The War Department (WD) "Austerity" 2-8-0 is a type of heavy freight steam locomotive that was introduced in 1943 for war service. A total of 935 were built, making this one of the most-produced classes of British steam locomotive. They were nicknamed Ozzies by the railwaymen.[1]
The Austerity 2-8-0 was based on the LMS Stanier Class 8F, which until that point had been the government's standard design. The 8F was reliable and powerful and had proved to have the performance required. But it had been originally designed and built for main-line heavy and express freight service on UK railways. It was intensive in labour, materials and time to construct in large quantities. At a time when both manpower and key materials were in short supply in the UK, an 8F required 33,000 man-hours to build and each locomotive included 17 tons of steel castings and 16 tons of steel forgings[2] - capacity for both the material itself and the production capacity to make these components was in strong demand for armaments production. In hotter, dustier regions with poor-quality water, fuels and lubricants than the 8F had been intended for, some specific mechanical shortcomings had also been identified.[3]
Robert Riddles, then engaged as Deputy Director General of Equipment for the Royal Engineers, was tasked with adapting the 8F to wartime conditions of both construction and service. He was assisted by Thomas Coleman, Chief Locomotive Draughtsman of the LMS, and from design offices of several private locomotive building companies. His goal was to reduce the time, man-hours and strategic materials needed to produce a locomotive with the same performance and capabilities as the 8F, and which would be operationally interchangeable with the LMS engine.
The firebox was steel rather than copper. This would give the boiler a shorter service life at a large reduction in initial financial and material cost, and was easier to repair in remote regions.
All the 8F's steel castings were replaced by fabricated steel plate or cast iron. Some of the steel forgings were similarly replaced.
Cast iron wheels in place of steel wheel centres. The leading wheels were solid rather spoked. The driving wheels were not secondary-balanced, as the 8Fs were. This saved production time but limited the WD version to 40mph or so before the ride quality and stability deteriorated excessively.
The cylinder casting and minor fittings were modified for ease of production and to accommodate other design changes.
The 8F crosshead with bars above and below the piston rod was replaced with a marine-type design with parallel bars above the piston rod. This was to eliminate the issue of dust and dirt collecting of the lower bar and damaging the crosshead.
The cab and footplate design was simplified. Most notably, the cab side windows of the 8F, with one fixed and one siding glazed panel, were replaced by open apertures with solid sliding panels for weather protection. All curved and non-horizontal elements on the footplate were removed.
The 8F's three-axle tender was replaced by one with four axles for better weight distribution and stability on light and unevenly-laid track and to better suit running long distances at service speeds in reverse. The tender itself was of simplified design, with welded right-angle sheet steel. The coal bunker was inset from the sides to improve visibility when running tender-first.
Where existing 8F parts were carried over, new production methods were developed to reduce the time and manpower involved.
As well as significant savings in key strategic materials, the WD 2-8-0 design required 6000 fewer man-hours to construct than the original LMS 8F - a saving of roughly 20 per cent.[4]
Other considerations were included in the WD design, such as the boiler being able to be converted between coal and oil fuel without having to lift the boiler from the frames.
WD nos. 800–879 were ordered as LMS Class 8F. No. 9312, the last one built, was named Vulcan when new. NBL builder's plates were not all in correct sequence, and were mixed up between the two works as well as between batches. All locomotives had their WD numbers increased by 70000 prior to shipping to mainland Europe; those completed after 5 September 1944 carried their 70000 series numbers from new. All but three (WD nos. 77223, 77369 and 79250) saw service with the British Army in mainland Europe after D-Day.[5][6]
Post-war disposal
After the end of the conflict, the War Department disposed of 930 locomotives (two engines being retained by the War Department and three being scrapped).
200 were sold to the LNER, which classified them as "Class O7" and numbered them 3000–3199. In 1948, 533 more were purchased by the British Transport Commission.[7]
With the formation of British Railways, the 733 locomotives were renumbered into the 90000–90732 series. Only one of those, No. 90732, was named, becoming Vulcan, after the Vulcan Foundry where many of the locomotives were built.
In 1946, 12 were exported to the British colony of Hong Kong to work the Kowloon–Canton Railway. Six were scrapped in 1956, but the final two survived until September 1962.
The other 184 locomotives remained in mainland Europe, mostly working in and around the Netherlands for Nederlandse Spoorwegen.
Soham rail disaster: On 2 June 1944, WD locomotive No. 7337 was hauling a freight train which caught fire as it approached Soham, Cambridgeshire. The train consisted of 51 wagons carrying bombs. The train was divided behind the burning wagon, with the front portion being taken forward with the intention of isolating the wagon in open countryside. Its cargo detonated at Soham station, killing the fireman and the Soham signalman and injuring the train's driver and guard. Soham station was severely damaged, but the line was re-opened within eighteen hours. For their actions, Benjamin Gimbert and James Nightall were awarded George Crosses.[8]
On 16 August 1945, WD locomotives 77125 and 77238 were involved in a head-on collision near Kleve, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany. Both locomotives were scrapped.[9]
On 6 November 1945, NS 4485 (ex WD 77183) was seriously damaged after a head-on collision between a single locomotive (no pilot and driver refused to wait) coming from Kleve and SL66 coming from Groesbeek near Kranenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany. The locomotive was sent for repairs to the workshop in Mechelen (B) but, on September 26, 1946 it was sent to Roosendaal (NL) and written off there on 15 January 1947.[9]
On 26 January 1945, NS 4504 (ex WD 78693) was seriously damaged after a head-on collision between RF39 and train 4505 on the single track railway bridge in Ravenstein. The locomotive was sent for repairs at the workshop in Mechelen (B) but, on September 26, 1946, was eventually sent to Roosendaal (NL) and written off there on 15 January 1947.
On 17 September 1950, WD locomotive No. 77195 ran away from Neville Hill Locomotive Shed, Leeds, Yorkshire and subsequently crashed through buffers at Marsh Lane Goods Yard, Leeds.[10]
On 2 December 1953, locomotive No. 90048 ran off the end of the loop at Billingham, County Durham whilst hauling a train. An express freight train ran into the wreckage and was derailed.[11]
One WD 2-8-0 is preserved. Vulcan Foundry works No. 5200 was repatriated from Sweden to the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. It was SJClass G11 number 1931. It was overhauled to its original condition, finished in 2007, which involved building a new cab and tender, to become BR "No. 90733". After test runs, 90733 ran its first passenger train on Monday 23 July 2007.[12][13][14]
↑ "W.D Austerity 2-8-0 90733 launch". Hawthorne Village. Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. 6 December 2023. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007.
Boddy, M. G.; Brown, W. A.; Neve, E.; Yeadon, W. B. (November 1983). Fry, E. V. (ed.). Locomotives of the L.N.E.R., Part 6B: Tender Engines—Classes O1 to P2. Kenilworth: RCTS. ISBN0-901115-54-1.
Rowledge, J.W.P. Heavy Goods Engines of the War Department Vol. 3 Austerity 2-8-0 and 2-10-0
Tourret, R. (1995). Allied Military Locomotives of the Second World War. Abingdon, Oxon: Tourret Publishing. ISBN0-905878-06-X.
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