The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Improved Precedent Class or Renewed Precedent Class is a class of steam locomotives originally designed for express passenger work. They later gained the nickname of Jumbos.

History

The locomotives were designed by F. W. Webb. A total of 158 were built in batches by Crewe Works 1887–1897 with two further additions in 1898 and 1901 respectively. They were officially "renewals" (i.e. replacements) of 96 Newton Class and 62 Precedent Class, so that, for accountancy purposes, they could be charged against the Revenue account rather than the Capital account of a "new" locomotive. On renewal, they kept the numbers and names of their predecessors, and as a result the numbering system continued to be completely haphazard. In addition, the eight Precedent class locomotives that were not renewed, were rebuilt to the Improved specification, but they retained their original thick frames, whereas the renewed locomotives had frames.

On 22 August 1895, 790 Hardwicke took 2 hours and 6 minutes for the from to , with an average speed of , setting up a new speed record during the Race to the North.

When George Whale (who succeeded Francis Webb in 1903) introduced his Precursor and Experiment Classes in March 1904 and April 1905 respectively, the Improved Precedents ultimately began seeing withdrawals, starting in December 1905. By the outbreak of the First World War in July 1914, only 112 Large Jumbos were in service.

The London, Midland and Scottish Railway acquired 76 upon the grouping of 1923, and gave them the power classification 1P. The LMS assigned these the numbers 5004–79, in order of build date, though not all received them as withdrawals continued apace. All members of this class were deemed extinct by 1933, when the 4 remaining members in service were sent for scrap.

Accidents and incidents On 15 August 1895, locomotive No. 275 Vulcan was one of two locomotives hauling an express passenger train that derailed at , Lancashire due to excessive speed on a curve. One person was killed. On 27 October 1895, locomotive No. 790 Hardwicke was hauling an express passenger train that collided with a freight train at . The express was derailed and Hardwicke was severely damaged. The accident was caused by the driver of the freight misreading signals. The Ditton Junction rail crash: On 17 September 1912, a late afternoon express train, packed with holidaymakers returning to Liverpool from Chester, hauled by Precedent class "Cook" left the rails just to the east of Ditton Junction railway station and crashed into the brickwork of the bridge that carried Hale Road over the railway. Thirteen passengers were killed. The Weedon rail crashes: On 14 August 1915, a locomotive hauling a passenger train suffered a mechanical defect which resulted in track being damaged at Weedon, Northamptonshire. Locomotive No. 1189 Stewart was one of two hauling a mail train that was derailed on the damaged track. Ten people were killed and 21 were injured.

Preservation

One, No. 790 Hardwicke (built 1892, LMS No. 5031, withdrawn 1932) has been preserved as part of the National Railway Collection. It was overhauled in 1976 and hauled some excursion trains on the main line, on one of which it double-headed with Flying Scotsman. In the same year it made a special run on the Settle - Carlisle railway, double heading with Midland compound 1000, to celebrate the line's centenary. During this period it was allocated TOPS number 98 190. It is currently a static exhibit in the National Railway Museum Shildon.

