TCDD 45151 Class

The TCDD (Turkish Republic Railways) 45151 Class is a class of 2-8-0 steam locomotives which were acquired from the British War Department to the LMS Stanier Class 8F design. They had a maximum speed of 43 miles per hour (70 km/h), much like their British counterparts.
== Background ==
On the outbreak of the Second World War British locomotive manufacturers could no longer supply an order for 2-10-0s similar to the TCDD 56001 Class, derived from the German BR 42, for TCDD at the original price and conditions. (These locomotives were eventually delivered after the war as the TCDD 56080 Class). However, Nazi Germany stepped in to offer neutral Turkey DRG BR 52-type Kriegsloks which became the 56501 Class. Diplomatically embarrassed, the British offered the Turks 25 of the LMS Stanier Class 8F 2-8-0s, which had been adopted by the War Department as their standard heavy freight locomotive.
The engines selected were built by the North British Locomotive Company of Glasgow. Originally intended for WD service but the Fall of France saw them earmarked for the LMS before they were diverted to Turkey.
==Shipping==
The locomotives were shipped as a kit of parts (other 8Fs destined for the Middle East went complete) via the Cape of Good Hope and the Suez Canal since the Mediterranean was too dangerous for Allied shipping. Seven failed to complete the journey. The vessel transporting them, the SS Jessmore, was involved in a collision in the Atlantic with another ship in the convoy on 19 February 1941. The Jessmore sank with the loss of its cargo a few days later. Three more received the same watery fate when the MV Berhala was torpedoed by U-38 on 23 May 1941 off Freetown, Sierra Leone. The lost engines were:
WD No.	NBL Works No.	Built	Ship
343 	24643 	1940 	SS Jessmore
344 	24644 	1940 	SS Jessmore
345 	24645 	1940 	SS Jessmore
338 	24638 	1940 	MV Berhala
354 	24654 	1940 	MV Berhala
355 	24655 	1941 	MV Berhala
356 	24656 	1941 	MV Berhala
==Service==
The remaining 18 locomotives were transhipped at Port Said in Egypt and went overland to Turkey where they were renumbered 45151-68. Re-erection was in Sivas under the direction of R.G. Jarvis of the LMS. In 1943 they were joined by 2 more classmates, (45169/70) taking the class number to 20, in lieu of the lost engines. These were joined by a gift of 29 of the Lend-Lease S200 Class 2-8-2s which formed the TCDD 46201 Class.
WD No.	TCCD No.	NBL Works No.	Built	To Turkey	Notes
524 	45151 	24672 	1941 	1941 	
523 	45152 	24671 	1941 	1941 	
357 	45153 	24657 	1941 	1941 	
358 	45154 	24657 	1941 	1941 	
359 	45155 	24657 	1941 	1941 	Preserved
346 	45156 	24646 	1940 	1941 	
351 	45157 	24651 	1940 	1941 	
350 	45158 	24650 	1940 	1941 	
349 	45159 	24649 	1940 	1941 	
348 	45160 	24648 	1940 	1941 	Preserved
522 	45161 	24670 	1941 	1941 	Preserved
347 	45162 	24647 	1940 	1941 	
339 	45163 	24639 	1940 	1941 	
342 	45164 	24642 	1940 	1941 	
353 	45165 	24653 	1940 	1941 	
341 	45166 	24641 	1940 	1941 	Preserved
352 	45167 	24652 	1940 	1941 	
340 	45168 	24640 	1940 	1941 	Preserved
552 	45169 	24749 	1942 	1943 	
554 	45170 	24755 	1942 	1943 	Preserved
Designed for British conditions, the 8Fs were not suited to Turkish circumstances. Though large for British engines, they were underpowered by Turkish standards and so could not ascend the steep grades unassisted. Their lack of drop grates also prevented them from long-distance working. They were thus relegated to shunting and local trip freights. The Turkish railway-men referred to them as "Churchills" after British prime minister Winston Churchill.
The locomotives lasted into the 1980s where they became of special interest of British railway enthusiasts venturing abroad after the demise of steam in Britain.
== Preservation ==
Three of the Turkish 8Fs have been preserved. No. 45161 is a static exhibit at the Çamlık Railway Museum. 45168 is preserved and was seen on display at Izmit Station in September 2010. No. 45160 was repatriated to Great Britain in 1989 by the Churchill 8F Locomotive Company Limited where it is Operational on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.
In October 2010, two of the six remaining derelict examples in Turkey (Nos. 45166 and 45170) were acquired by the 3 members of the Churchill 8F Locomotive Company Limited. The two locomotives travelled by rail from Sivas depot to Izmir where they were loaded onto a ship for transport back to the UK. They arrived at Royal Portbury Dock on Boxing Day 2010 aboard the MV Grande Scandinavia (Grimaldi Group). The transportation of the locomotives across Turkey was the subject of an episode of the documentary television series Monster Moves in 2011.
No. 45170 is currently stored in the Museum of Scottish Railways at the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway awaiting restoration by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society. No. 45166, meanwhile, was sold to the municipality of Beersheba in Israel in December 2012, and has now been cosmetically restored and put on display at the Be'er Sheva Turkish Railway Station.
== Gallery ==
File:Screenshot 2023-01-13 111651.png
File:Screenshot 2023-01-13 111450.png
File:Screenshot 2023-01-13 111521.png
Category:Turkey
Category:2-8-0 steam locomotives
Category:2-8-0 locomotives
Category:TCDD
Category:Turkish locomotives
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:Wartime locomotives
Category:Preserved locomotives
Category:Scrapped locomotives
Category:LMS locomotives
Category:Crewe Works locomotives
Category:4 foot 8 1⁄2 inch gauge
Category:Standard gauge locomotives
Category:Built in 1940
Category:Built in 1941
Category:North British locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:LMS Stanier Class 8F
Category:War Department locomotives
Category:WD locomotives