Part Three

The 1928 Corridor Tenders were originally built with Coal Rails running along the centre line of the Corridor Roof. See Fig 1 below. The rail was Five Inches high, and as such came above the line of the Tender front plate and division plate (See dotted line on Section ), and so the ends were curved down to bring them in line with the plates. (See Detail "A")

Fig. 1

With the building of the second batch of A4s, which were to be used in general service, and as such received the Green Livery, it was decided that the 1928 Corridor Tenders would be transferred to be used with these Engines, as it was more than likely that these Engines would be employed on the non stop Flying Scotsman. To bring the Tenders in line with the new builds, the coal rails were removed and a streamlined fairing similar to the 1935 tenders was fitted. See Fig 2 below.

Fig. 2

This modification proved unsatisfactory, as it reduced the coal capacity to about eight tons, and this left no safety margin, especially when working the non stop trains in adverse weather conditions. So during December 1937 the tenders were modified once again, this time by cutting back the fairing on the coal space, and almost removing it altogether from around the water filler. See Fig 3 below.

Fig. 3

This brought the nominal coal capacity back to nine tons on the 1928 tenders and allegedly increased the capacity to nine tons on the 1935 new tenders. As a slight aside, as we have to more or less "hand" coal our engine [60007 Sir Nigel Gresley], we have on more than one occasion packed ten tons plus on to the tender.

The modification were carried out over a maximum three day period, in December 1937 sometimes with three Engines in the Works at the same time. The alterations were not consistent, probably due to the work being carried out in a bit of a rush, and by different gangs. These inconsistencies can be seen on photos, and mainly show variations in the heights of the side sheets, and the amount of cutting back at the water filler area. In fact a close inspection of our tender shows that the side sheet on the corridor side is approximately three inches higher than the other side.

As stated previously in 1935 a batch of four new Streamlined Corridor Tenders were built for attachment to the first four Class A4 Engines built for the "Silver Jubilee" Service. These were not really required for a service running between London and Newcastle but looking to the future, if the engines were to be utilised on the "Flying Scotsman" the tenders would then be a necessity. The next nine Class A4s were given the refurbished and modified 1928 Corridor Tenders. Commencing in late June 1937 another batch of seven Streamlined Corridor Tenders were built.

Tender Nº5589 — Streamlined Corridor Type

Researched and written by Mel Haigh,
Education Officer, Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Trust Ltd.
First published in Chime 129, Autumn 2003
Continue to Part Four
Return to A Tangle of Tenders Title Page