Minor Characters

Minor Characters are characters who make a cameo or have 1 or 2 lines!

## Sir Gilbert Claughton

### Sir Gilbert Claughton

Sir Gilbert Claughton is a Red Tender Engine who pulls goods trains on the island of Sodor!

## Technical Details:

The locomotives were introduced in 1913, the first of the class No. 2222 was named in honour of Sir Gilbert Claughton, who was the Chairman of the LNWR at that time. A total of 130 were built, all at Crewe works up to 1921. Author Brian Reed points out that weight restrictions and equipment limitations at Crewe limited the size of the boiler, hence engine power. Cylinder design and valve events were not optimal, so the Claughton Class was a mediocre performer on the track.

LMS No. 5986 c.1928, with enlarged boiler

The LNWR reused numbers and names from withdrawn locomotives, with the result that the numbering was completely haphazard. An exception was made for the LNWR's war memorial locomotives. There were two of these: no. 2097 (built in 1917) was briefly named *Patriot* for a short period in January 1920; and the name was later given to a new locomotive numbered 1914, which entered service in May 1920 (ordinarily, this locomotive would have been numbered 69, which had been unused since January 1920; but instead, Renown Class locomotive no. 1914 was renumbered 1257 in order to release its old number). The nameplates of both locomotives also bore the inscription "In Memory of the Fallen L & N W R Employees 1914–1919". Remembrance Day ceremonies at Rugby featured no. 1914 until its name was transferred to LMS no. 5500. The LMS renumbered them into the more logical series 5900–6029, no. 1914 becoming 5964. Twenty were rebuilt by the LMS with larger boilers, and ten of these had Caprotti valve gear. Twelve others were rebuilt as the initial engines of the LMS Patriot Class, though not much material was reused.

From 1927 with the introduction of the LMS Royal Scot Class, the Claughtons' main work had been taken away and many were transferred to the Midland Division. At the end of 1937, all but four, nos. 5946, 6004, 6017 and 6023, had been withdrawn. These were retained in service until further repair became unworthwhile; three of them were withdrawn in 1940–41, leaving no. 6004 which was regularly used to haul fitted freight trains between London and Edge Hill, becoming increasingly dirty. Inherited by British Railways in 1948, it was allocated the BR number 46004 but was withdrawn in 1949 without it being applied. None were preserved.

## Biographical information:

### Relatives:

* Jinty
* Dickerson

## Technical Details:

Design of this class was based on rebuilds by Henry Fowler of the Midland Railway 2441 Class introduced in 1899 by Samuel Waite Johnson. These rebuilds featured a Belpaire firebox and improved cab. 422 Jinties were built between 1924 and 1931; this class was just one of the Midland designs used on an ongoing basis by the LMS. The locomotives were built by the ex-L&YR Horwich Works and the private firms Bagnall's, Beardmores, Hunslet, North British and the Vulcan Foundry.

When new, they were numbered 7100–7149, 16400–16764. Numbers 7150–7156 were added when the LMS absorbed the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway locomotives in 1930. In the 1934 LMS renumbering scheme, the locomotives were assigned the series 7260–7681. On the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 they were initially chosen as the standard shunting locomotive for the War Department, but later the more modern Hunslet "Austerity" 0-6-0ST was chosen in preference. Nevertheless, eight were dispatched to France before its fall in 1940, and only five returned in 1948. Two, 7456 and 7553, were converted to the 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) Irish broad gauge in 1944 and 1945 for use on Northern Counties Committee lines in Northern Ireland, becoming the NCC Class Y, and numbered 18 and 19. A total of 412 thus entered British Railways stock in 1948, rising to 417 by the end of the year.

British Railways numbers were the LMS numbers prefixed with '4'. Numbers 47477, 47478, 47479, 47480, 47481, 47655 and 47681 were fitted for push-pull train working.

## Engine Information:

### No.

* LMS 3924
* BR 43924

## Technical Details:

The 4F was based on the 197-strong Midland Railway 3835 Class of 1911, with only a few modifications, primarily the adoption of left-hand drive instead of right-hand drive. They originally had been designed by Henry Fowler, who from 1925 became CME of the LMS.

Midland Railway locomotives were notorious for their short axle-box bearings, which were prone to overheating. This design feature was perpetuated in the LMS 4F. The problem was eventually solved with the fitting of mechanical lubricators!

