LNWR Dreadnought Class

The LNWR Dreadnought class was a class of 40 passenger three-cylinder compound 2-2-2-0 locomotives designed by F. W. Webb for the London and North Western Railway, and manufactured by them in their Crewe Works between 1884 and 1888. The railway also commissioned the Beyer, Peacock and Company to construct an additional locomotive of the design for the Pennsylvania Railroad.
==Design==
The design featured a boiler pressed to 175 lbf/in2 (1.21 MPa) delivering saturated steam to two outside 14-inch (356 mm) high-pressure cylinders, which exhausted to one 30-inch (762 mm) low-pressure cylinder inside the frames. All three cylinders had a stroke of 24 inches (610 mm); the high-pressure cylinders drove the rear wheels, while the low-pressure drove the leading driving wheels. As the two pairs of driving wheels were not connected, the locomotives were "duplex drive" or "double-singles".
They were a development of Webb's Experiment class; they had larger boilers and smaller driving wheels, and while the Joy valve gear for the HP and LP cylinders could still be independently adjusted, it was now also possible to reverse both sets simultaneously. The inside valve gear was subsequently amended to the loose or slip-eccentric system, thus giving automatic reversal.
==Decline==
When George Whale become chief mechanical engineer of the LNWR in 1903, he started a programme of eliminating Webb's over-complicated duplex compound locomotives. Consequently, the class was scrapped between December 1903, and July 1905, having been replaced by Whale's Experiment class.
== Numbering ==
Table of locomotives
LNWR No.	LNWR Name 	Crewe Works No.	Date built	Date scrapped	Notes
503 	Dreadnought 	2795 	Sep 1884 	Apr 1904 	
508 	Titan 	2796 	Oct 1884 	Feb 1904 	
504 	Thunderer 	2797 	Feb 1885 	Aug 1904 	
507 	Marchioness of Stafford	2798 	Mar 1885 	Jul 1905 	
509 	Ajax 	2799 	Mar 1885 	Apr 1904 	
510 	Leviathan 	2800 	Apr 1885 	May 1904 	
511 	Achilles 	2801 	May 1885 	Aug 1904 	
513 	Mammoth 	2802 	May 1885 	Mar 1904 	
515 	Niagara 	2803 	May 1885 	Nov 1904 	
685 	Himalaya 	2804 	May 1885 	Sep 1904 	
2055 	Dunrobin 	2886 	Dec 1885 	Jan 1905 	
2056 	Argus 	2887 	Dec 1885 	Apr 1904 	
2057 	Euphrates 	2888 	Dec 1885 	Jul 1904 	
2058 	Medusa 	2889 	Dec 1885 	Feb 1905 	
2059 	Greyhound 	2890 	Dec 1885 	Feb 1905 	
2060 	Vandal 	2891 	Dec 1885 	Jul 1904 	
2061 	Harpy 	2892 	Dec 1885 	Apr 1905 	
2062 	Herald 	2893 	Dec 1885 	Jul 1905 	
2063 	Huskisson 	2894 	Dec 1885 	Sep 1904 	
2064 	Autocrat 	2895 	Dec 1885 	Mar 1905 	
173 	City of Manchester 	2896 	Mar 1886 	Aug 1904 	
2 	City of Carlisle 	2897 	Mar 1886 	Jun 1904 	
1539 	City of Chester 	2898 	Jun 1886 	Jul 1904 	Renumbered as 437 in November 1886
410 	City of Liverpool 	2899 	Jun 1886 	Apr 1904 	
1353 	City of Edinburgh 	2900 	Jun 1886 	Jul 1904 	
1370 	City of Glasgow 	2901 	Jun 1886 	Jan 1904 	
1395 	Archimedes 	2902 	Jun 1886 	Mar 1904 	
1379 	Stork 	2903 	Jun 1886 	Feb 1905 	
545 	Tamerlane 	2904 	Jul 1886 	Dec 1903 	
659 	Rowland Hill 	2905 	Jul 1886 	May 1904 	
637 	City of New York 	3012 	Mar 1888 	Aug 1904 	
638 	City of Paris 	3013 	Apr 1888 	Nov 1904 	
639 	City of London 	3014 	May 1888 	Oct 1904 	
640 	City of Dublin 	3015 	May 1888 	Jan 1904 	
641 	City of Lichfield 	3016 	May 1888 	Feb 1904 	
643 	Raven 	3017 	May 1888 	Oct 1904 	
644 	Vesuvius 	3018 	Jun 1888 	Jul 1904 	
645 	Alchymist 	3019 	Jun 1888 	Jan 1905 	
647 	Ambassador 	3020 	Jun 1888 	Apr 1904 	
648 	Swiftsure 	3021 	Jun 1888 	Oct 1904 	
==References==
*Morandière, Jules (1885). "Locomotive compound de M. Webb, modèle de 1884 pour trains rapides et lourds", Revue Générale des Chemins de fer et des Tramways, VII. Dunod éditeur, pp. 75–79, fig. VI.
Category:Scrapped locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:LNWR locomotives
Category:Duplex locomotives
Category:2-2-2-0 locomotives
Category:2-2-2-0 steam locomotives
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:United Kingdom
Category:Locomotives
Category:Standard gauge locomotives
Category:Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain
Category:Compound locomotives
Category:Built in 1884
Category:Crewe Works locomotives
Category:Passenger locomotives
Category:Built in 1885
Category:Built in 1886
Category:Built in 1888