The Caledonian Railway 944 Class were 4-6-2T passenger tank locomotives designed by William Pickersgill and built in 1917, at the North British Locomotive Company's Hyde Park Works in Glasgow. They were the Caledonian Railway's only Pacific-type.
Overview Although the Caledonian Railway built a long and successful series of small 0-4-4T passenger tank engines, the twelve locomotives of the 944 Class were the only large passenger tanks operated by the company. They shared much of their design with the contemporary 60 Class 4-6-0s.Essery, Bob & Jenkinson, David (1986), An Illustrated History of L.M.S. Locomotives, Volume Three: Absorbed Pre-Group Classes, Northern Division, OPC, p.61 They were originally used on the Inverclyde Line and so gained the nickname 'Wemyss Bay Pugs' amongst enginemen.
The locomotives passed into the ownership of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) upon its formation in 1923, and were repainted from Caledonian blue into LMS crimson lake livery, although within a few years this gave way to lined black livery. They were later displaced from the Inverclyde line by LMS Fowler and Fairburn 2-6-4Ts and by the time of nationalisation in 1948, the surviving locomotives were all allocated to Beattock shed, primarily for banking duties on Beattock Summit. They were all withdrawn and scrapped between 1946 and 1953.
Numbering and locomotive histories CR no.LMS no.BR no.Builder's no.DeliveredWithdrawn 944 15350 55350 NBL 21480 03/1917 04/1952 945 15351 (55351) NBL 21481 03/1917 12/1948 946 15352 55352 NBL 21482 01/1917 03/1952 947 15353 55353 NBL 21483 01/1917 08/1951 948 15354 55354 NBL 21484 01/1917 08/1949 949 15355 (55355) NBL 21485 01/1917 01/1948 950 15356 55356 NBL 21486 01/1917 06/1950 951 15357 NBL 21487 01/1917 07/1946 952 15358 NBL 21488 04/1917 05/1946 953 15359 55359 NBL 21489 04/1917 10/1953 954 15360 55360 NBL 21490 05/1917 02/1952 955 15361 55361 NBL 21491 05/1917 06/1952 sources: BritishSteam, Longworth (2005) p167 Longworth, Hugh (2005), British Railways Steam Locomotives 1948-1968, Oxford Publishing Co., p.167
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