2750Papyrus

Thanks for the clarification, it does affect my vote. If it were "best", then I would vote (1), express passenger A4, fast and powerful (2) mixed traffic the V4 (better route availability and riding, and more even torque than the B1) (3) freight the P1, the 9F of the twenties and thirties but a loco ahead of its time. As we are voting for most successful, my votes are (1) express passenger A3, (more numerous and longer-lived than other express classes) (2) mixed traffic, V2 (numerous and versatile) (3) heavy goods, the Robinson O4, a very numerous, long lived and robust locomotive. Whilst I've not included any tank engines, in my mind none challenged the above choices.

Gilbert, did you mean to change from "successful" to best?

Villa Park and Hillsborough were two traditional neutral venues for North-South matches.

Interesting. Did similar same short cuts apply on the Liverpool Street Jazz service?

Too few Duchess/Coronations so their contribution to the LMS overall was limited. For me, it has to be the Black Five or 8F 2-8-0. As the 8F was chosen by the MoS during the war and built by other railways, it gets my nomination.

My vote goes to the Schools class.

I think I'm suffering from tinnitus......

The later days of WW2.

Chief Petty Officer Pertwee in my day! At one time I had a colleague who had been a sub-lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve. Apparently in one report/assessment, against "Navigation" his CO entered a single question mark!

Time to respond to Gilbert's wishes, I think. So my vote goes to the J36. I'm still looking for an excuse for one on the southern end of the ECML!

Original Royal Scot, designed by NB for the LMS.

I'm very fond of the N2 but it was not universally popular. The K3 has a very good claim and the singles and atlantics were very successful in their time. But surely, the choice has to be the original A1, famous in its own right, progenitor of a whole string of famous locomotives and the starting point of a life-long hobby for so many?

The latest issue of the GNRS magazine contains an excellent article titled "Thameslink's Victorian Predecessors", dealing with through workings between the GN suburban lines and those of the LC&DR/SER. The cover photo is of a SECR train of ten coaches hauled by 0-4-4T 184 heading north past Belle Isle. So for the successful integration of north/south services across London more than 100 years ago, my vote goes to the Q1 class tank engine design!

I was brought up with coal fires and loved them. Somehow the heat penetrated the body and made you feel warm inside. They were also good for roasting chestnuts! I can remember the London fogs of 1953. The family had been to a social event on a Saturday night. The fog was so thick, my mother and elder sister had to guide my father, driving the family Ford, by walking in the gutter and shining a torch on a paper held behind their backs.

Is that what caused the hole in the roof?

Marsh Atlantic. GN design with longer stroke and cab!

The favourites must be the D11 and O4, with the J11, A5 and C4 in the running too. However, I recently read an article about GC locos by Dick Hardy in an old Steam World (I can't quote the issue). From personal experience, he rated the B4 Imminghams and their near cousins, the B1s, and reported that many GC footplate staff could not understand why the C4s had been multiplied in preference to the more sure-footed 4-6-0s. So in deference to such an authority, my vote goes to the B4.

Whilst we were tackling a little visitor in our loft, Mrs 2750 at last persuaded me that I would never get around to reading again all the magazines stored up there. I've been working my way through them, saving items of interest and binning the rest and today came across the July 1996 edition of Steam World, edited by one Chris Leigh. I don't know if TW has seen this but the title page has several shots of the M&GN overbridge at Little Bytham, whilst inside is an article by Peter Kay on it's demolition in March 1964.

I may have a set of K2 instructions somewhere, which I could scan.

I am reminded of the definition of an auditor. Someone who goes round the battlefield after all has been won and lost, and bayonets the survivors.

While the 1500 and Clauds were successful classes, the LNER rebuilds were responsible for a significant part of their success and fame. So my vote has to go for the T18 0-6-0 tank engine also.

Two loos le trek?

I have a soft spot for Atlantics and for the current poll am again tempted in that direction. Romance aside, however, the most successfull NB loco in terms of numbers and longevity has again to be an 0-6-0, in this case the J36.

My favourite NE loco has been the C7 since 1954, when the Railway Modeller published an article and drawing. But the most successful has to be the Q6.

Tim Vine rules, OK?