Locomotives of the London and North Western Railway

Locomotives of the London and North Western Railway. The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Locomotive Department was headquartered at Crewe from 1862. The Crewe Works had been built in 1840–43 by the Grand Junction Railway (GJR).

Locomotives inherited from constituent companies

The LNWR was formed in 1846 with the merger of the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway (M&BR).

The GJR and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (LMR) initially had their workshops at Edge Hill. The London and Birmingham workshops were at Wolverton. The Grand Junction built a new works at Crewe Works which opened in 1843, while the Manchester and Birmingham's works was at Longsight.

While the GJR and M&BR locos were mainly by Robert Stephenson and Sharp Brothers, the L&B's were mostly "Bury" types – indeed Edward Bury was its locomotive superintendent. On the GJR, breakages of the inside-cylinder engines' crank axles led to the redesign of several with outside cylinders under locomotive superintendent Francis Trevithick. These later became known as the "Old Crewe" types.

After the creation of the LNWR in 1846, Crewe and Wolverton became headquarters of the Northern and Southern Divisions respectively, with Longsight as the headquarters of the North Eastern Division.

In 1922, the LNWR merged with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR) and the North London Railway (NLR) to form a larger company still called the LNWR.

See: Locomotives of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Locomotives of the North London Railway

LNWR Northern Division The first Northern Division Locomotive Superintendent (at Crewe Works) was Francis Trevithick, son of Richard Trevithick, who continued to build the basic 2-2-2 and 2-4-0 designs. Alexander Allan was Works Manager at Crewe from 1843 to 1853.

4-2-2 Cornwall (1847)

In 1857, the North Eastern Division locomotive department, with headquarters at Longsight, was absorbed into that of the Northern Division. Trevithick was dismissed and returned to Cornwall with an honorarium, and was replaced at Crewe by John Ramsbottom as Northern Division Superintendent. Ramsbottom began to standardise and modernise the locomotive stock, initially replacing the 2-4-0 goods engines with his "DX" 0-6-0, of which over 900 were built at Crewe from 1858 to 1872.

All LNWR locomotives were painted black from 1873; for many years the goods engines were plain black, but passenger engines were given red, white and blue-grey lining, and most goods engines were similarly lined from the 1890s. Before 1873 locomotives had been green with black lines, and this seems to have been the normal livery from London & Birmingham and Grand Junction times.

John Ramsbottom (1857–1871) Image Class Type Quantity Manufacturer Date LMSClassification LMSNumbers Notes No. 173 Cornwall 2-2-2 1 Crewe Works 1847/1858 — — Originally built as 4-2-2;rebuilt in 1858 as 2-2-2 271 0-6-0 7 Sharp, Stewart & Co. 1857 — — DX 0-6-0 943(including 86 for the L&YR) Crewe Works 1858–72 — — 500 later rebuilt as 'Special DX' D 0-6-0 1 Longsight Works 1859 — — Ostrich 0-6-0 2 Beyer, Peacock & Co. 1859 — — Problem 2-2-2 60 Crewe Works 1859–65 — — Also called Lady of the Lake class Crewe Works Railway 0-4-0T 7 Crewe Works 1862–1875 — — 18-inch gauge. Named Tiny, Pet, Nipper, Topsy, Midge, Dickie, and Billie. Wolverton Express Goods 0-6-0 10 Wolverton Works 1863 — — McConnell design, last to be built at Wolverton 4ft Shunter 0-4-0ST 36 Crewe Works 1863–70 — 7206-7210 835 Samson 2-4-0 90 Crewe Works 1863–79 — — Newton 2-4-0 96 Crewe Works 1866–73 — — All 'renewed' as "Renewed Precedent" class Special Tank 0-6-0ST 260 Crewe Works 1870–80 1F 7220–7457 Metropolitan Tank 4-4-0T 16 Beyer, Peacock & Co. 1871–72 — — Built by Beyer-Peacock. Same design as used by Metropolitan. 10 rebuilt as 4-4-2T and one as compound (see below)

