Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era 1906 – ‘Atlantics’ North British Railway

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era

1906 – ‘Atlantics’

North British Railway

No. 9872 ‘Auld Reekie’ in early LNER days.

These were the largest engines built for the NBR, which like the southern member in the East Coast partnership, the Great Northern, never went in for the 4-6-0 engines as did most major railways of the period.  (The third member of the trio, the North Eastern, had both types.)  The new NB engines, which were massive in appearance by the standard of their day, were built during W.P.Reid’s superintendency by the North British Locomotive Co. (which firm had no actual connections with the NBR).  They bore certain obvious resemblances to Robinson’s engines of the same type for the GCR.  Fourteen of them were turned out in 1906, and another six, Nos.901-6, were built by Robert Stephenson & Co. in 1910, whilst two more with superheaters, Nos. 509 and 510, were added by W.Chalmers in 1921.  The earlier engines of the class were also later superheated.  They were given typical Scottish names, such as ‘Aberdonian’, ‘Waverley’, ‘Highland Chief’, and so on.  At the grouping they had 9000 added to their numbers, as 9868-81 and 9509-10.  They did some fine work on the NB main lines, particularly on the heavily graded Waverley route between Edinburgh and Carlisle.  They were taken out of service between 1933 and 1939, the last to go being No. 9875 ‘Midlothian’.

C10 No. 901 St. Johnstoun at Inverkeithing in 1921

Driving wheels – 6’ 9”,  Bogie wheels – 3’ 6”, Trailing wheels – 4’ 3”,  Cylinders (2) – 20”x 28”,  Pressure – 200 lb.,  Weight – 74 tons 8 cwt,  NBR classification before superheating – I,  NBR classification after superheating – H,  LNER classification – C11.

C11 No. 9870 ‘Bon Accord’ leaves Aberdeen in 1928

http://www.lner.info

Some Early Lines (Plus locos) Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway

Some Early Lines (Plus locos)

 Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway

Lough Swilly trains familiar in Inishowen

The Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company (The L&LSR, the Swilly) is an Irish public transport and freight company incorporated in June 1853. Despite its name it operates no railway services. It formerly operated 99 miles of railways but closed its last line in July 1953. Its successor company, the Lough Swilly Bus Company, still operates bus services over much of its former railway routes between Derry and northern County Donegal, as well as some services in County Londonderry

The narrow-gauge Londonderry & Lough Swilly had proper signalling (albeit rather basic), as can be seen here in this view of a goods train leaving Tooban Junction. The box is a brick-based example of the Railway Signal Company’s standard architecture.  (Dr. J.W.F.Scrimgeour

History

Initially planned as the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company when an application for incorporation was filed in 1852 after spurning the construction of a canal network to connect the two inlets, the company opened its first line, a 5 feet 3 inches (1,600 mm) gauge link between Derry and Farland Point on 31 December 1863. A branch line between Tooban Junction and Buncrana was added in 1864 and much of the Farland Point line was closed in 1866.

In 1883 the three foot (914 mm) gauge Letterkenny Railway between Cuttymanhill and Letterkenny was opened and the L&LSR connected with it by reopening the Tooban Junction – Cuttymanhill section of its Farland Point line. The L&LSR worked the Letterkenny Railway and in 1885 it converted its track from 5′ 3″ gauge to three foot gauge to enable through running. In 1887 ownership of the Letterkenny Railway passed to the Irish Board of Works, which continued the agreement by which the L&LSR operated the line.

Carndonagh was reached by an extension completed in 1901 and Burtonport by an one completed in 1903. Both lines were constructed as joint ventures with the UK Government, with ownership and liabilities shared between the two parties. During this period the company did not make a profit, and struggled to meet its debts.

Old piers of Owencarrow Viaduct

This railway viaduct stood on the Burtonport Extension of the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway, a 3ft gauge line which ran almost 50 miles from Letterkenny, encircling the Donegal Mountains. On 31 January 1925 a severe gale sweeping down through the Barnes Gap caused a serious accident when part of a train was blown off the viaduct, causing the death of four passengers. The line was later repaired, but closed finally in 1941. If this line could ever be reinstated it would be a major tourist attraction for this part of Ireland.  © Copyright Dr Neil Clifton and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

 Loco Classes

1905  4-8-0 and 4-8-4T

No. 12 at Gweedore in 1937

Both of these classes can be considered together, as one was in effect a tank version of the other.

