- Locomotives of the Midland Railway
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The Midland Railway's locomotives (which it always referred to as engines), 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. It was, perhaps, carried on too long, giving rise to the derisive poem:
- M is for Midland with engines galore
- Two on each train and asking for more
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 Midland was blessed, in that George Stephenson had built its main lines with very shallow gradients. The LNWR had to cope with the hilly country north of Manchester. The Midland had also found it more efficient to use smaller, less fuel hungry locos, simply adding pilots or banking engines as necessary.
The small engine policy served the Midland well when its network was confined to the English Midlands, which is largely free of steep gradients. As the company expanded into other parts of Britain the policy's downsides began to cause problems. The company's own main line to Scotland (the Settle-Carlisle Line) and the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (where the Midland was responsible for providing locomotives) were renowned for their steep gradients and the company's locomotive stock proved badly suited to the task. Nonetheless the small engine policy remained and double-heading or banking was used to make up for the shortfall in power. This indirectly caused two accidents on the Settle-Carlisle Line (at Hawes Junction and Ais Gill) where trains stalled due to insufficient power, even from multiple locomotives. The policy also greatly reduced capacity on the Midland's network as not only were there more (but smaller) trains than there would have been on another railway but further capacity was taken up by the need to accommodate light engines that had been used for piloting or banking duties that were returning to their depots.
The small engine policy remained in place into the 1920s and remained an influence during the early years of the Midland's successor the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, its Chief Mechanical Engineer for most of the 1920s being Henry Fowler, a long-standing Midland engineer and former CME of that company.
Contents
Numbering and classification
Before 1907 numbering was somewhat erratic. New locomotives might take the numbers of old engines, which were placed on the duplicate list and had an A suffix added to their numbers. In 1907 the whole stock were renumbered in a systematic way, each class in a consecutive sequence, classes being ordered by type (passenger/tank/goods), power and age. After the grouping this system was adapted for the whole LMS
The Midland classified their stock into three classes numbered 1 to 3 with 1 the least powerful and three the most. Stock were also split into passenger and freight engines. Just before grouping class 4 was introduced. This system formed the basis for the subsequent LMS and BR classification systems.
Engines inherited from constituent companies
Midland formed in 1844 from the Midland Counties Railway, the North Midland Railway and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway, and took over a number of others including the Leicester and Swannington Railway and the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway. See
- Midland Counties Railway Locomotives
- North Midland Railway Locomotives
- Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway Locomotives
Engines built by the Midland
Initially, the Midland concentrated on maintaining and improving the somewhat varied fleet that it had inherited, with the assistance of The Railway Foundry in Leeds. In addition it bought in twenty four of their Jenny Lind locomotives.
MR class Wheel
arrangementPre-1907 Fleet
number(s)Post-1907 Fleet
number(s)Manufacturer
Serial number(s)Year
madeQuantity
madeQuantity
preservedYear(s)
withdrawnComments Matthew Kirtley (1844–1873) 156 class 2-4-0 1–22 Derby Works 1866–1874 29 1 800 class 2-4-0 800–829,
(various)35–62,
63–67Neilson & Co. (30)
Derby Works (18)1870–71 48 0 1905–1936 480 class 0-6-0 2398–2591, 2672–2673. 1863–1868 224 0 700 class 0-6-0 2592–2711, 2713–2867 1869–1874 328 0 890 class 2-4-0 890–909
(various)68–87,
88–126Neilson & Co. (20),
Derby Works (42)1871–1875 62 0 Samuel W. Johnson (1873–1903) 1070 class 2-4-0 1070–1089
(various)127–146,
147–156Sharp Stewart (20),
Derby Works (10)1874–1876 30 0 1808 class 4-4-0 1808–1822, 80–87, 11, 14 378–402 Derby Works 1888–1891 25 0 1922–1952 see also M&GN Class C 2581 class 4-4-0 2581–2590 473–482 Beyer, Peacock & Co.
