These locomotives enjoyed striking 'continental' good looks with,
strangely, more than a nod to preceding steam design; for this they were
regarded fondly by enthusiasts and they earned the somewhat fanciful and
inexplicable nickname 'Teddy Bears'.
Sadly, performance did not match these fond feelings and as well as
proving disappointing technically, the steam age duties for which they
were designed were, to BR's consternation, rapidly disappearing.
British Railways sold them off after a few years but despite such an
unprepossessing - ignominious some might say - career many nevertheless
saw many years of work in private industry including, famously, the
Channel Tunnel.
Remarkably, over a third of the class passed into preservation, an
unprecedented proportion and paradoxically they can now be found at
work, daily, the length and breadth of the country.