There were two engines of each class: the 4-8-0s came first, in 1905, Nos. 11 and 12 in the Company’s stock, and the 4-8-4Ts followed in 1912, Nos. 5 and 6. All were built by Hudswell Clarke & Co.

They were noteworthy in several respects. They were the first engines in Ireland to have 8-coupled wheels (and apart from two later 4-8-0 shunting engines on the GS & WR remained the only ones). The 4-8-0s were the only Irish narrow gauge tender engines, and the 4-8-4Ts were the largest and most powerful engines to run on any gauge as narrow as 3’ 0” in these islands:in fact from their massive appearance at close quarters they might well have been taken for standard gauge machines. In one other respect both classes were also unique, in that they were the only examples of a 4-8-0 tender engine or a 4-8-4T ever to run in Great Britain and Ireland. They were built primarily for working over the long 74-mile line from Londonderry to Burtonport, although in later years the 4-8-4Ts were not often seen on this section. No.11 was scrapped in 1933, No.12 remained to the end, but was little used after the closing of the Burtonport extension in the early 1940s. Nos. 5 and 6 were also retained until the complete closure of the remainder of the line in 1953, when they were cut up. The Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company still exists (1959) under its own name, but its railway ivities have now ceased entirely and it operates only road services.

4-8-0   Driving wheels – 3’ 9”, Bogie wheels – 2’ 2”, Cylinders (2) 15½”x 22”, Pressure – 170 lb., Tractive effort – 17160 lb., Weight – 37 tons

4-8-4T   Driving wheels – 3’ 9”, Bogie wheels – 2’ 0”, Cylinders (2) 16”x 20”, Pressure – 180 lb., Tractive effort – 17400 lb., Weight – 51 tons

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era 1904 – ‘Precursors’ and ‘George Vs’ London & North Western Railway

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era

1904 – ‘Precursors’ and ‘George Vs’

London & North Western Railway

No. 5275 ‘Tiger’ about 1925 in a somewhat rare intermediate stage of rebuild, having acquired a Belpaire boiler whilst still retaining the original short smokebox.

When George Whale succeeded F.W.Webb at Crewe in 1903 his first task was to provide the LNWR with a powerful and reliable design of express passenger engine to take the place of Webb’s temperamental compounds with which the running department had had to make do as best they could for so long.  No. 513 ‘Precursor’, which emerged from Crewe in March 1904, quickly showed that it was just what had been needed, a simple robust 4-4-0 which could tackle the loads of the day without the frequent recourse to piloting hitherto necessary to a considerable extent.  Not only was it a very capable machine, but an extremely handsome one into the bargain.  The class quickly multiplied, no less than 110 of them being turned out in the space of two years, concurrently with which large numbers of poor Webb’s compounds saw their way to the scrap heap.  Another twenty of the new design were turned out in 1907, making 130 in all, and for several years they bore the brunt of working heavy main line trains over the LNWR.  They would, moreover, stand any amount of thrashing when necessary, although their coal consumption was liable to rise to uneconomic heights under these conditions.

A ‘Precursor’ heads a Birmingham and London express through the northern suburbs.  A specimen of North London Railway’s austere passenger rolling stock is visible beyond.  (C.Hamilton Ellis

It is not difficult to see what was in Whale’s mind when he succeeded Webb in 1903.  He had held the post of running superintendent through all the years when the Operating Department had had to do the best they could with the Webb compounds, which sometimes would, but often would not, go.  The only really reliable engines during this period were the 2-4-0 ‘Precedents’ and it must have been very apparent to Whale that what was really needed to cope with the tough work on the LNWR main line was a much-enlarged version of these remarkable little machines.  The resulting ‘Precursor’ can well be regarded as a direct development of the 2-4-0s, at the same time retaining all the Crewe characteristics of the earlier engines.

