenance costs being incurred even on successful designs. The Black 5s were his version of the GWR Halls but whilst inspired by them they were not a copy, as the Hall was too wide to run in most places in the UK. They shared similar design arrangements with two-outside cylinders, 6ft driving wheels and a boiler of a similar internal size and design.

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