I have always liked Bulleid Pacifics, both modified and unmodified, but it is the latter that I prefer. The last fast passenger steam locomotives to be built in Britain, the modified examples were smart and modern, but the original Pacifics, many of which remained un-modernised throughout the steam era, were the type that impressed me as a boy, and still do. Bulleid’s Light Pacifics – ‘West Countrys’, ‘Battle of Britains’,
‘Unrebuilts’, ‘Streamlined’ – call them what you like, I didn’t mind, although I have to say that the term ‘Spam Can’ lacks a certain respect for such magnificent machines. The problems which caused many of them to be modified – the tendency to slip, the chaindriven valve gear, oil bath leaks, the reverser with a mind of its own, difficulties of…