An important experiment took place in 1909, when No. 7 ‘Titan’ was tested against a superheated LBSCR 4-4-2T, the results of which demonstrated the value of superheating, then in its infancy.  As a direct result of these tests C.J.Bowen Cooke, who had succeeded Whale, built two new engines in 1910, Nos. 2663 ‘George the Fifth’ and 2664 ‘Queen Mary’, the first being fitted with a superheater and the second unsuperheated.  Trials between these two at once established the superiority of the superheated engine, and more followed up to 1915, by which time a total of ninety had appeared.

The ‘George the Fifths’ were an improvement on the ‘Precursors’, not only in being superheated, but in having piston valves and large cylinders.  Subsequently many of the ‘Precursors’ received one or both of these modifications, and after the grouping many engines of both classes received Belpaire fireboxes in place of the original round-topped ones.  On rebuilding, the ‘Precursors’ acquired extended smokeboxes, but could still be distinguished from the ‘Georges’ in having a separate splasher to the leading driving wheels, whereas in the ‘George V’ class this was continuous to the rear square panel.  They were, however, now virtually the same class.

At the grouping the unsuperheated ‘Precursors’ became LMS Nos. 5187-5266 and the superheated ones 5270-5319, whilst the ‘Georges’ were 5320-5409.  After 1934 the survivors of both types had 20000 added to their numbers.  Scrapping of the unconverted ‘Precursors’ began in 1927 and the superheated engines began to be cut up from 1935 onwards.  The last survivor of all was No. 25297 ‘Sirocco’, withdrawn in 1949.

‘Precursor’ class as originally built – Driving wheels – 6’ 9”,  Cylinders – 19”x 26”,  Pressure – 185 lb.,  Tractive effort – 18222 lb.,  Weight – 59 tons 15cwt.,  LMS classification – 3

‘George the Fifth’ class – Driving wheels – 6’ 9”,  Cylinders – 20½”x 26”,  Pressure – 180 lb.,  Tractive effort – 20640 lb.,  Weight – 59 tons 17cwt.,  LMS classification – 3

C.J.Bowen Cooke’s ‘George the Fifth’ class engine ‘Coronation’, the five- thousandth built at Crewe, on a London to Liverpool and Manchester express.  (H.Gordon Tidey

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era 1903 – 4-6-0 ‘Cardean’ Class Caledonian Railway

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era

1903 – 4-6-0 ‘Cardean’ Class

Caledonian Railway

No. 14750 as running in 1932

The first two engines of this celebrated class were Nos.49 and 50, turned out in 1903.  At the time of their appearance they were the most powerful engines in the country.  Five more of them came out in 1906 to slightly modified dimensions, Nos. 903-7, No. 903 being the well-known ‘Cardean’.  No. 50 was ‘Sir James Thompson’, but both of these lost their names at the grouping, when they became LMS Nos. 14750 and 14751 (49 and 50), and 14752-55 (Nos. 903-6).  All were superheated in 1911 and 1912, but otherwise remained practically unaltered except for the removal of the smokebox wingplates on the first two engines.  Nos. 14752-5 were scrapped between 1927 and 1930, but the original pair lasted until 1933.

Dimensions as superheated:

Nos. 49 and 50

Driving wheels – 6’ 6”,  Bogie wheels – 3’ 6”,  Cylinders – 20¾”x 26” (orig. 21”),  Pressure – 175 lb.  (orig. 200 lb),  Tractive effort – 21348 lb. (orig. 24990 lb),  Weight – 71½ tons,  LMS classification – 4P

Nos. 903-7

Driving wheels – 6’ 6”,  Bogie wheels – 3’ 6”,  Cylinders – 20¾”x 26” (orig. 20”),  Pressure – 175 lb.  (orig. 200 lb),  Tractive effort – 21348 lb. (orig. 22667 lb),  Weight – 74¼ tons,  LMS classification – 4P

McIntosh ‘49’ class 4P No. 14750 leaves Perth with the 5.30pm Aberdeen-Glasgow, the one-time ‘Grampian Express’, in July 1926.  As can be seen from the Caledonian route indicator the train is routed via Coatbridge into Glasgow Central in order to provide good connections with the night trains to the south.  There were only two engines built to this design, forerunners of the ‘Cardean’ class and when built at Saint Rollox in 1903 they were the most powerful express engines in the country.  Withdrawal of both took place in 1933.  The first coach is one of the well-known CR ‘Grampian’ twelve-wheelers first introduced in 1905 and is a brake third whilst the second coach is a CR eight-wheel composite.  The third is a Pullman dining car, one of an eventual total of sixteen Pullman cars which ran on CR routes from 1914 onwards.  All were sold to the LMS in 1933 and the author observed one still in use in 1959 on an Inverness-Kyle of Lochalsh train.  (Locomotive Publishing Co.

