Photo:
Robert Frise - BR Ivatt Class 2MT 2-6-2T No. 41298 outside Up Yard Shed

41298 is an example of the side tank version of the Ivatt 2-6-0 tender locomotives, another of the type, 41313, was also based at Quainton. The LMS began construction of the class in 1946 with No. 1200 and completed ten locos before nationalisation, the remaining 120 being built by BR.

Intended for light duties, this design incorporated all the labour-saving features usually found on larger engines at that time, including self-emptying ashpans and rocking grates. The side tanks have a capacity of 1,350 gallons, and the bunker, which is sloped inwards to give a clear view to the rear, has a ladder giving access to the coal space, a feature directly influenced by American practice.

41298 was built in 1951 at Crewe, to lot No. 225. Its first allocation was to Bricklayer's Arms shed on the Southern Region in November of that year, and it was mainly used on empty stock, into and out of Victoria with occasional trips on excursion trains to Allhallows. In 1953 a transfer to the West Country brought work on the branch lines around Barnstaple until 1963, when 41298 moved to Weymouth for boat-train and local passenger turns. A final move, back to London, took place in October 1966, this time to Nine Elms (Waterloo) where the last few months in BR ownership were spent on empty stock workings as station pilot.

When steam working finished on the Southern Region in July 1967, 41298 was purchased directly from BR by the Ivatt Trust, and was still serviceable. Its first home in preservation was the Longmoor Military Railway in Hampshire, but when Longmoor closed the locomotive was moved to Quainton. It arrived on 12 December 1970, and started a heavy overhaul.

The Ivatt Trust came to a long-term agreement with the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, that will see 41298 and her sister locomotive 41313 restored for use on the Isle of Wight. Some forty years after an initial plan to introduce BR Standard Class 2MT locomotives to the island, a similar class of locomotive will hopefully shortly be making their mark on the island.

The restoration of No. 41298 was almost complete in the workshops of the IOWSR by August 2014. No. 41298 passed her final in steam boiler exam on the 20th August, with some limited running in completed in the Havenstreet yard. As a nod to her time at Quainton, No. 41298 had a plastic duck mounted on her front top lamp bracket (an Aylesbury Duck). A new westinghouse air brake system, never fitted to the class in operation, is in the process of being fitted necessary for her operation on the IOWSR.

The official launch into service of No. 41298 will be during the IOWSR's Spring Gala on 28 - 30 May 2016. It has previously run in trials during October 2015, and during IOWSR's early season train's in 2016. The Westinghouse air pump from an original Isle of Wight loco, No. 14 Fishbourne, is now mounted on 41298.

Photo:
Andrew Bratton - BR Ivatt Class 2MT 2-6-2T No. 41298 in service on the Isle of Wight

References:
Visiting locomotive gallery - Quainton News No. 101 - April 2009