LMS Class 7F 0-8-0

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LMS 7F 0-8-0
Aintree Locomotive Depot LMS Fowler 0-8-0 geograph-2785843-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg
49592 at Aintree, June 1948.
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
BuilderLMS Crewe Works
Build date1929–1932
Total produced175
Specifications
Configuration:
   Whyte 0-8-0
   UIC D h2G
Gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
Driver dia.4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
Wheelbase Loco: 18 ft 3 in (5.56 m)
Length56 ft 1 in (17.09 m)
Loco weight60.75 long tons (61.72 t; 68.04 short tons)
Tender weight41.20 long tons (41.86 t; 46.14 short tons)
Total weight101.95 long tons (103.59 t; 114.18 short tons)
Fuel type Coal
Fuel capacity4 long tons (4.1 t; 4.5 short tons)
Water cap.3,500 imp gal (16,000 L; 4,200 US gal)
Firebox:
  Grate area23.5 sq ft (2.18 m2)
BoilerLMS type G7¾S
Boiler pressure200  lbf/in2 (1.38  MPa)
Heating surface:
  Firebox150 sq ft (14 m2)
  Tubes and flues1,434 sq ft (133.2 m2) later 1,402 sq ft (130.3 m2)
Superheater:
  Heating area353 sq ft (32.8 m2) to 338 sq ft (31.4 m2)
Cylinders Two
Cylinder size 19+12 in × 26 in (495 mm × 660 mm)
Valve gear Walschaerts, piston valves
Performance figures
Tractive effort 29,745 lbf (132.31 kN)
Career
Power class7F
Numbers
  • LMS: 9500–9674
  • BR: 49500–49674
Nicknames
  • Baby Austins
  • Austin Sevens
Withdrawn1949–1962
DispositionAll scrapped

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.

Contents

Overview

49560 with a typical freight duty in 1950 Mirfield eastbound empties geograph-2785124-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg
49560 with a typical freight duty in 1950

It featured a Belpaire firebox and increased boiler pressure over its predecessor but had the same power rating of 7F. Because the design had been done at the old Midland Railway's Derby Works, 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.

Numbering

NumberLot
Number
Date
built
Crewe Works
serial Nos.
LMSBR
9500–9949500–995719295872–5971
9600–0249600–027119306047–49
9603–1949603–197119316050–66
9620–3249620–328119311–13
96334963381193214
9634–3549634–3581193115–16
9636–5949636–5981193217–40
9660–7449660–7484193241–55

Equipment

Numbers 9672–74 were fitted with ACFI feedwater heaters when built but these were removed during the Second World War. After the war, five were briefly converted to oil burning.

British Railways

All members of the class entered British Railways ownership in 1948, but 122 had been withdrawn by the end of 1951; fifty were withdrawn without receiving their BR number. They had a fairly short life, and all were withdrawn and scrapped between 1949 and 1962, some time before the final G2s were withdrawn in 1964.

Accidents and incidents

Withdrawal

All engines were withdrawn between 1949 and 1962.

Table of withdrawals
YearQuantity in
service at
start of year
Quantity
withdrawn
Locomotive numbers
1949175619504/07/12/17–18/21–22/27–28/30/33–34/42/46/49–50/59/65/73/75–77/84/97/99,
9601/04/06/13–14/16/26/29/32–33/39/42/44–46/52/54/56/58/69–70,
49513/25–26/39/51–52/64/81/84, 49607/11/22/30/43/47.
1950114379514/29, 9619/21,
49500–01/16/19–20/31/35/37/41/43/53/56/61/67/69/74–75/79/83/96,
49605/09/15/28/34–36/41/49/51/53/55/65.
1951772449502/10/23/40/58/68/71/80/85/87/89–90/93–95,
49610/17/23/25/31/50/60/63/73.
195253649506/48/63/91, 49661/71.
195347449524, 49600/08/12.
195443249503, 49602.
195541349554/57/70.
195638649532/52, 49603/20/38/66.
1957321249536/38/45/47/55/60/66, 49648/57/59/64/72.
1958200
1959201149509/11/15/78/82/86/92/98, 49640/62/67.
19609449505/44, 49624/74.
19615449618/27/37/68.
19621149508.

References

  1. Hall, Stanley (1990). The Railway Detectives. London: Ian Allan. p. 99. ISBN   0-7110-1929-0.
  2. Earnshaw, Alan (1990). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 6. Penryn: Atlantic Books. p. 28. ISBN   0-906899-37-0.