## Trivia:

* Albus shares the name as Albus Dumbledore! Percival shares the rest of Prof Dumbledore's name!

## Engine Information:

### No.

* GER no.87
* LNER no.7087
* BR no.68533

## Technical Details:

The Class S56 were a development of the Class R24, being almost identical, apart from higher boiler pressure and larger water tanks. Twenty were built in 1904 at Stratford Works. All twenty passed to the LNER in 1923. Thirteen class J69 locomotives were lent to the War Department in October 1939, of which five had been built as Class S56. They were sold to the War Department in October 1940, where they were used on the Melbourne and Longmoor Military Railways. The remaining locomotives were renumbered **8617–8636** in order of construction; however gaps were left where the locomotives sold to the War Department would have been. At nationalisation in 1948, the remainder passed to British Railways, who added 60000 to their number. Post-war withdrawals started in 1958, and by 1962 all had been retired.

## Trivia:

* She is named after Queen Amelia Collet,

## Technical Details:

Three factors dictated the type of locomotive that could run on the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR): increased freight and passenger train loadings, poor track quality, and weak, lightly built bridges. An increasing number of passengers used the SECR to reach the cross-Channel ferries at Dover and Folkestone between 1910 and 1913, and heavy goods trains between Tonbridge and Hither Green marshalling yard stretched the capabilities of existing locomotives and infrastructure. On the lines of the former London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR), flint beach pebbles on a bed of ash had been used for ballast. Conventional track ballast has irregular shapes that "lock" together to keep the track in place, whereas the smooth pebbles used by the LCDR failed to prevent track movement under strain. The economies in construction meant that only locomotives with low axle loadings could run safely on the track. These restrictions meant that the SECR was unable to follow a coherent locomotive strategy that reduced costs and increased serviceability. The railway's Operating Department had to use mismatched classes of underpowered and obsolete 4-4-0 and 0-6-0 locomotives because they could run within the restrictions imposed by the infrastructure. This meant frequent double-heading that increased operational costs.

Richard Maunsell was appointed CME of the SECR in 1913, following the retirement of Harry Wainwright due to ill health. Wainwright left a legacy of competent but unspectacular locomotives that struggled to cope with the increased train lengths and loadings. Maunsell took control of the short-term situation by improving existing designs, and he introduced new engines to progressively replace obsolete classes. New designs could also cut costs on the SECR, as one capable mixed-traffic locomotive could undertake the work of two separate passenger or freight types. The first new design was to become Maunsell's N class 2-6-0.

The N class was designed by Maunsell in 1914 to provide a sturdy mixed-traffic locomotive with high route availability. Intended to replace several obsolete 0-6-0 types, the N class was the first step in the SECR's fleet standardisation programme, which also included the K class 2-6-4T passenger tank locomotive. Maunsell enlisted the help of former GWR engineer Harold Holcroft, who suggested that a 2-6-0 wheel arrangement would allow the class to run on the poor-quality track in north Kent. This arrangement allowed for a longer wheelbase with leading axle to permit greater stability at speed on tight track curves, which had constrained the size of locomotives operating on the SECR. A longer locomotive could also accommodate a larger boiler than an 0-6-0, giving the N class sufficient power to avoid double-heading of locomotives on heavier trains.

The N class incorporated the principles of power and reliability established by George Churchward, using a Belpaire firebox that sloped downwards towards the cab instead of a round-topped version, a regulator located in the smokebox, long-travel valves for free running up to 70 mph (110 km/h), a sharply tapered and domeless boiler, and a right-hand driving position. These features are attributed to Holcroft, who worked on the GWR 4300 class before joining the SECR. The boiler was intended to become a standard component for use on future SECR locomotive designs, thereby reducing building times and improving organisation at the works. The size was constrained by the heavier axle-loading of Maunsell's proposed 2-6-4 tank locomotive variant of the N class, the K class, and was consequently smaller than was otherwise possible on the 2-6-0 chassis. The need to reduce overall weight also meant that the latter would feature lightly braced frames.

