The West Country class was a lighter version of the Southern Railway Merchant Navy class which Oliver Bulleid had introduced in 1941. The development of both classes will be well-known to most readers of this site so it focuses on aspects specific to "Sidmouth".
The class was introduced in 1945 and Sidmouth was the tenth to be built, at Brighton Works in September 1945. Its original number was 21C110. In many cases these locomotives visited the town whose name they bore for a naming ceremony and 21C110 travelled to Sidmouth for that purpose on 27 June 1946.
The original livery was Malachite green; it was renumbered 34010 and repainted in Brunswick green in January 1950 after the Southern Railway had become the Southern Region of British Railways on 1 Jan 1948.
In February 1955 its cab was rebuilt into the wider style with the angled forward window. 34010 was among the 60 West Country / Battle of Britain class locos to undergo a major rebuild in the late 50's and early 60's removing many of the unique features of the originals, most obviously the "air-smoothed" casing and the chain driven valve gear. As rebuilt they had a much more conventional appearance; I remember seeing one as a young boy and wondering why a "Britannia" had been given a Southern number.
Having covered 578,944 miles as built Sidmouth emerged from Eastleigh in its new form in February 1959 and survived six more years until withdrawal in March 1965.
Next: In service with BR
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