BR Standard Class 2MT (78000 series)

The BR Standard programme of 1951 set out a range of standardised steam classes from Class 2 to Class 7, replacing the disparate Big Four designs with a unified British Railways family. R. A. Riddles' Class 2MT 2-6-0 (the 78xxx series) was the smallest of the mixed-traffic classes, a light-axle-load engine for branch and cross-country routes that the larger Standards could not work.

The design drew heavily on George Ivatt's LMS Class 2 2-6-0 of 1946 (LMS Nos 6400 onwards, later 46400-series). The Ivatt LMS Class 2 was itself a successful design, a small mixed-traffic 2-6-0 with a light axle load and good crew accommodation, and Riddles' Standard 2MT was effectively a BR Standard development of it. The two classes shared the same boiler, similar cylinder dimensions, and a closely-related general appearance.

The first Standard 2MT, No. 78000, was completed at Darlington Works in December 1952. Production continued at Darlington solely (the only BR Standard class to be concentrated at a single works) through to November 1956, by which point 65 had been built. The 1955 BR Modernisation Plan committed BR to mass replacement of steam by diesel and electric traction, and any further Standard 2MT construction was abandoned.

The class was complemented by the BR Standard Class 2MT 2-6-2T (84xxx), a tank engine version sharing the same boiler and motion but suited to suburban and short-distance work without a separate tender. The two Class 2MTs are technically related but operationally distinct.

The Standard 2MT 2-6-0 was the BR Standard programme's answer to the light-mixed-traffic requirement that earlier Big Four designs (the Ivatt LMS Class 2, the GWR 14XX 0-4-2T) had filled. The class worked branch line passenger and goods services, cross-country secondary routes, parcels and milk traffic, and occasional summer Saturday holiday extras across the BR system.

The class's light axle loading (13 t 8 cwt, among the lightest of any BR Standard) gave it access to the most lightly-laid branch lines that excluded heavier classes. Notable Standard 2MT routes included the Cambrian Coast, parts of the Welsh Marches, the Bedford–Cambridge cross-country, the Buckinghamshire branches around Aylesbury, and the secondary routes around Skipton in the Yorkshire Dales.

Withdrawal began in 1962 with the first of the 1955 Modernisation Plan diesels arriving for branch line duties. The pace accelerated through the early 1960s as the Beeching cuts closed many of the secondary routes the class had been designed for. The last Standard 2MTs in BR service were withdrawn in 1967, shortly before the end of BR steam in August 1968.

Four Standard 2MT 2-6-0s were rescued from Woodham Brothers' scrapyard at Barry in the late 1960s and early 1970s and have all been restored to working order. The class survival rate (4 out of 65, around 6%) is unusually high for a BR Standard.

A small two-cylinder mixed-traffic 2-6-0 of recognisable BR Standard outline. The compact size, high running plate, simple cab, and BR Standard 3,000-gallon tender give the class a workmanlike appearance. The class's 5 ft 0 in driving wheels are notably small for a 2-6-0 mixed-traffic engine, distinguishing the design from the larger BR Standard Class 4 2-6-0 (76xxx) and Class 3MT 2-6-0 (77xxx). The class wore BR mixed-traffic black through most of its life; lined Brunswick green from 1956. The class was never named, it was a wholly utilitarian class designed for branch line versatility.

78000, first of class, completed at Darlington in December 1952. Worked the Darlington area cross-country services. Withdrawn 1965, scrapped.

78018, preserved, currently at the Great Central Railway. Built at Darlington in 1954. Withdrawn 1966 and rescued for preservation; restored to working order in BR mixed-traffic black livery.

78019, preserved at the Great Central Railway. Built at Darlington in 1954. Currently a regular performer on heritage services on the GCR, working alongside 78018 in BR Standard livery.

78022, preserved at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. Built at Darlington in 1954. Restored to working order at the K&WVR.

78059, preserved at the Bluebell Railway. Built at Darlington in 1956. Currently undergoing restoration to working order.

BR service (1952–1967): the class was distributed across the BR system on lighter branch and cross-country routes. Major Standard 2MT allocations were at Darlington (the home shed of the build programme), Whitby, Crewe, Cambridge, Aylesbury, and a number of cross-country and branch line sheds. The BR LM Region had the largest allocation by region, followed by Eastern and North Eastern. Some examples worked the Cambrian Coast and the more remote Welsh and West Country branches, where their light axle loading was particularly valuable.

Late BR allocations (1962–1967): by the early 1960s major Standard 2MT concentrations were at Crewe South, Skipton, Northwich, Bath Green Park, and Templecombe. The class lasted in BR service to 1967, with the final examples withdrawn shortly before the end of BR steam in August 1968.

BR mixed-traffic black (1952–1956): from new the class wore BR mixed-traffic black with red, cream and grey lining, the early lion-and-wheel emblem on the tender, and the BR cab-side number.

BR lined Brunswick green (1956–1967): from 1956 onwards examples were progressively repainted into BR lined Brunswick green with the late BR crest. Many spent their final years in plain unlined BR black as cleaning standards declined. The four preserved examples have been turned out at various times in both schemes, with 78018 and 78019 both currently in BR Brunswick green at the GCR.