DORMANT: ‘3MT’ 2-6-0 No. 77021

One project that seems to have stalled altogether is the scheme to build the 21st Standard ‘3MT’ 2-6-0, No. 77021.

Launched in 2013 (SR420), the project’s Facebook page states: “We truly believe it is the perfect, low axle weight, modern steam locomotive for today’s heritage railways.”

Aside from a partially complete smokebox door assembly and a few other sundry components, the project has not made any substantial inroads towards building its proposed ‘Mogul’ – essentially the tender version of the ‘82XXX’ 2-6-2Ts – and in August 2017 it admitted that “progress is still slow, reflecting available funding,” suggesting that the group is short on finance.

Confirming the project’s true progress and financial situation is challenging, however. The link to the project’s official website is dead, and despite attempting to contact the group directly since August 2018, Steam Railway had still received no reply at the time of going to press. Furthermore, the Facebook page has not been updated since November 2017, and the Twitter feed since 2014, so is the project in abeyance? The evidence suggests so, but we would welcome news from the group to the contrary.

It is not the first time a ‘77XXX’ has been proposed, as John Besley, the brains behind No. 82045, also suggested building the next ‘3MT’ 2-6-0 in sequence, No. 77020 – the last BR-built one having been No. 77019 – but nothing came of the project as efforts focused on the ‘Standard 3’ tank instead.

However, 82045 Steam Locomotive Trust publicity officer Chris Proudfoot has suggested that “there is no reason why the virtually identical ‘77XXX’ tender design shouldn’t be resurrected” (SR471), and a ‘3MT’ 2-6-0 would indeed be an ideal locomotive for many preserved railways, but based on the present fortunes of No. 77021, it could be a long while before the last missing Standard design is resurrected.

●● A Facebook group has been set up to promote the construction of another ‘3MT’ 2-6-0, No. 77020; as of February, it had two members.

COLOUR RAIL Although the class was primarily based in the North Eastern and Scottish Regions, one BR ‘3MT’ 2-6-0 – No. 77014 – gained notoriety as the only ‘77XXX’ on the Southern Region, where it hauled a number of enthusiast specials. It outlived its classmates and survived until the end of Southern Region steam on July 9 1967. It is pictured at Weymouth on May 18 that year.