1958 BR 'Britannia' Class details:
BR Nos; 70000-70054.
Location; 70000-13, 30, 34-42 ER main lines Liverpool St.-Norwich. 70004, 14, SR Victoria-Dover. 70009 Nine Elms for a short time. 70015-29 based in Cardiff.
70031-3, 43-4, Manchester-Euston. 70045-9 Holyhead-Euston. 70050-4 based in Glasgow.
Origin; B.R. Introduced; 1951. Designer; R.A.Riddles.
Driving Wheel; 6 ft 2 in. Bogie Wheel; 3 ft. Trailing wheel; 3 ft. 3.5 in.
Weight; Engine, 94 tons. Tender, Type 1 47 tons 4 cwt. Type 1E 55 tons 10 cwt. Length; 68 ft 9 in.
Boiler Pressure; 250 lbs. sq. in. Cylinders [2]; 20 in. x 28 in. Tractive Effort; 32,150 lb.
Coal; 7 tons or 9 tons. Water; 4,000 gals. or 4,725 gals.
Classification; 7-MT

Notes: The first of twelve new 'Standard' BR designs after nationalisation, designed at Derby and built at Crewe with sections designed and built at Brighton, Doncaster and Swindon, under the direction of R. A. Riddles, with post-WW2 pressures, the engines drew on skills from all the above workshops.
First used with success on London-Norwich expresses, they were competent and strong and easy to maintain and drive. Some of the class were allocated to the Western Region, but most to various parts of the Midland some had larger tenders and were used for Euston-Holyhead expresses and some Scottish and northern services.
During 1951 70009 'Alfred the Great' was allocated to Nine Elms to work the Waterloo-Bournemouth 'The Bournemouth Belle', which was composed of 12-wheel Pullman carriages, and is seen here in pristine condition later in that year accelerating past a fictional station on the route in the style of the day.
70009 spent most of its working life based at Norwich and Cambridge, then latterly at Carlisle before withrawal in January 1967, the Pullman working of 1951 a distant memory.