LNWR G3 Class

The London, Midland and Scottish Railway Fowler Class 7F was a class of 0-8-0 steam locomotives. They were a Midlandised version of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Class G2 and Class G2A 0-8-0s. They were also classified as Class G3 under the former LNWR system. The class were sometimes known as Baby Austins, or Austin 7s, after a motor car that was becoming popular at the time. It featured a Belpaire firebox and increased boiler pressure over its predecessor but had the same power rating of 7F. Unfortunately the design had been done at the old Midlands Railway's Derby Works and the drawing office staff insisted on using Midland practice. Among other things this meant that the axle bearings were too small for the loads they had to carry. E.S. Cox, writing in a series of articles in Trains Illustrated c. 1957, suggests that they had a sufficiently modern and effective front end that, for steady slogging, some drivers preferred them to an LMS Stanier Class 8F. However, this also meant that, with bearings comparable to an LMS Fowler Class 4F and already inadequate for the lower powered engine, the bearings broke up rapidly.
Category:LMS locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Scrapped locomotives
Category:0-8-0 steam locomotives
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:Built in 1932
Category:Eight-coupled locomotives
Category:0-8-0 locomotives
Category:Built in 1929
Category:4 foot 8 1⁄2 inch gauge
Category:United Kingdom
Category:Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain
Category:Scrapped steam locomotives
Category:Article stubs
Category:LNWR locomotives
Category:Standard gauge locomotives