- Named LNWR "Prince of Wales" Class locomotives
-
Throughout its history the London and North Western Railway adopted a policy of reusing the numbers and names of withdrawn locomotives for new engines as they came out of Crewe Works. This resulted in each class of engines having entirely random numbers and a collection of names that defies logical analysis.
However, by 1911 new locomotives were being produced at a much faster rate than old ones were being scrapped and a new set of names was required for Bowen Cooke’s new 4-6-0 express engines which were beginning to enter service.
By a happy chance Prince Edward, the future King Edward VIII, was invested as Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle on 13 July 1911 and this gave the company the opportunity to name the first of the locomotives, and therefore the whole class, in honour of the new Prince.
A further nine engines were produced during 1911 and, in keeping with the patriotic sentiments of the time, they were given names associated with ships of the Royal Navy.
With the production of the second batch of locomotives in 1913 and early 1914 it was decided to commemorate major literary figures of the 18th and 19th centuries. The 30 locomotives included British, Continental and American poets and novelists. The arbitrary nature of those chosen to be honoured clearly illustrates literary merit as judged by a committee of railway engineers. The only exception was the final engine of the batch which was named G.P. Neale in honour of the former LNWR Superintendent of the Line, who had retired in 1895.
The outbreak of World War I was reflected in the names of the ten engines produced in 1915, recognizing the leaders of Britain’s allies or individuals who had played a significant part in the war effort.
By the beginning of 1916 sufficient engines had been withdrawn to enable the use of historical LNWR names, however in March and April of that year the war was again reflected in three locomotives remembering the ill-fated campaign in the Dardanelles and seven commemorating maritime losses of 1915 and 1916.
No further locomotives entered service until January 1919, by which time a decision had been taken not to allocate names until matters had returned to normal after the war. It was not until 1922 that another twelve engines were given names taken from former LNWR engines.
During 1921 and 1922 a further 90 locomotives were built by William Beardmore and Company at Dalmuir. None of these was ever named.
The absorption of the LNWR into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway on 1 January 1923 saw many significant policy changes, none more so than the Rolling Stock Committee Minute 53 issued from Derby on 31 May 1923 which announced that in conformity with former Midland Railway practices
‘‘Passenger engines and coaching stock to be painted in old Midland crimson lake, goods engines to be black without lining – new engines not to be named but those with names will continued to do so.’’
It must have been a source of great satisfaction in Crewe that one of the last locomotives to be named was No. 5753 Premier, a clear reference to the LNWR slogan of being “the Premier Line”, and one final defiant gesture aimed at the new management in Derby.
The LMS renumber all of the Prince of Wales in sequence from 5600 to 5844, but unfortunately not in exactly the same order that the locomotives had been built. A final locomotive was built by Beardmore in February 1924, which was displayed at the British Empire Exhibition that year; the LMS bought it in November 1924, and numbered it 5845. It was withdrawn in November 1947.
LNWR Number LMS Number Name Entered Service Withdrawn Notes 819 5600 Prince of Wales October 1911 October 1933 1388 5601 Andromeda October 1911 March 1935 1452 5602 Bonaventure October 1911 June 1937 1454 5603 Coquette November 1911 January 1935 1537 5604 Enchantress November 1911 October 1934 1691 5605 Pathfinder November 1911 November 1934 1704 5606 Conqueror November 1911 October 1933 1721 5607 Defiance November 1911 December 1934 2021 5608 Wolverine December 1911 February 1935 2359 5609 Hermione December 1911 October 1933 362 5610 Robert Southey October 1913 October 1933 892 5611 Charles Wolfe October 1913 June 1935 1081 5612 John Keats October 1913 January 1936 1089 5613 Sydney Smith October 1913 February 1935 1134 5614 Victor Hugo October 1913 December 1934 2040 5615 Oliver Goldsmith November 1913 March 1935 2075 5616 Robert Burns November 1913 November 1934 321 5617 Henry W. Longfellow November 1913 January 1935 479 5618 Thomas B. Macaulay December 1913 February 1935 951 5619 Bulwer Lytton December 1913 August 1934 2198 5620 John Ruskin November 1913 March 1936 2205 5621 Thomas Moore November 1913 August 1934 2213 5622 Charles Kingsley November 1913 October 1933 1679 5623 Lord Byron December 1913 May 1935 2249 5624 Thomas Campbell