THE Standard 2MT was a vision of the future that never quite happened. When British Railways was formed, it inherited a hodgepodge of varied equipment drawn from a host of companies that had each had their own standards. For such a large system, standardisation of parts would beparamount.
In many ways, it was the best time to do this.The Big Four (GWR, LMS, LNER and SR) had struggled through the Second World War. Although trains kept running, the system was decimated by the challenges of conflict. Life-expired stock was pushed to its limits, and the entire network needed major investment. Something had to be done, but there was no money and no time.
Enter Robert A Riddles. Appointed to the role of Member of the Railway Executive for Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, essentially the position of Chief Mechanical Engineer in the old companies, he had to find a way forward. Some of the decisions were made for him. Circumstances meant that Britain's railways would continue to be steam-powered; electrification would simply be too expensive, and dieselisation was still an experimental field in Europe. What was needed was the years of knowledge in steam that would ensure an efficient range of locomotives capable of taking over in every part of the UK.
The BR Standards were the answer: a new line of