Fleet list +LNWR/LMS fleet list LNWRNo. Name CreweWorksNo. Date built LMSNo. Date scrapped Notes 271 Minotaur 2996 5004 † 1132 North Western 2997 — 1220 Belted Will 2998 — 1487 Faraday 2999 — 1670 Ganymede 3001 — 1485 Smeaton 3022 — 1749 Hibernia 3023 — 275 Vulcan 3024 — 1522 Pitt 3025 5005 1679 Bunsen 3026 — 1219 Lightning 3027 — 1681 Minerva 3028 — 1528 Frobisher 3029 — 1527 Raleigh 3030 5006 † 1669 Ilion 3031 — 941 Blenkinsop 3042 5008 † 1481 The Duke of Edinburgh 3043 — 379 Sedgwick 3044 5007 1517 Princess Helena 3045 5009 1216 Premier 3046 — 1480 Newton 3047 5010 1685 Gladiator 3048 5015 1212 Pioneer 3049 5013 1211 John Ramsbottom 3050 5012 1141 S. R. Graves 3051 — 1488 Murdoch 3052 5014 276 Pluto 3053 — 696 Director 3054 5011 1530 Columbus 3055 — 1748 Britannia 3056 5016 1482 Herschel 3057 — 1677 Badajos 3058 — 1526 Drake 3059 — 1529 Cook 3060 — 1521 Gladstone 3061 5017 † 974 Richard Cobden 3062 — 1742 Bevere 3063 — 1513 Shakespeare 3064 — 1672 Talavera 3065 5018 1486 Dalton 3066 — 1524 Wolfe 3067 — 1483 Newcomen 3068 — 1515 Milton 3069 — 382 Buckingham 3070 — 308 Booth 3071 — 2006 Princess 3142 5021 1514 Scott 3143 — 1214 Prince Albert 3144 — 1218 Phaeton 3145 — 1674 Delhi 3146 5020 2001 Henry Crosfield 3147 — 1531 Cromwell 3148 5019 1484 Telford 3149 — 1683 Sisyphus 3150 — 396 Tennyson 3151 — 1675 Vimiera 3192 5024 † 1747 John Mayall 3193 — 1673 Lucknow 3194 — 1525 Abercrombie 3195 5022 1668 Dagmar 3196 5023 1676 The Nile 3197 — 2004 Witch 3198 — 1020 Wordsworth 3199 — 1518 Countess 3200 5025 † 1520 Franklin 3201 5027 380 Quernmore 3242 — 1666 Ariadne 3243 5028 † 1680 Livingstone 3244 — 1217 Florence 3245 — 2003 Alecto 3246 — 2002 Madge 3247 5030 1516 Byron 3248 — 1684 Speke 3249 5029 1671 Shamrock 3250 — 1519 Duchess 3251 5026 1744 Magdala 3282 — 1745 John Bright 3283 5034 Glowworm from July 1914 1532 Hampden 3284 — 304 Hector 3285 5035 790 Hardwicke 3286 5031 — Withdrawn . Preserved in National Collection 1213 The Queen 3287 5032 403 Isabella 3288 — 1678 Airey 3289 5033 † 395 Scotia 3290 — 1682 Novelty 3291 5036 1489 Brindley 3343 — 394 Eamont 3344 — 942 Shah of Persia 3345 — 393 Brougham 3346 — 1667 Corunna 3347 5039 295 Penmaenmawr 3348 — 1523 Marlborough 3349 — 381 Patterdale 3350 5037 † 787 Clarendon 3351 5038 † 1215 Albion 3352 — 2005 Lynx 3352 5041 919 Nasmyth 3490 5040 2178 Pluck 3491 — 1173 The Auditor 3492 5042 482 Pegasus 3493 — 2192 Caradoc 3494 5043 † 871 Proserpine 3506 5044 † 265 Thomas Carlyle 3507 5045 789 Breadalbane 3508 — 865 Envoy 3509 5046 867 Disraeli 3510 — 364 Henry Pease 3531 5048 883 Phantom 3532 5049 † 256 President Washington 3533 5047 † 2175 Precedent 3534 — 860 Merrie Carlisle 3535 5050 253 President Garfield 3556 — 2188 Chillington 3557 — 254 President Lincoln 3558 — 890 Sir Hardman Earle 3559 5051 2182 Giraffe 3560 — 749 Mercury 3571 5052 † 2183 Antelope 3572 5054 945 Humphrey Davy 3573 5053 872 Wizard 3574 — 2177 Edward Tootal 3575 — 514 Lawrence 3596 5055 † Puck from June 1913 260 Duke of Connaught 3597 — 866 Courier 3598 5057 2186 Lowther 3599 5067 † 2193 Salopian 3600 5059 † 517 Marathon 3611 — 2185 Alma 3612 5058 477 Caractacus 3613 5056 † 619 Mabel 3614 5060 † 2176 Robert Benson 3615 5061 † 1177 Princess Louise 3656 — 264 Buckland 3657 — † 864 Pilot 3658 5063 † 1187 Chandos 3659 5064 506 Sir Alexander Cockburn 3660 5062 1183 Plynlimmon 3681 — 1193 Joshua Radcliffe 3682 — 478 Commodore 3683 5065 † 2194 Cambrian 3684 5066 † 868 Condor 3685 — 869 Llewellyn 3726 — 2187 Penrith Beacon 3727 5069 1194 Miranda 3728 5068 262 Wheatstone 3729 5070 480 Duchess of Lancaster 3730 5071 † 2180 Perseverance 3742 5073 † 193 Rocket 3743 5072 † 2184 Reynard 3744 — 858 Sir Salar Jung 3745 — 2179 Patience 3746 — 1189 Stewart 3777 — 2189 Avon 3778 5076 † 862 Balmoral 3779 5075 857 Prince Leopold 3780 5074 † 1105 Hercules 3781 5077 † 870 Fairbairn 3782 5078 861 Amazon 3783 5079 † † LMS number allocated, but never applied

In fiction No.790 “Hardwicke” has appeared in the episode 1 and OVA of “Unbreakable Machine-Doll”, the 2013 Japanese animation. In the series, the nameplate spells “Hardrock”.

References

Notes

Sources

External links

Photo of 260 Duke of Connaught from 1900 Photo of 1672 Talavera from 1900