4153–41621900 10 0 1914–1927 see also M&GN Class C 179 class 4-2-2 179–183, 75–77, 79, 88 660–669 Derby Works 1893, 1896 10 0 115 class 4-2-2 115–121, 123–128, 130–131 670–684 Derby Works 1896–1899 15 1 ?–1928 1000 class 4-4-0 2631–2635 1000–1004 Derby Works 1902–03 5 0 .. 483 class 4-4-0 .. .. ... .. .. 0 .. 1322 class 0-4-0ST 1322–1326, 202, 1428–1430, 1697 1500–1507 Derby Works 1883, 1889–1890 10 0 ?–1949 1116A class 0-4-0ST 1116A–1120A,
2359–2360,
1131A–1133A1508–1512 Derby Works 1893, 1897 10 0 .. 1252 class 0-4-4T 1262–1281
1252–12611236–1265 Neilson & Co. 1875–1876 30 0 1377 class 0-6-0T .. 1660–1844 Derby Works (165),
Vulcan Foundry (20)1878–1891 185 1 1928–1965 1738 class 4-4-0 .. .. ... .. .. 0 .. 2228 class 0-4-4T .. .. ... .. .. 0 .. 2441 class 0-6-0T 2441–2460
2741–27801900–1959 Vulcan Foundry 1899–1902 60 0 1954–1967 later LMS 7200–7259 Class 2 & 3 goods 0-6-0 .. .. ... .. .. 0 .. 2501 class 2-6-0 2501–2510
2521–25402200–2229 Baldwin Locomotive Works 1899 30 0 .. 2511 class 2-6-0 2511–2520 2230–2239 Schenectady Locomotive Works 1899 10 0 .. Richard Deeley (1903–1909) 990 class 4-4-0 — 990–999 Derby Works 1908–1909 10 0 1925–1928 1000 class 4-4-0 1000–1029 1005–1044 Derby Works 1905–1909 40 1 .. 1528 class 0-4-0T — 1528–1537 Derby Works 1907, 1921–1922 10 0 .. 2000 class 0-6-4T — 2000–2039 Derby Works 1907 40 0 1935–1938 Paget locomotive 2-6-2 — 2299 Derby Works 1908 1 0 1912 Henry Fowler (1909–1922) Class 2F 0-6-0 — .. ... .. .. 0 .. Class 2P 4-4-0 — .. ... .. .. 0 .. 3835 class 0-6-0 — 3585–4026 ... 1911–1922 192 1 .. plus S&DJR 67–71 Lickey Banker 0-10-0 — 2290 Derby Works 1919 1 0 1956 Ex- LT&SR (1912-1922)
Main article: Locomotives of the London, Tilbury and Southend RailwayIn 1912 the Midland bought the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway, but this continued to be operated more or less separately. The Midland, and the LMS subsequently built some LT&SR designs.
Liveries
Prior to 1883 painted green. After 1883 the Midland adopted its distinctive crimson lake livery for passenger engines.
Influence on LMS locomotive policy
The LMS continued the Midland's small engine policy until William Stanier arrived in 1933. The last new Midland design was Stanier 0-4-4T of 1932/3 but some Fowler 4Fs were constructed as late as 1940.
Preservation
Five original Midland locomotives have survived, these being:
- 156 Class 2-4-0 No. 158A. (LMS 20002)
- 115 Class "Spinner" 4-2-2 No. 673
- 1000 Class "Compound" No. (4)1000
- 1377 Class "Johnson half-cab" No. (4)1708
- 3835 Class Class 4F No. (4)3924
In addition, there are 13 engines of two classes built by the LMS to essentially Midland designs:
- 4F 0-6-0 Nos (4)4027 (4)4123 and (4)4422
- 3F 0-6-0T Nos 16576/(4)7493, (4)7279 (4)7324, (4)7327, (4)7357, (4)7383 (4)7406 (4)7445 (4)7564 and (4)7298
And two engines built by the Midland for the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway:
- S&DJR 7F 2-8-0 Nos 88 and 89 (later 9678/9, 13808/9, 53808/9).
Also, one ex-LT&SR engine which passed through Midland ownership:
- LT&SR 79 Class No. 80 Thundersley
Further, there are several more engines to later non-Midland designs built at Derby which have survived.
Further reading
The main works on Midland engines are given by two four volume histories, as follows:
- Bob Essery and David Jenkinson An Illustrated Review of Midland Locomotives from 1883 (Didcot, Oxon: Wild Swan Publications)
- Vol. 1 – A general survey ISBN 0-906867-27-4
- Vol. 2 – Passenger tender classes (1988) ISBN 0-906867-59-2
- Vol. 3 – Tank engines ISBN 0-906867-66-5
- Vol. 4 – Goods tender classes (1989) ISBN 0-906867-74-6
- Stephen Summerson Midland Railway Locomotives – Irwell Press
- Vol. 1 – A comprehensive primary account, general survey 1844–1922, growth and development, boilers, tenders, fittings and details. ISBN 1903266106
- Vol. 2 – The Kirtley classes. ISBN 1903266858
- Vol. 3 – Johnson classes part 1 : the slim boiler passenger tender engines, passenger and goods tank engines. ISBN 1903266262
- Vol. 4 – Johnson classes part 2 : the goods and later passenger tender engines, Deeley, Fowler and LTSR classes. ISBN 1903266556
Also useful is:
- Bob Essery and David Jenkinson LMS Locomotives Vol. 4 Absorbed pre-group Classes Midland Division
External links
Categories:- British railway-related lists
- Midland Railway locomotives
- Midland Railway
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