No. 907, here shown on a southbound West Coast express near Elvanfoot, had a sad end in the Quintinshill disaster of 1915, when she was struck head-on by a 4-4-0 No.121.  (H. Gordon Tidey.

John F. McIntosh’s Caledonian Railway ‘Cardean’ class No. 904.  (C. Hamilton Ellis

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era 1903 – ‘De Glehn’ Compounds Great Western Railway

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era

1903 – ‘De Glehn’ Compounds

Great Western Railway

No. 104 as originally constructed and before receiving its name.

Churchward wished to give compounding a thorough trial against his own simple propulsion engines, and instead of adapting one of his own design, as most other engineers had done, he ordered a replica modified to GWR loading gauge, etc., of the ‘Atlantic’ type which had already proved itself so successful on the Nord Railway of France.  It had two outside high-pressure cylinders, driving the rear-coupled axle, and two inside low-pressure cylinders on the leading axle.  It could be worked as a simple if desired by admitting live steam direct to all four cylinders.  It was built at Belfort, France, and was numbered and named 102 ‘La France’.  Two additional and somewhat larger engines were obtained in 1905, Nos103 ‘President’ and 104 ‘Alliance’.  These differed from No. 102 in having inside frames to the bogie wheels, ‘La France’ having had them outside.  The boilers originally carried were of the parallel-domed type, but all three engines were subsequently modified with standard GWR domeless coned boilers with superheaters.  The engines took their place along with standard GWR types on various main line duties, but finished their careers working from Oxford, mainly on stopping trains to Paddington.  They were withdrawn between 1926 and 1928.

Driving wheels – 6’ 8½”,  Cylinders (2HP) – 14 3/16”x 25 3/16”, (2LP) – 14 3/16”x 25⅝”,  Pressure – 227 lb.,  Tractive effort – 27174 lb.,  Weight – 71 tons 14 cwt.

These dimensions apply to Nos. 103-4 as originally built.  Those of No. 102 were slightly smaller.

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era – 1903 – Robinson ‘Atlantics’ Great Central Railway

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era

1903 – Robinson ‘Atlantics’

Great Central Railway

One of the compounds, No. 5259 ‘King Edward V11’, in 1930, at which time it was carrying the temporary ‘flower pot’ type of chimney of the period, later replaced by a more handsome tapered chimney similar to, but not quite identical with the original GCR pattern.

Concurrently with the two 4-6-0 engines of Class B1, Mr. Robinson commenced building a series of very handsome ‘Atlantics’ for express working on the main line.  The first two were Nos. 192 and 194, turned out in 1903, and they were followed between 1904 and 1906 by Nos. 260-7, 358, 360-3 and 1083-94, 27 in all.  In addition another four engines, Nos. 258-9 and 364-5 were built in 1905-6 as 3-cylinder compounds on the Smith system, similar to, but not quite identical with the much better known Midland and LMS type.  These four were given names.

All had 5000 added to their numbers at the grouping, and all were eventually superheated.  No. 1090 was converted to 3-cylinder simple propulsion in 1909, but reverted to two cylinders in 1923.  This engine was scrapped in 1939, and was subsequently not included in the 1946 renumbering scheme whereby the simple engines became 2900-25 and the compounds 2895-8.  All were scrapped between 1947 and 1950, and none actually carried a 60000 number although a few lasted until early Nationalisation days.

