| The BR Standard Class 4MT 4-6-0 locomotives were | | | | disposal of steam quicker and cleaner. |
| introduced in 1951. They were designed for mixed | | | | Essentially, the final design for the lightweight Standard |
| traffic use by Robert A Riddles, who held several | | | | Class 4's were driven by the post war necessity to |
| posts in the railway industry between 1909 and 1953, | | | | improve availability and reduce maintenance costs with |
| interrupted by military service during both World Wars. | | | | both manpower and finance being in short supply. |
| His career began with an apprenticeship at Crewe | | | | Some locomotives and all the Class 4's allocated to |
| Works of the London and North Western Railway as | | | | Southern Region received double chimneys, following |
| a premium apprentice in 1909, included working as | | | | trials at Swindon which proved that steaming capacity |
| Principal Assistant to the great Sir William Stanier in the | | | | was much improved. The final 9 due to be built were |
| LMS days and ended as Chief Mechanical Engineer at | | | | cancelled under the British Railways 'Modernisation |
| the newly formed British Railways. | | | | Plan' |
| Designed at Brighton, with input from Swindon, Derby | | | | Numbers 75000 75064 were allocated to the London |
| and Doncaster, a total of 80 Standard 4's were built | | | | Midland Region and Western Region fitted with BR2 or |
| between 1951 and 1957 at the BR Swindon works. | | | | BR2A inset tender of 3,500 gallons as standard. |
| They were designed for mixed traffic use on | | | | Numbers 75065 75079, allocated to Southern Region, |
| secondary routes where the otherwise ubiquitous BR | | | | came with BR1B tenders of 4,725 gallons due to the |
| standard class 5 and their predecessors, the Black | | | | lack of trackside water troughs. |
| Fives, would be too heavy. A comparatively low axle | | | | The first to be withdrawn was 75067 in 1964 and by |
| weight of 17.5 tons made them suitable for almost all | | | | August 1968 all 80 had been withdrawn. Five of the six |
| routes and regions. The Class as a whole were fitted | | | | surviving Standard 4's have been restored, two of |
| with rocker grates, hopper ash-pans and self-cleaning | | | | which have been on main line service. The sixth has |
| smoke-boxes which helped make the end of run | | | | still to be restored. |