Maunsell's Chief Locomotive Draughtsman, James Clayton, brought functional Midland Railway influences to the design, such as the shape of the cab and the drumhead-type smokebox, which sat on a saddle that was of wider diameter than the fully lagged and clad boiler. Clayton was also responsible for the tender and chimney designs. Snifting valves were provided to prevent vacuum formation in the cylinders when the locomotive was stationary, and the outside Walschaerts valve gear incorporated single slide-bars and piston tail rods. Innovations added by Maunsell's team included steam-powered locomotive brakes, locating the boiler water top feed inside a dome-like cover with external clackboxes and water feed pipes mounted on either side, and a new type of superheater that segregated saturated and superheated steam. Maunsell also incorporated a screw reverser to control valve events, which was easier to maintain than the complex steam reverser configuration of previous SECR designs. All components were standardised for interchange with similar locomotive classes to ease maintenance and reduce production costs.

## Technical Details:

The class was introduced in 1928 and was a post-grouping development of the Midland Railway 483 Class with modified dimensions and reduced boiler mountings.

The numbering continued from where the Midland engines left off at 563 and eventually reached 700. 138 were built, though numbering is slightly complicated by renumberings and transfers.

## Technical Details:

### LBSCR:

Originally known as 'A' class, these diminutive tank locomotives were designed in 1870 to haul commuter trains on the heavily congested lines in South and South-East London. These included routes from London Bridge to both East and West Croydon, London Victoria to Sutton and the line from Victoria to London Bridge via Peckham Rye and Denmark Hill, as well as operating on the East London Railway under the Thames through the Thames Tunnel designed by Marc Isambard Brunel. Six locomotives were built for these services during 1872, and were successful thanks to their high acceleration between the closely spaced station stops and the use of lightweight trains. A further 44 were built between June 1874 and September 1880 to complement the original six.

The locomotives were finished in the livery known as "Stroudley's Improved Engine Green", which was actually an ochre colour, not green. This is historically attributed to colour-blindness, an affliction from which Stroudley reportedly suffered. The actual shade of the livery has been much disputed, with opinions ranging from a more yellow type of livery to a livery closer to brown, as worn by the model named *Como* in the Brighton Toy and Model Museum.

Shortly after construction, No.40 *Brighton* was chosen by William Stroudley to represent the LB&SCR at the Paris Exhibition of 1878, and won a gold medal for workmanship. On a run from Dieppe to Paris, arranged to persuade the Chemins de Fer de l'Ouest that the company's boat trains that met the LB&SCR ferries from Newhaven could make better time to the capital, *Brighton* maintained a speed of nearly 50 mph, previously unheard of on that line.

During the last two decades of the 19th century, London was expanding outwards as suburbs became more built up and were absorbed into the built-up area of London itself. Towns such as Croydon, Sutton and Norwood, which had previously been commuter towns separate from London, grew to form one large area of housing. Much of this was because of the success of the 'Terriers' themselves, as they had speeded up suburban passenger services, encouraging people to move out of the centre of London. Trains became progressively heavier while the need for shorter journey times remained the same. As a result, the engines gradually became largely unsuited for their original purpose, and they were replaced by the larger D class tank engines. However the 'Terriers' were so reliable that they were put on other work, often finding use on branch line passenger and freight workings and as shunting engines.
No.672 'Fenchurch' carrying the later LB&SCR umber livery. It is seen at Kingscote with a train of Metropolitan Railway carriages.
Twenty-three members of the class were withdrawn between 1898 and 1905, but the majority of these were sold in working order rather than scrapped. Purchasers of these locomotives included the Newhaven Harbour Company, the Isle of Wight Central Railway (four locomotives), Pauling & Co. (five locomotives), the Kent and East Sussex Railway (two locomotives), the London and South Western Railway (two locomotives), and the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. Others were transferred from capital to departmental (non-revenue earning) stock as pilots at Brighton locomotive works and Lancing carriage works. It is likely that the remainder of the class would have been withdrawn over the subsequent few years if the railway had not adopted push-pull or 'motor-train' working on many lightly used branch line services. The 'A1' class (as the locomotives were designated after 1905) were found ideally suited for conversion to this form of working.

Between 1911 and 1913 twelve survivors were re-boilered under the instruction of Douglas Earle Marsh, Stroudley's successor as CME of the LB&SCR, with another four so treated after the Great War; these engines formed the **A1X Class** with an increased weight of 28.2 long tons (28.7 t). Other changes made during the rebuilding were the extension of the smokebox (removing the smokebox 'wings', and moving the sandboxes from this same area (where they formed a forward extension of the leading driving wheel splasher) to below the running plate (although some locos rebuilt later retained the original sandboxes). The tube which had been used as part of the original condensing arrangement between the smokebox and side-tank was also removed. The engines were repainted during this time in 'Marsh Umber' livery.