Simple – Driving wheels – 6’ 9”,  Cylinders (2) 21”x 26” (originally 19”x 26”),  Pressure – 180 lb.,  Tractive effort – 21658 lb.,  Weight – 71 tons 18 cwt,  GCR classification – 8B and 8J,  LNER classification – C4

Compound – Driving wheels – 6’ 9”,  Cylinders (1) 19”x 26”  (2) 21”x 26”,  Pressure – 180 lb.,  Tractive effort – 21658 lb.,  Weight – 73 tons 6 cwt,  GCR classification – 8D and 8E,  LNER classification – C5

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era 1903 – 2-8-0 Great Western Railway

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era

1903 – 2-8-0

Great Western Railway

 No. 2881 as running in 1930

J.G.Churchward’s 2-8-0 mineral engine of 1903 was the first of its type in the country, and was in many ways well in advance of its time, as it remained the standard Great Western heavy goods type for the rest of that Company’s existence.

The initial engine was at first numbered 97, and after two years trials a further twenty were put in hand, which came out as Nos. 2801-20.  Nos. 2821-30 followed in 1907, Nos. 2831-55 between 1911 and 1913, and 2856-83 in 1918-19.  The original 97 had by then become No.2800.

All were eventually fitted with superheaters.  After a lapse of nineteen years construction was again resumed under Collett’s superintendency, the new engines differing from their predecessors only in the provision of side window cabs and one or two other details.  These were Nos. 2884-99, and 3800-66, which were all built between 1938 and 1942.  The whole class remained intact until 1958, when No. 2800 was withdrawn.

Driving wheels – 4’ 7½”,  Cylinders – (2) 18½”x 30”,  Pressure – 225 lb.,  Tractive effort – 35380 lb.,  Weight – 75 tons 10 cwt (2800-2883),  76 tons 5 cwt (2884 series)

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era 1902 – ‘Saint’ Class Great Western Railway

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era

1902 – ‘Saint’ Class

Great Western Railway

No. 2971 ‘Albion’ as running in 1930.

William Dean’s No. 100 which appeared in 1902 was destined to become the forerunner of a long series of 4-6-0 engines on the GWR which have since achieved worldwide fame.  It was a 2-cylinder machine, and although built with a parallel boiler, it nevertheless embodied all the essentials of the familiar outline perpetuated in the many series of 2- and 4-cylinder 4-6-0s which followed it.

Two further engines, Nos. 98 and 171, followed in 1903, and these were undoubtedly the work of Churchward, who had meanwhile succeeded Dean as locomotive superintendent.  Probably the design of the original No.100 was more Churchward’s than Dean’s, but nevertheless the name of the latter, at first just ‘Dean’, but later ‘William Dean’ was most befittingly bestowed on No. 100.

No. 98 (later ‘Vanguard’ and subsequently ‘Ernest Cunard’) and 171 ‘Albion had coned boilers from the start, and in 1905 nineteen further engines appeared, of which No. 172 and 179-90 came out as ‘Atlantics’, whilst 173-8 were 4-6-0s.  ‘Albion’ also ran as 4-4-2 about this period, but eventually all were converted or re-converted to the 4-6-0 type.

In 1906 there appeared No. 2901, notable as being the first engine to be built with a modern type superheater.  It was of the Schmidt pattern, but was later replaced by the standard GWR Swindon type, eventually applied to the whole class.  No. 2901 became ‘Lady Superior’ and the rest of the batch, Nos. 2902-10, were also named after ‘Ladies’.  Nos. 2911-30, built in 1907, took the names of ‘Saints’, whilst the final lot, 2931-55, of 1911-13, were ‘Courts’.  The term ‘Saint’ in later years applied to the whole class, including the original engines, 100, 98, and 171-90, which had become 2900, 2988, and 2971-90.

There were many detail differences at various periods, particularly as regards boilers, but the principal variations to note were with regard to No. 2935 ‘Caynham Court’, modified in 1931 with Poppett valve gear, and No. 2925 ‘Saint Martin’, rebuilt in 1924 with 6’ 0” wheels and renumbered 4900.  As such as it became the prototype of the mixed traffic ‘Hall’ class, later multiplied in considerable numbers.

Scrapping commenced in 1931 with No. 2985 ‘Peveril of the Peak’, and ‘William Dean’ itself went in 1932.  The last in service, apart from the rebuilt ‘Saint Martin’, which survived until 1959, was 2920 Saint David, withdrawn in 1953.

No. 100 as built – Driving wheels – 6’ 8½”,  Cylinders (2) – 18”x 30”,  Pressure – 200 lb.,  Tractive effort – 20530 lb.,  Weight – 67 tons 16 cwt.

