The BR era

摘要

On Nationalisation in 1948, British Railways' Southern Region inherited from its predecessor some 1,775 steam locomotives - of which no less than 75 per cent were of pre-Grouping design. This is because, in the 1930s, electrification had taken priority over renewal of the steam fleet. So, as the Railway Executive pondered over its new Standard classes, steam engines of pre-1948 origin continued to be built at main workshops throughout the country. Thus it was under the aegis of BR that Eastleigh turned out the final batch often 'Merchant Navies' in 1948/9 and another 40 Light Pacifies were built at Brighton and Eastleigh, culminating in No. 34110 66 Squadron, completed in January 1951.