Stanier Pacifics at Work
Sir William Stanier, as CME of the LMS for 11 years from 1932, was directly responsible for the most profound turn-round in steam locomotive engineering on this, the largest railway in Britain. His later Pacifics rep-resented the ultimate development for the heaviest express passenger work on the West Coast main line, and were arguably the finest locomotives in Great Britain: they were without doubt the most powerful. Much has been written of the LMS Pacifics, though it has tended to be piecemeal. Their work has been recorded extensively, but it has not hitherto been brought together and analysed in depth. John Powell was on Rugby station plat-form as a teenager to see the first Stanier Pacific, No 6200, on its way to Euston, still in photographic grey livery, in 1933 for inspection by the LMS Directors and officers. In the postwar years he rode many thousands of miles on 'Princesses' and 'Duchesses', as a Mechanical Inspector and Technical Assistant, and was involved in their maintenance and modifications in sheds and works. They were magnificent engines, but they had their faults and weaknesses, and a frank evaluation of these has been attempted.
Hardback with dust jacket, 144 pages, black & white photos, index
Condition: Good with small tear to DJ at rear
ISBN: 9780711015340
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