Francis Webb (1871–1903) Image Class Type Quantity Manufacturer Date LMSClassification LMSNumbers Notes B 2-2-0ST 1 Edward Bury & Co.Crewe Works 1835–76 — — Worked C&HPR from 1835 to 1873; Crewe Works until scrapped May 1876 1201 0-4-0ST 10 Crewe Works 1872 — 7211–7212 17in Coal Engine 0-6-0 499 Crewe Works 1873–92 2F 8088-8314 45 rebuilt as pannier-tanks (see below) Precursor 2-4-0 40 Crewe Works 1874–79 — — Precedent 2-4-0 70 Crewe Works 1875–82 5000-5003 62 'renewed' and 8 rebuilt as "Renewed Precedent" class 2234 2-4-0T 50 Crewe Works 1876–80 1P 6420–6434 nicknamed "Chopper Tanks" 4ft 6in Tank 2-4-2T 220 Crewe Works 1879–98 1P 6515–6600 18in Goods 0-6-0 310 Crewe Works 1880–1902 2F 8315–8624 Nicknamed "Cauliflowers" 2360 0-4-0WT 10 Crewe Works 1880–82 — 7200–7205 Double-ended, oil-fired dock shunters; 4 engines used as service stock Coal Tank 0-6-2T 300 Crewe Works 1881–97 1F 7550–7841 Special DX 0-6-0 500 Crewe Works 1881–98 ? 8000–8087 Rebuilds of DX Experiment 2-2-2-0 30 Crewe Works 1882–84 — — 3-cylinder Compound No. 2062 4-2-2-0 1 Crewe Works 1884 — — 3-cylinder Compound rebuild of Metropolitan tank Dreadnought 2-2-2-0 40 Crewe Works 1884–88 — — 3-cylinder Compound No. 687 2-2-2-2T 1 Crewe Works 1885 — — 3-cylinder Compound "Fore-and-Aft" No. 600 2-2-2-2T 1 Crewe Works 1887 — — 3-cylinder Compound No. 777 2-2-4-0T 1 Crewe Works 1887 — — 3-cylinder Compound Renewed Precedent 2-4-0 158 Crewe Works 1887–1901 1P 5004–5079 Nominal renewals of 96 Newtons & 80 Precedents Teutonic 2-2-2-0 10 Crewe Works 1889–90 — — 3-cylinder Compound Waterloo 2-4-0 90 Crewe Works 1889–96 1P 5080–5109 Also known as Whitworth Class 5′ 6″ Tank 2-4-2T 160 Crewe Works 1890–97 1P 6601–6757 1201 0-4-0ST 10 Crewe Works 1892 — 7213–7216 3 rebuilt as 0-4-2T Crane Tanks Metropolitan Tank 4-4-2T 10 Crewe Works 1892 — — Rebuilds of Metropolitan 4-4-0T above No.2524 0-8-0 1 Crewe Works 1892 — — Basis of "C" class, later rebuilt as D, then G1. Greater Britain 2-2-2-2 10 Crewe Works 1892–94 — — 3-cylinder Compound A 0-8-0 111 Crewe Works 1893–1900 — — 3-cylinder Compound, all rebuilt as C (15), C1 (34) or D (62) 835 0-4-2WT 5 Crewe Works 1894 — — Crane Tank John Hick 2-2-2-2 10 Crewe Works 1894–98 — — 3-cylinder Compound 317 0-4-2ST 20 Crewe Works 1896–1901 1P 6400-6419 also known as "Dock Tank" or "Bissel Tank" Iron Duke 4-4-0 1 Crewe Works 1897 — — Initially 4-cylinder simple, converted to Compound, then to "Renown" Black Prince 4-4-0 1 Crewe Works 1897 — — 4-cylinder Compound, rebuilt as "Renown" 18in Tank 0-6-2T 80 Crewe Works 1898–1902 1P 6860-6936 Jubilee 4-4-0 40 Crewe Works 1897–1900 2P 5110-5117 4-cylinder Compound, all but 3 rebuilt as "Renown"s Alfred the Great 4-4-0 40 Crewe Works 1901–03 2P 5118-5130 4-cylinder Compound, 33 rebuilt as 'Renown' B 0-8-0 170 Crewe Works 1901–04 3F 8900-8952 4-cylinder Compound, most rebuilt as E (26), F (10), G (32) or G1 (91) 1400 4-6-0 30 Crewe Works 1903–05 — — 4-cylinder Compound, nicknamed "Bill Baileys", all scrapped before grouping

George Whale (1903–1909) Image Class Type Quantity Manufacturer Date LMSClassification LMSNumbers Notes C 0-8-0 15 Crewe Works 1904–06 4F 8953–8967 Simple rebuilds of Class A, 5 rebuilt as G1 E 2-8-0 26 Crewe Works 1904–07 3F 9600–9609 Rebuilds of Class B, small boiler, 2 rebuilt as F, 18 as G1. F 2-8-0 12 Crewe Works 1904–07 3F 9610–9615 Rebuilds of Class B (10) and E (2), large boiler. 10 later rebuilt as G1 Precursor 4-4-0 130 Crewe Works 1904–07 2P/3P 5187–5319 Many later equipped with superheaters Square Saddle Tank 0-6-0ST 45 Crewe Works 1905–07 1F 7458–7502 Rebuilds of Coal (tender) engines Experiment 4-6-0 105 Crewe Works 1905–10 3P 5450–5554 D 0-8-0 63 Crewe Works 1906–09 4F 9002–9064 Simple rebuilds of Class A and no.2524. All later rebuilt as G1 Precursor Tank 4-4-2T 50 Crewe Works 1906–09 2P 6780–6829 19in Goods 4-6-0 170 Crewe Works 1906–09 4F 8700–8869 Renown 4-4-0 70 Crewe Works 1908–24 2P 5131–5186 Simple rebuilds of 'Jubilee' & 'Alfred the Great' classes C1 0-8-0 34 Crewe Works 1909 3F 8968–9001 Simple rebuilds of Class A