The later engines as finally running – Driving wheels – 6’ 8½”,  Cylinders (2) – 18½”x 30”,  Pressure – 225 lb.,  Tractive effort – 24395 lb.,  Weight – 72 tons.

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era 1902 – Earlier Robinson 4-6-0s Great Central Railway

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era

1902 – Earlier Robinson 4-6-0s

Great Central Railway

6100 – One of the 6′ 7″ engines in 1926

In all, J.G.Robinson designed nine classes of 4-6-0 for the Great Central Railway during his period of office from 1900 to 1922, the first four of which conformed to one general pattern and can be considered here.  The later classes differed very considerably.

The arrangement common to all four of the earlier designs was the two outside cylinders driving the centre pair of wheels, with the framing raised to clear the coupling rods and separate splashers for each pair of driving wheels.  The main variations between the four classes lay in the sizes of the driving wheels and the boilers.

The first batch consisted of fourteen engines, No. 180-7and 1067-72, built between 1902 and 1904.  These had 6’ 1” wheels and were intended mainly for the fast fish traffic between Grimsby and London, hence they were usually known as the ‘Fish’ class.

Nos. 195 and 196, which appeared in 1903, were intended for express work and had 6’ 9” driving wheels.  Apart from the six-coupled wheels, they were identical with the ‘Atlantics’ which appeared at the same time, and were built for the sake of comparison between the two types.  Neither class was ever converted, however, unlike the similar situation on the Great Western, where the 4-4-2 type was eventually altered to 4-6-0.

1906 saw ten somewhat similar engines but with 6’ 7” wheels, Nos. 1095-1104, of which 1097 bore the name ‘Immingham’.

Lastly, in the same year, were ten engines, Nos. 1105-14, with 5’ 3” wheels for fast freight traffic.  All of these classes had 5000 added to their numbers at the grouping, and in 1946 they were renumbered from 1469089 and 1678-90 (two engines already withdrawn were not included here).  They were scrapped between 1947 and 1950, and although some passed into BR hands, only two, old 1105 and 1111 actually carried BR numbers, which they did as Nos. 61469 and 61475.

B1 later B18 – Driving wheels – 6’ 9”,  Cylinders – 21”x 26”,  Pressure – 180 lb.,  Tractive effort – 21658 lb.,  Weight – 72 tons 18 cwt,  GCR classification – 8C,  LNER classification B1, later B18

B4 – Driving wheels – 6’ 7”,  Cylinders – 21”x 26”,  Pressure – 180 lb.,  Tractive effort – 22206 lb.,  Weight – 71 tons 15 cwt,  GCR classification – 8F,  LNER classification B4

B5 – Driving wheels – 6’ 1”,  Cylinders – 21”x 26”,  Pressure – 180 lb.,  Tractive effort – 24030 lb.,  Weight – 65 tons 4 cwt,  GCR classification – 8,  LNER classification B5

B9 – Driving wheels – 5’ 3”,  Cylinders – 21”x 26”,  Pressure – 180 lb.,  Tractive effort – 27410 lb.,  Weight – 66 tons 1 cwt,  GCR classification – 8G,  LNER classification B9

The cylinder dimensions were originally 19”x 26”, with less tractive effort in consequence.

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era 1902 – 4-4-0 Compounds Midland Railway

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era

1902 – 4-4-0 Compounds

Midland Railway

No.1000 as restored in 1959

To meet the need for increased locomotive power at the beginning of the twentieth century Johnson had, in 1900, produced his large Belpaire 4-4-0, but at the same time he was also considering a still larger engine based on the compound principle.

Amongst the various experiments in compounding which had been taking place on the railways, he was particularly impressed with an engine on the North Eastern, which had been rebuilt with three cylinders, one high pressure inside and two low pressure outside, to the patented design of William Smith, locomotive draughtsman of the NER.  The main principle of this system was that the engine could at the will of the driver be worked if desired as a 3-cylinder simple, to give maximum, power on starting, and by means of controlled valves going over to the semi-compound or full compound expansion.  Johnson therefore put in hand an engine of his own embodying this system which duly appeared in January 1902 as No. 2631.  Four more were built before his retirement in 1903, Nos. 2632-5.