Five locomotives were bought by the British Government in 1918 and sent to Scotland to work at the U.S. Navy's North Sea Mine Barrage minelaying project at Inverness and Dalmore, near Invergordon. The facilities were built by the Admiralty, using distillery sites, but administered by the U.S. Navy. The locos were Nos 37 *Southdown*, 79 *Minories*, 81 *Beulah* and 83 *Earlswood* at Dalmore, and 38 *Millwall* which was used at Glen Albyn, Inverness. Nos 38, 81 and 83 later went on to the Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Railway.

### Southern Railway:

Fifteen of the class remained in LB&SCR stock at the formation of the Southern Railway on 1 January 1923, but this figure was increased to 24 by the inclusion of those which had previously been sold to other constituent railways. Several examples were withdrawn over the next few years, and two were sold to the Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Railway in 1925 and 1937. As with the withdrawals under the LB&SCR, the engines were not withdrawn en masse, but instead over a long period of time. The first A1X to be withdrawn by the Southern Railway was No.42 *Tulse Hill* in 1925, and among the engines withdrawn was the now-famous No.55 *Stepney*, which only escaped being scrapped by virtue of the need for lighter engines on Hayling Island. The two locomotives, No.43 *Gipsy Hill* and No.53 *Ashtead*, sold to the WCPR in 1925 and 1937 (see above) were renumbered No.2 *Portishead* and No.4 respectively. On the closure of that line in 1940, both locomotives entered service with the GWR, as No.5 *Portishead* and No.6 respectively, and survived into BR ownership. No.5 *Portishead* was scrapped in 1954, No.6 in 1948.

Many of the locomotives remained in traffic, both departmental and in regular stock. They lasted longer than most classes of pre-grouping tank engine under the Southern Railway, primarily due to the presence of several light railways which came under the Southern Railway's jurisdiction at the grouping, such as the lines from Tenterden and Hayling Island, as well as on the Isle of Wight. Most of these lines needed small engines such as the 'Terrier' class due to severe weight restrictions. Among the engines transferred into departmental use was the former No.82 *Boxhill*, which was restored to original condition, painted in the yellow ochre livery of Stroudley and used as a shunter at Brighton Works, being numbered 380S and named after the works itself. This engine was replaced by 377S, formerly No.35 *Morden*, in 1948. Although much photographed toward the end of steam, this locomotive was not preserved but was scrapped at Eastleigh in 1963.

With the Southern Railway concentrating on the design of larger locomotives for the increasingly heavy express passenger traffic on the South Eastern and South Western sections, with designs such as the King Arthur, Schools and Lord Nelson classes, and later the Bulleid Pacifics, as well as the expansion of the electrified third rail system from suburban roles (a system which had replaced the LB&SCR overhead electrification, which in turn had replaced the role of the D class tanks on suburban traffic from around 1910), the company was not concerned about replacing the veteran tank engines on branch line workings, especially as many of the smaller branch lines were not economically viable for electrification, or were isolated from the rest of the electrified network. As a result, the Southern Railway felt that perseverance with the older locomotives such as the A1X on rural routes was the most economically viable option.

### British Railways:

At nationalisation in 1948, one "A1" and 14 "A1X" locomotives entered British Railways stock. All but one of these locomotives were based on the former Southern Railway, which became the Southern Region under British Railways, with the other based on the Western Region, having been inherited by the Great Western Railway from the Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Railway. BR gave the locomotives the power classification **0P**, indicating that the locomotives were primarily passenger locomotives, but were among the least powerful on the system.

The locomotives remained employed much as they had been under Southern Railway ownership, with roles centred on working over the lightly laid and weight restricted branches. However, the class were becoming increasingly expensive to maintain through physical wear and increased age of components. The future of the class was thrown into doubt with the publication of the Modernisation Plan, which made provision to close many of the routes still operated by the class. The main two routes still retaining 'Terrier' operations were the Kent & East Sussex Railway and the Hayling Island branch. The former closed due to being unprofitable in 1961.

