57XX Top Feeds

[TheGunslinger]

Hello all,

After scouring the forums via the search feature, there seems to be some conflicting information regarding top feed installation on 57XXs. The commonly thrown about date is "1942", however there is mention that panniers may have received top feeds as early as 1936 (described as a "Churchward type") and that panniers received improved versions of a top feed from 1942 onwards.

 

This is of importance due to the abundance of top fed RTR panniers on the market, in particular an old Replica/Bachmann pannier, #7768 in "shirtbutton" livery with the offending top feed detail. If panniers received an early type of top feed from 1936, then the model is technically accurate for an interwar period, and could run alongside "GREAT WESTERN" liveries and coaches with shiny(ish) white roofs. Otherwise I'd face shaving off the top feed, or change to a late-war period and the associated weathering and repainting (it's unlikely any "GREAT WESTERN" liveried locos made it through the war, and any "shirtbutton" stock would be at least 5 years old with suitably tired paintjobs). Of further interest is that the first 300 locos of the 57XX type supposedly received top feeds right from the factory back in 1929-31!
 

So my question is, what information is there available regarding a 1936 top feed design? How greatly did it differ from the 1942 design that made it into the BR era?

[Miss Prism]

Of further interest is that the first 300 locos of the 57XX type supposedly received top feeds right from the factory back in 1929-31!

 

They didn't. They were all on backfeed P class boilers. (Topfeed P class boilers had however been around for a long time, on Dean Goods.)

 

A few topfeed U class boilers were in existence for the 2021 Panniers. (I don't think there were any topfeed R or O class boilers.)

 

I think you are confusing the topfeed itself with the casing, the latter being merely a functional cover, and making an appearance in 1936 on the Dukedogs. Casings were always used on 48xx and 57xx/8750 Panniers when topfeed boilers started to be used for those classes.

 

On the 57xx/8750, topfeed boilers were first used in 1942 (possibly on some members of lot 336), and became a standard fitting from 1944 (probably most of lot 352).

Edited January 22, 2018 by Miss Prism