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 British Railways Standard Class 4 tank is a class of steam locomotive, one of the BR standard classes built during the 1950s. They were used primarily on commuter and outer suburban services. They were capable of reaching speeds of 75 mph (121 km/h).
The British Railways standard class 2 2-6-2T was a class of steam locomotive, one of the standard classes of the 1950s.
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) pioneered the use of diesel shunting locomotives in Great Britain. The variety of experimental and production diesel shunters produced by the LMS is summarised below.
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; this page explains the principal systems that were used.
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 (MR) 2441 Class was a class of steam locomotive. They were introduced by Samuel Johnson in 1899, originally with round-topped fireboxes. Henry Fowler later rebuilt them with Belpaire fireboxes. They were given the power classification 3F. The LMS Fowler Class 3F of 1924 was based on this design.
The Midland Railway 1377 Class was a class of 185 0-6-0T tank locomotives. They were introduced in 1878 by Samuel W. Johnson, and were almost identical to the 1102 class of 1874; the latter having fully enclosed cabs, while the 1377 class were built without a rear to the cab and only a short cab roof, hence their nickname "half-cabs". They were given the power classification 1F.
The LNWR 380 Class was a class of 0-8-4T steam tank locomotives designed by H. P. M. Beames. Although designed under the LNWR regime they appeared as LMS locomotives after the 1923 grouping. They were essentially an extended version of the 1185 Class 0-8-2T with a longer bunker, and were also related to the 0-8-0 freight engines. Their main area of work was to be in South Wales.
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Prince of Wales Class was a class of express passenger locomotive. It was in effect, a superheated version of the Experiment Class 4-6-0.
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) George the Fifth Class was a class of 4-4-0 passenger steam locomotive.
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Experiment Class was a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive designed by George Whale.
The Midland Railway (MR) 1322 Class was a class of small 0-4-0ST steam locomotives designed for shunting. The next class of shunting engines built by the Midland was the 1116A Class, which was nearly identical.
The North London Railway crane tank was an 0-4-2ST steam locomotive crane tank type. Originally built in 1858 as an 0-4-0ST by Sharp Stewart and Company for the North and South Western Junction Railway. It was quickly passed to the North London Railway (NLR) who numbered it 37; they renumbered it 29 in 1861 before placing it on the duplicate lst as 29A in 1872. The same year it was rebuilt into an 0-4-2ST with a steam crane carried by the trailing truck. It was subsequently inherited by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) in January 1922, who allocated it the number 2896; and then in turn the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in January 1923. They allocated it the number 7217, but it was June 1926 before it was applied. The LMS placed it on the duplicate list as 27217 in February 1935 before it finally passed to British Railways in 1948. It was allocated the BR number 58865, and renumbered in March 1949. It was the oldest locomotive to be inherited by BR. When finally withdrawn in 1951, it was the oldest surviving standard gauge engine in service with British Railways. It was scrapped at Derby Works in February 1951.
The LTSR 37 class was a class of 4-4-2T suburban tank engines built for the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway in 1897–98. They were designed by Thomas Whitelegg as a development of the earlier LT&SR 1 Class.
The G&SWR 45 Class were 0-6-2T steam locomotives designed by Peter Drummond for the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) of which 18 were built in 1915-1917, followed by a further 10 of a slightly modified design in 1919 after Robert Whitelegg took over as Chief Mechanical Engineer.
The Midland Railway 1532 class was a class of 65 0-4-4T locomotives built by Derby Works between 1881 and 1886 to the design of Samuel W. Johnson. They were a development of the 1252 class. Originally numbered 1532–1551, 1632–1656, and 1718–1737; under the 1907 renumbering scheme they became 1266–1330, and were given the power classification 1P.
The LNWR 5ft 6in Tank was a class of 160 passenger 2-4-2T locomotives manufactured by the London and North Western Railway in their Crewe Works between 1890 and 1897. The "5ft 6in" in the title referred to the diameter of the driving wheels – although the stated dimension was for the wheel centres – the nominal diameter including the tyres was 5 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,740 mm).