The line to Hayling Island remained profitable, however, primarily due to the heavy traffic in summer. The condition of the bridge over Langstone Harbour was, however, deteriorating, and the Southern Region designated the bridge as being beyond economic repair. The final scheduled services over the line were run on 3 November 1963, and a special 'topped and tailed' by 32636 and 32670 the following day. The final scheduled train was notable for being one of the last steam hauled mixed trains. With the closure of this line, BR decided to withdraw the last remaining members of the class from traffic. At the time of her withdrawal following the closure of the line, No.32636 (formerly 72 *Fenchurch*) was the oldest working steam engine in British Railways ownership.

## Technical Details:

Drummond designed these locomotives to answer the need for a larger and more powerful version of William Adams' 0-4-4 T1 class of 1888. The Adams T1 design of 1888 with 5 ft 7 in (1,702 mm) wheels had been developed to meet the LSWR's requirement for a compact and sure-footed suburban passenger locomotive to be utilised on the intensive commuter timetables around London. However, by the mid-1890s the suburban services around London were growing at a rate which began to preclude the use of these and other older classes of locomotive.

The M7 tank locomotive was the first design by Dugald Drummond upon replacing William Adams as Locomotive Superintendent of the LSWR in 1895. It was an enlargement of the T1 with a sloping grate of increased area giving greater power. Drummond drew upon his previous experience with the successful London Brighton and South Coast Railway D1 class, whilst he was works manager at Brighton in the early 1870s, and his own 157 class of 1877, on the North British Railway in Scotland. It was the heaviest 0-4-4 type ever to run in Britain.

The first 25 were constructed at Nine Elms Locomotive Works between March and November 1897. Thereafter the M7 class had a long production run with five major sets of design variants. Between 1897 and 1899 the locomotives were constructed with a short overhang at the front, and sandboxes combined with the front splashers. Injectors and a lever-type reverser were also added, and a conical, as opposed to flat, smokebox door was implemented on numbers 252–256. In 1900 the design was modified to incorporate the sandboxes inside the smokebox; these were later relocated below the running plate.

After 1903, a 36 ft 3 in (11.05 m) frame with a longer overhang at the front end was introduced and steam reversing gear fitted. Some sources record these locomotives as X14 class, and this designation was sometimes used to refer to the longer-framed versions, but for most purposes the two sub-classes were grouped together and known as M7. The 1904/05 construction batch moved the sandboxes back to the front splasher and new items were feed water heating, single ram pumps and balanced crank axles. For the remainder of construction from the outshopping of the 105th locomotive in 1911, duplex pumps were fitted.

Several of the most successful features of the class were used by Drummond on his other designs. Thus the boiler, cylinders and motion were identical and interchangeable with those used on his 700 class 0-6-0 freight locomotives of 1897 and the same boiler was used on his C8 4-4-0 passenger class.

## Technical Details:

The 9400 class was the final development in a long lineage of tank locomotives that can be directly traced to the 645 Class of 1872. Over the decades details altered, the most significant being the adoption of Belpaire fireboxes necessitating pannier tanks.

The 9400 resembled a pannier tank version of the 2251 class, and indeed shared the same boiler and cylinders as the 2251, but was in fact a taper-boilered development of the 8750 subgroup of the 5700 class. The advantage was a useful increase in boiler power, but there was a significant weight penalty that restricted route availability. The 10 GWR-built locomotives had superheaters but the remainder did not.

The first ten 9400s were built by the Great Western and were the last steam engines built by the company. After the nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948, private contractors built another 200 for British Railways.

The 9400s were numbered 9400–9499, 8400–8499 and 3400–3409. BR gave them the power classification 4F.

The 9400 class were used on Paddington empty stock work right up to the end of steam on the Western Region of British Railways. A familiar sight at the buffer stops at departure side in 1964–1965 was a filthy 9400 class locomotive devoid of number plates simmering at the head of a rake of British Railways Mark 1 coaches.

Numbers 8400 to 8406 served as bank engines on the Lickey Incline after its transferral to the Western Region.

## Trivia:

* Hawk is named after Hawk from Simon Martin's series as a shoutout and tribute

## Technical Details:

The Class 23 0-6-0ST locomotives were initially built in 1876-87 by L&Y locomotive superintendent Barton Wright as a class of 280 0-6-0 tender engines. 230 of these were rebuilt as saddle tanks at Horwich Works by Aspinall between 1891 and 1900.

The class was long-lived. The first loco was withdrawn in 1926 by the London Midland and Scottish Railway, but the last survived in use until 1964 with British Railways London Midland Region. 101 were in service at Nationalisation, 20 still in service in 1961.