No. 2632 as built

These five engines put up some fine work on the mountainous Settle-Carlisle line, and Deeley, who had succeeded Johnson, decided to build more engines of the same general design but with important differences, the chief of which was the provision of a patent regulator by which the engine always started non-compound and automatically changed over to full compound with the advance of the regulator.  There were also some external differences in appearance, the running plates being raised clear of the coupling rods, whilst the rectangular rear splasher gave way to a quarter-circle blended into the cab side sheets.

Thirty of the new Deeley engines appeared in 1905-6, numbered 1000-29.  At the 1907 renumbering the original five Johnson engines took the numbers 1000-4, and the Deeley engines were increased by five, becoming 1005-34.  A further ten engines, Nos. 1035-44, came out in 1908-9.

No more were built in Midland days, but the design with slight modifications was adopted as a standard type early in the grouping, and no less than 195 further engines were turned out between 1924 and 1932, numbered 1045-1199, and 900-39. Still more were to have been constructed, but the order was cancelled when W.A (later Sir William) Stanier came on the scene, as he had very different ideas on the subject of locomotive power.

Nos. 1000-4 were eventually rebuilt in line with the Deeley engines, and at the same time were superheated, Nos. 1000 and 1004 in 1914, 1001 and 1003 in 1915, and 1002 in 1919.  No. 1040 had already received a superheater in 1913, but it was not until 1919 that it was decided to superheat the remainder of the class, commencing with No. 1009.  The LMS-built engines were, of course, superheated from the start.

The class as a whole did magnificent work; possibly their greatest achievements were on the Caledonian and G&SWR main lines in the intermediate post-grouping years.  They also did remarkably well on the LNWR two-hour expresses, but were probably not quite so happy on the other LNWR main lines owing to an instinctive distrust of Compounds by North Western men inherited from the Webb days.  No. 1054 made history by running non-stop from Euston to Edinburgh, a distance of all but 400 miles in May 1928.  This was the quiet answer of the LMS to the LNER’s announcement that it would run the ‘Flying Scotsman’ non-stop between the two capital cities by use of a corridor tender whereby the crew could be relieved en route.  The LMS reply was to divide the Royal Scot into two portions, one running non-stop to Glasgow and the other to Edinburgh.  The performance was not repeated, but it effectively stole the limelight from the LNER performance.

With the decline in maintenance standards which set in during the war and has remained since, the Compounds gradually fell into some disrepute, as they required more attention in this respect than they received.  Moreover, they were largely put to work on local trains, duties for which they were unsuitable, and in consequence got a poor reputation through no fault of their own, as they were magnificent engines when kept in proper trim and well handled.  Probably they were the only outstanding successful compound design this country has seen.

The beginning of the end was inevitable.  All passed into BR hands at Nationalisation in 1948.  No.1002 was scraped shortly afterwards in the same year, and all of the Midland ones had been withdrawn by 1952.  A start was made on the LMS batch in 1953, and by the end of 1959 less than a dozen remained.  All except  a few of the early MR engines lasted long enough to have 40000 added to their numbers.

The original No.41000 was fortunately kept in store at Crewe for a number of years and in 1959 was fully restored to its rebuilt 1914 condition in Midland colours for preservation and for working special trains.

Nos. 1000-4 as built – Driving wheels – 7’ 0”,  Cylinders – 1 HP 19”x 26”, 2 LP 21”x 26”,  Pressure – 200 lb.,  Tractive effort – 21840 lb.,  Weight – 59½ tons,  MR & LMS classification – NA,  BR classification – NA

Deeley 1905 design – Driving wheels – 7’ 0”,  Cylinders – 1 HP 19”x 26”, 2 LP 21”x 26”,  Pressure – 200 lb (originally 220 lb.).,  Tractive effort – 21840 lb.,  Weight – 59¾ tons,  MR & LMS classification – 4,  BR classification – 4P

LMS 1924 design – Driving wheels – 6’ 9”,  Cylinders – 1 HP 19”x 26”, 2 LP 21”x 26”,  Pressure – 200 lb.,  Tractive effort – 22649 lb.,  Weight – 61¾ tons,  MR & LMS classification – 4,  BR classification – 4P