Balance or not to balance LMR locos

[rockinjohn]

Hi back in the '50's &'60s their was a programme @ works overall @ the LMR works because of the lack of suitable engines for excursion &fast parcel duties to balance some locos, denoted by a Yellow Star on the cabside below the number, the two main classes that some members were balanced from were the Stanier 2-8-0 & WD 2-8-0 &the exercise was a success judging by speed obtained in service of the balanced locos compared to the bulk of other class members that weren't balanced, crews appeared to be very happy &enjoyed the outcome,if the Eastern Region/NE Region was aware of this fact why was this not tried on shall we say the K3 or 9F classes for example, to late for steam/not enough relevant duties/works capacity for this requirement to be met or the incoming stream of modern diesel traction arriving?.

[thesignalman]

Hi back in the '50's &'60s their was a programme @ works overall @ the LMR works because of the lack of suitable engines for excursion &fast parcel duties to balance some locos, denoted by a Yellow Star on the cabside below the number, the two main classes that some members were balanced from were the Stanier 2-8-0 & WD 2-8-0 &the exercise was a success judging by speed obtained in service of the balanced locos compared to the bulk of other class members that weren't balanced, crews appeared to be very happy &enjoyed the outcome,if the Eastern Region/NE Region was aware of this fact why was this not tried on shall we say the K3 or 9F classes for example, to late for steam/not enough relevant duties/works capacity for this requirement to be met or the incoming stream of modern diesel traction arriving?.

The situation came about on the LMR with the progressive introduction of Fitted Head ("Maltese") freights as more braked vehicles became available. Looking at what WTTs I have, the Eastern and North Eastern Regions do not seem to have developed such freights on the same scale, but that may just be my perception.

I have information first-hand that firing an unbalanced 8F at speed is not a pleasant experience! On the other hand the 9Fs regularly ran at high speed (often working expresses on the WR) and they were reputed to ride well. So perhaps no particular need to balance the 9Fs? I don't know a lot about K3s, but they appear to have been classified 5P6F so if they were good for passenger work they should surely have been good for not-quite-so-fast freight?

John

[rockinjohn]

Thanks for that, I seem to on reflection remember a class member that was balanced &axle boxes "worked on"that made a big improvement,& that was an L1 tank (concrete mixer)possibly the class member that was rostered to the CBE for around a month or so in the mid '50's & did well,my comment on the K3 was meant that another avenue of duties could be found on excursion /passenger work that they didnt show up on much sticking to the fish/&container trains (although far from slow) maybe enough V2's for passenger &parcel/fast freight workings, the WD 2-6-0 @ anything over 35mph was a sight to behold the cab swaying from side to side with the crew hanging on for grim death.

[Hatfield Shed]

...if the Eastern Region/NE Region was aware of this fact why was this not tried on shall we say the K3 or 9F classes for example, to late for steam/not enough relevant duties/works capacity for this requirement to be met or the incoming stream of modern diesel traction arriving?.

Because Doncaster had been ahead of Derby and Crewe practise by the best part of 40 years. One of the benefits that came with the three cylinder layout found in GNR and LNER designs such as the K3 was inherently superior dynamic balancing. The K3 was found capable of running at passenger express speeds at time of introduction, and the original UK 9F, the P1, was found adequate up to 65mph. (It remains an interesting fact very rarely remarked on, that the large majority of the UK's C20th multi-cylinder express traction designs were 3 cylinder. In wide firebox locos, the ratio is over 10 to I.

Progress had been made by the time the BR standards were designed, and the 9F proved well balanced at high speed. This came at a price however, and BR fairly quickly prohibited faster running with the 9F to avoid excessive wear in the rod bearings.