One locomotive, L&YR 752 (LMS 11456 but sold into colliery service 1937), is preserved by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Trust, having been acquired by the NCB for continued operation and as of October 2019 could move under its own steam despite overhaul being incomplete. This progressed at the East Lancashire Railway in Bury using primarily their resources in close cooperation with the current owners of 752. The locomotive featured on an episode of the television programme "Steam Train Britain" which showed the locomotive under re-build. Since January 2020 752 has temporarily carried the early British Railways livery as 51456 had it not been sold to industry, and featured in various events in steam before a full public relaunch in the East Lancashire Railway Gala event on March 6th to 8th 2020.

A sister locomotive, L&YR Class 25 no. 957, an 0-6-0 as built in original tender configuration, was also bought for preservation in 1959 and has been based at the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway since 1965.

## Technical Details:

The V2s were the only major class of 2-6-2 tender locomotives used in Britain. Whilst 2-6-2T tank locomotives were common in the UK, the only other 2-6-2 tender locomotives were the unsuccessful experimental Midland Railway Paget locomotive of 1908, and the two examples of Gresley's LNER Class V4 of 1941. The wheel arrangement allowed the fitting of a large firebox uninhibited by the rear driving wheel, and the front pony truck improved stability at high speeds.

The V2 was derived from the Class A1/A3 pacifics with smaller driving wheels (of 6 ft 2 in or 1.880 m compared to 6 ft 8 in or 2.032 m) and a shortened boiler. It retained Gresley's favoured 3-cylinder arrangement. Unusually all 3 cylinders were part of a single 'monobloc' casting.

184 locomotives were built in 14 batches between 1936 and 1944 at Doncaster and Darlington Works, construction continuing through the Second World War as they proved their usefulness. A further four locomotives, ordered as V2s, were redesigned by Gresley's successor Edward Thompson and completed as Pacifics (LNER Thompson Class A2/1).

The V2 was a versatile locomotive, capable of hauling fast fitted freights and express passenger trains. Their relatively heavy 22 ton axle load meant their use was restricted to around 40% of the LNER's route miles. For example, they were barred from all of the former Great Eastern Railway main lines. Gresley recognised that a lighter mixed-traffic locomotive was required, and the V4 class was designed to this end. However, it was to be the versatile LNER Thompson Class B1 4-6-0 which succeeded the V2 as the LNER's standard mixed traffic locomotive, although the B1 never matched the V2's power output.

First of the initial batch for five Doncaster-built V2s was number 4771, which emerged in June 1936 and was promptly named "Green Arrow", after the express freight service for which the locomotives had been built. Successful trials with this quintet led to both Doncaster and Darlington works producing further batches. The final locomotive, number 3695, was delivered from Darlington in July 1944.

The V2 had the free steaming qualities that the LNER's operating department required. Not only were they capable of working vacuum braked freights at up to 60 mph (97 km/h), they could deputise for Pacifics on express passenger schedules. In peak condition a V2 could almost match the Pacifics for sustained high speed running. One locomotive was reliably timed at 93 mph (150 km/h) on the Yorkshire Pullman while another attained 101.5 mph (163 km/h) on a test train.

The V2s were recognised as versatile and powerful locomotives by 1939, but their reputation was more firmly established by their remarkable feats of haulage during World War II. Trains of over 20 carriages loaded to 700 long tons (710 t) proved within their abilities. On at least one occasion a single V2 hauled 26 coaches from Peterborough to London. Given this capacity for work it was not surprising that construction was allowed to continue through the war years. The V2s performed equally competently for British Railways, leaving their mark on the East Coast Main Line, the Waverley Route between Carlisle and Edinburgh and on the ex-Great Central main line between London Marylebone and Sheffield.
60862 fitted with a double chimney
Significant modifications were made to the V2 class during its service life. In 1946 a series of derailments was traced to the design of the leading pony truck, which was unduly sensitive to the often poor track conditions, a legacy of heavy wartime use and lack of maintenance. Modifications to the suspension cured the problem. During the 1950s cracked monoblocs became increasingly frequent, but replacement was expensive and in 1956 the decision was taken to replace the monobloc with separate cylinder castings. Seventy-one engines were thus modified: they can be identified by the presence of external steam pipes from smokebox to cylinders. Finally, around 1960 experiments were made with fitting double chimneys to two V2s. This yielded no significant performance gain, but eight engines were subsequently fitted with Kylchap exhausts. These so-called 'Super V2s' were reckoned to be fully equal in performance to the larger Pacifics. However, plans to fit Kylchap chimneys to the remainder of the class were abandoned once it became clear that replacement with diesel locomotives was imminent.

