The Locomotives of the Midland Railway, followed its small engine policy. The policy was later adopted by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, and contrasted with the London and North Western Railway's policy. The small engine policy was partly the consequence of a difference in the background of senior managers. In most railway companies, the elite position was the design, construction and maintenance of locomotives. Bigger engines brought more prestige and allowed longer trains. In the Midland, the marketing department was paramount. They recognised that people wanted more frequent, shorter trains rather than an infrequent service. It concentrated on very light, very fast and frequent trains.
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway had the largest stock of steam locomotives of any of the 'Big Four' Grouping, i.e. pre-Nationalisation railway companies in the UK. Despite early troubles arising from factions within the new company, the LMS went on to build some very successful designs; many lasted until the end of steam traction on British Railways in 1968. For an explanation of numbering and classification, see British Rail locomotive and multiple unit numbering and classification.
The steam locomotives of British Railways were used by British Railways over the period 1948–1968. The vast majority of these were inherited from its four constituent companies, the "Big Four".
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) produced several classes of locomotive, mostly to the designs of Nigel Gresley, characterised by a three-cylinder layout with a parallel boiler and round-topped firebox. It produced the most famous locomotive of its day, 4468 'Mallard', the holder of the world steam locomotive speed record. It also built the world-famous 4472 'Flying Scotsman'. However, its locomotive inheritance was much greater than just the 'A4 Class', it also produced highly successful mixed-traffic and freight designs.
The Caledonian Railway 300 Class were freight 0-6-0 tender engines introduced in 1918 and designed by William Pickersgill. Forty-three were built between 1918 and 1920. They were numbered 294–324, 280, 281, 670–679 by the Caledonian Railway.
A number of different numbering and classification schemes were used for the locomotives owned by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and its constituent companies.
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Webb Coal Tank is a class of 0-6-2T steam locomotive. They were called "Coal Tanks" because they were a side tank version of Webb's standard LNWR 17in Coal Engine, an 0-6-0 tender engine for slow freight trains.
The Midland Railway 115 Class was the third of four classes of 4-2-2 steam locomotive, nicknamed "Spinners", designed by Samuel Waite Johnson. A total of 15 of the class were built between 1896 and 1899. They were capable of reaching speeds of up to 90 miles per hour (145 km/h). One engine, No. 673, is preserved in the National Collection.
The Caledonian Railway 72 Class was a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives introduced by William Pickersgill for the Caledonian Railway (CR) in 1920. Thirty-two locomotives were built and all survived to be taken over by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923 and by British Railways (BR) in 1948. The earlier 113 Class, of which 16 were produced, were similar but slightly smaller. These were the Caledonian's last express passenger locomotives, and technically, the last of the Dunalastair series, and were unofficially dubbed, Dunalastair V.
The Furness Railway Company owned many different types of locomotives, built by several locomotive building companies, including Sharp, Stewart and Company. Others were built by the Furness' constituent companies - the Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway, among others.
The NCC Class WT is a class of 2-6-4T steam locomotives built by the Northern Counties Committee's parent company, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway for service in Northern Ireland.
The LMS (Northern Counties Committee)Class A1 4-4-0 passenger steam locomotives were rebuilds of Belfast and Northern Counties Railway Class A two-cylinder compound locomotives. They operated services throughout the NCC’s 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) broad gauge system in the north-east of Ireland.
The Furness Railway 120 class or "Seagulls", were a class of four 4-4-0 steam locomotives designed by W. F. Pettigrew and built by Sharp, Stewart and Company of Glasgow for the Furness Railway in 1890.
The Caledonian Railway 721 Class was a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives designed by John F. McIntosh for the Caledonian Railway (CR) and introduced in 1896. Taking their name from the estate in Perthshire owned by the Caledonian’s then deputy chairman, J.C.Bunten, all survived to be absorbed by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923 and a few survived into British Railways (BR) ownership in 1948.
The NER Class R1 was a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives of the North Eastern Railway. The class was designed by Wilson Worsdell and built from 1908 to 1909.
South African steam locomotive tenders were classified by means of type letters and sometimes numbers, while locomotive specifications included a list of permissible tenders which could be used with each engine class.
The South African type XF tender was a steam locomotive tender from the pre-Union era in Transvaal.
The Glasgow and South Western Railway 540 Class were 4-6-4T steam tank locomotives designed by Robert Whitelegg and built in 1922, shortly before the G&SWR was absorbed into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). They were referred to in official G&SWR publicity as the Baltic Class, although they were also known more prosaically to enginemen as the 'Big Pugs'.
The NER Class Z was an Atlantic class of locomotives designed by Vincent Raven. It was introduced in 1911.