Charles John Bowen Cooke (1909–1920) With a reasonably comprehensive fleet, Bowen Cooke arranged exchanges with other railways in 1909 and 1910 to assess the scope for improvements, among which was superheating.

Image Class Type Quantity Manufacturer Date LMSClassification LMSNumbers Notes George the Fifth 4-4-0 90 Crewe Works 1910–15 3P 5320–5409 Superheated, 80 original, 10 conversions of 'Queen Mary's Queen Mary 4-4-0 10 Crewe Works 1910 — — All later converted to George the Fifth class G 0-8-0 92 Crewe Works 1910 4F 9065–9153 60 new, 32 rebuilds of B. All rebuilt as G1 2665 4-6-2T 47 Crewe Works 1910–16 3P 6950–6996 12 built saturated, later had superheaters added, remainder began superheated. Nicknamed ‘Prince of Wales Tank’ Prince of Wales 4-6-0 246 Crewe Works (135)North British Loco (20)Wm Beardmore & Co. (91) 1911–24 3P 5600–5845 Superheated 1185 0-8-2T 30 Crewe Works 1911–17 4F 7870–7899 G1 0-8-0 449 Crewe Works 1912–18 6F 9154–9394 Superheated, boiler 160 psi. 170 new, remainder rebuilt from B (91), C (5), D (63), E (18), F (10), G (92) Claughton 4-6-0 130 Crewe Works 1913–21 5P 5900–6029 Superheated, 42 later 'renewed' as Patriots by LMS MM 2-8-0 30 R. Stephenson & Co. (2)North British Loco (28) 1919 7F 9616–9645 Robinson ROD type. Bought from the government. Another 151 on hire, but returned.

H. P. M. Beames (1920–1922) Image Class Type Quantity Manufacturer Date LMSClassification LMSNumbers Notes G2 0-8-0 60 Crewe Works 1921–22 7F 9395–9454 Superheated, boiler 175 psi. All new engines 380 0-8-4T 30 Crewe Works 1923–24 5F 7930–7959 Superheated

George Hughes (1922) In 1922, the LNWR merged with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) to form a larger company still called the LNWR. George Hughes, formerly CME of the L&YR became CME of the LNWR. A year later the enlarged company was grouped into the LMS, and Hughes became CME of the new railway.

LNWR Southern Division

The first Southern Division Locomotive Superintendent was Edward Bury who had been in charge of the London and Birmingham Railway locomotive department at Wolverton since before that railway opened. He resigned in 1847 and later became General Manager of the Great Northern Railway. His successor at Wolverton was James McConnell who had previously worked for the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway at their Bromsgrove works. Among the classes built under his superintendence were the very successful 2-2-2 "Bloomers", developed from a Bury design, and the Wolverton Express Goods 0-6-0 class, built from 1854 to 1863. The Southern Division's trains were longer and heavier, and 0-6-0 locos had been introduced as early as 1845.

There were distinct differences between the Southern and Northern Division locomotive policies. Wolverton had been set up in 1838 for repair work only, the locomotives being purchased from outside firms, whereas Crewe, from its foundation in 1843, was a locomotive-building works. Only a dozen locomotives were built at Wolverton from 1845 to the end of 1854, but in the following year construction started in earnest, and another 154 were completed in 1855–1863. The Southern Division engines were bigger, heavier and more expensive than those of the Northern Division, and after a disagreement with the cost-conscious Chairman, Richard Moon, in 1862 McConnell was obliged to resign. The Southern and Northern locomotive departments were amalgamated, and John Ramsbottom became Locomotive Superintendent of the entire LNWR, his headquarters remaining at Crewe. Locomotive building and repairing were gradually run down at Wolverton, which became the LNWR's carriage works in 1865.

In the 1850s on the Southern Division, McConnell had some of his express engines painted green with more elaborate patterns of lining in various colours, and in 1861–62 a few Southern Division engines were painted a very dark plum-red. The widespread belief that McConnell's engines were painted vermilion is incorrect, despite its constant repetition.