The SR West Country and Battle of Britain classes, collectively known as Light Pacifics or informally as "Spam Cans", are classes of air-smoothed 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive designed for the Southern Railway by its Chief Mechanical Engineer Oliver Bulleid. A total of 110 locomotives were constructed between 1945 and 1950, named after West Country resorts or Royal Air Force and other subjects associated with the Battle of Britain. Incorporating new developments in British steam locomotive technology, both classes were amongst the first British designs to utilise welding in the construction process, and to use steel fireboxes, which meant that components could be more easily constructed during the wartime austerity and post-war economy. They were designed to be lighter in weight than their sister locomotives, the Merchant Navy class, to permit use on a wider variety of routes. They were a mixed-traffic design, equally adept at hauling passenger and freight trains. The classes operated until July 1967, when the last steam locomotives on the Southern Region were withdrawn from service. Although most were subsequently scrapped, 20 locomotives found new homes on British heritage railways.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SR_West_Country_and_Battle_of_Britain_classes
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1010:
Persian poet Ferdowsi completed his masterpiece, the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran and related societies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdowsi
1618:
German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler discovered the third law of planetary motion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Kepler
1702:
Princess Anne of Denmark and Norway became the Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland, succeeding William III. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne,_Queen_of_Great_Britain
1910:
French aviatrix Raymonde de Laroche became the first woman to receive a pilot's licence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymonde_de_Laroche
1983:
The Cold War: During a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida, U.S. President Ronald Reagan described the Soviet Union as an "evil empire". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_empire
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
triduan: 1. Lasting three days. 2. Happening every third day. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/triduan
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Eloquence may set fire to reason. --Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Oliver_Wendell_Holmes,_Jr.