The V2s' swansong came on the Edinburgh—Aberdeen run, working alongside the last LNER A2s and A4s. The entire class was withdrawn from service between 1962 and 1966.

## Technical Details:

The sixty-five engines of this class were all built by Derby Works using the type C boiler that had also been used on the previous class – the 1252 – and the class before that – the 6 class. The driving wheel diameter was reduced to 5 ft 3 1⁄2 in (1.613 m) from the 1252's 5 ft 6 1⁄2 in (1.689 m) – the 6 class had used 5 ft 3 in (1.600 m) drivers. The wheelbase was the same as the previous two classes, as was the cylinder bore and stroke at 17 in × 24 in (432 mm × 610 mm). All three classes had their cylinder bore increased to 18 in (457 mm).

All were in service at the 1907 renumbering, and all bar three passed to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway at the 1923 Grouping, the exceptions were two that had been withdrawn and a third No. 1305, that had been transferred to the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway in January 1921; it came into LMS stock when the S&DJR stock was absorbed in January 1930.

Withdrawals started in 1919, and fourteen locomotives were still in LMS stock at the end of 1947, to be inherited by British Railways.

No. 1307 was withdrawn in January 1948; in March the remaining thirteen (1272/73/75/78/90/95/98, 1303/15/22/24/30) were allocated the BR numbers 58039–58051, although five did not receive their BR numbers before their withdrawal. The last, 58051 was withdrawn in October 1956.

## Technical Details:

The 9400 class was the final development in a long lineage of tank locomotives that can be directly traced to the 645 Class of 1872. Over the decades details altered, the most significant being the adoption of Belpaire fireboxes necessitating pannier tanks.

The 9400 resembled a pannier tank version of the 2251 class, and indeed shared the same boiler and cylinders as the 2251, but was in fact a taper-boilered development of the 8750 subgroup of the 5700 class. The advantage was a useful increase in boiler power, but there was a significant weight penalty that restricted route availability. The 10 GWR-built locomotives had superheaters but the remainder did not.

The first ten 9400s were built by the Great Western and were the last steam engines built by the company. After the nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948, private contractors built another 200 for British Railways.

The 9400s were numbered 9400–9499, 8400–8499 and 3400–3409. BR gave them the power classification 4F.

The 9400 class were used on Paddington empty stock work right up to the end of steam on the Western Region of British Railways. A familiar sight at the buffer stops at departure side in 1964–1965 was a filthy 9400 class locomotive devoid of number plates simmering at the head of a rake of British Railways Mark 1 coaches.

Numbers 8400 to 8406 served as bank engines on the Lickey Incline after its transferral to the Western Region.

## Technical Details:

In many ways, the 2251s were modernised Dean Goods, sharing the main dimensions, but having more modern features such as taper boilers and full cabs. Increases in both boiler pressure and heating surface gave a useful increase in power at the expense of weight that restricted permitted routes. Numbers 2211–2230, built in 1940 did not have side windows. Designed by Charles Collett for medium freight and passenger duties they had 5 ft 2 in (1.575 m) driving wheels. Carrying a maximum of 3,000 imperial gallons (14,000 l; 3,600 US gal) of water to fuel a boiler operating at 200 psi (1.4 MPa) they developed 20,155 lbf (89.65 kN) of tractive effort. They could be found operating on most parts of the former GWR system. These were the first GWR 0-6-0 to use the standard number 10 boiler as later fitted to the 94xx, 15xx and various rebuilds of absorbed mainly Welsh locomotives.

They were withdrawn between 1958 and 1965.

## Physical information:

### Percival Wulfric Brian:

Percival Wulfric Brian is a GER Class L77/LNER N7

## Technical Details:

The N7s had superheaters and piston valves. They were unusual (for inside-cylinder locomotives) in having Walschaerts valve gear. They were, as London suburban locomotives, fitted with Westinghouse air brakes.

Some were fitted with condensing apparatus for working on the Metropolitan line and the East London Line but the condensing apparatus was removed between 1935 and 1938.