December 1913 March 1937 2283 5625 Robert L. Stevenson December 1913 December 1936 86 5626 Mark Twain January 1914 May 1936 146 5627 Lewis Carroll January 1914 July 1936 307 5628 R. B. Sheridan December 1913 November 1934 637 5629 Thomas Gray December 1913 December 1934 979 5630 W. M. Thackeray January 1914 September 1934 1400 5631 Felicia Hemans January 1914 June 1936 964 5632 Bret Harte February 1914 September 1933 985 5633 Sir W. S. Gilbert February 1914 August 1935 1321 5634 William Cowper February 1914 September 1934 2152 5635 Charles Lamb February 1914 March 1934 2293 5636 Percy Bysshe Shelley February 1914 January 1935 2377 5637 Edward Gibbon February 1914 December 1936 2443 5638 Charles James Lever March 1914 April 1936 2520 5639 G. P. Neale March 1914 October 1933 27 5640 General Joffre October 1915 February 1937 88 5641 Czar of Russia October 1915 September 1936 122 5642 King of the Belgians November 1915 March 1936 160 5643 King of Serbia November 1915 October 1934 185 5644 King of Italy November 1915 March 1936 877 5645 Raymond Poincaré November 1915 June 1936 1333 5646 Sir John French November 1915 December 1934 2275 5647 Edith Cavell November 1915 January 1935 2396 5648 Queen of the Belgians December 1915 October 1948 2408 5649 Admiral Jellicoe December 1915 October 1933 606 5650 Castor January 1916 April 1936 745 5651 Pluto January 1916 July 1934 810 5652 Onyx January 1916 September 1933 352 5653 The Nile January 1916 October 1935 379 5654 Witch January 1916 March 1935 484 5655 Smeaton January 1916 December 1934 884 5656 Shark January 1916 August 1938 346 5657 Trent January 1916 April 1936 417 5658 Atlas January 1916 October 1935 442 5659 Odin February 1916 March 1935 90 5660 Kestrel December 1915 August 1936 Built by the North British Locomotive Co. 95 5661 Gallipoli March 1916 February 1935 126 5662 Anzac March 1916 August 1936 136 5663 Minerva October 1915 January 1935 Built by the North British Locomotive Co. 173 5664 Livingstone October 1915 February 1935 Built by the North British Locomotive Co. 233 5665 Suvla Bay March 1916 April 1936 257 5666 Plynlimmon November 1915 September 1934 Built by the North British Locomotive Co. 401 5667 Zamiel December 1915 November 1934 Built by the North British Locomotive Co. 446 5668 Pegasus November 1915 August 1935 Built by the North British Locomotive Co. 525 5669 Vulcan December 1915 April 1937 Built by the North British Locomotive Co. 610 5670 Albion December 1915 October 1935 Built by the North British Locomotive Co. 849 5671 Arethusa March 1916 December 1936 867 5672 Condor January 1916 December 1936 Built by the North British Locomotive Co. 1100 5673 Lusitania March 1916 January 1949 1132 5674 Scott January 1916 February 1946 Built by the North British Locomotive Co. 1466 5675 Sphinx January 1916 August 1936 Built by the North British Locomotive Co. 1744 5676 Petrel January 1916 April 1935 Built by the North British Locomotive Co. 1749 5677 Precedent November 1915 January 1935 Built by the North British Locomotive Co. 2055 5678 Milton January 1916 April 1935 Built by the North British Locomotive Co. 2063 5679 Hibernia November 1915 May 1935 Built by the North British Locomotive Co. 2175 5680 Loadstone November 1915 June 1937 Built by the North British Locomotive Co. 2203 5681 Falstaff November 1915 June 1935 Built by the North British Locomotive Co. 2339 5682 Samson January 1916 April 1935 Built by the North British Locomotive Co. 1324 5683 Falaba April 1916 January 1946 2092 5684 Arabic April 1916 March 1936 2276 5685 Persia April 1916 August 1936 2295 5686 Anglia April 1916 November 1934 2300 5687 Hotspur December 1915 September 1934 Built by the North British Locomotive Co. 2340 5688 Tara April 1916 September 1933 2392 5689 Caliban December 1915 September 1936 Built by the North British Locomotive Co. 940 5697 Richard Cobden January 1919 July 1936 621 5700 Telford February 1919 March 1936 1584 5704 Scotia March 1919 September 1936 504 5706 Canning March 1919 December 1936 974 5707 Hampden March 1919 April 1935 522 5723 Stentor June 1919 January 1936 1290 5729 Lucknow July 1919 February 1935 1325 5736 Disraeli August 1919 June 1935 1178 5743 Prince Albert September 1919 September 1934 1542 5750 Marathon November 1919 March 1936 1694 5753 Premier November 1919 February 1936 2516 5754 Dalton November 1919 May 1935 References
- LNWR Locomotives 1912 -1949 by Willie B. Yeadon. ISBN 978-1-901945-90-4
- LMS Locomotive Names by Rev. John Goodman. The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society. ISBN 0901115797
- The LNWR Precursor Family by O. S. Nock. David and Charles (Publishers) Ltd. 1966
- Premier Line by O. S. Nock Ian Allen Ltd. 1952
Categories:- London and North Western Railway locomotives
- 4-6-0 locomotives
- Railway locomotives introduced in 1911
- British railway-related lists
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
