LNWR Class A

LNWR Class A
No. 50 in photographic grey livery
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerF.W. Webb
BuilderLNWR at Crewe Works
Build date1893–1900
Total produced111
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte0-8-0
 • UICD n3vG
Gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Driver dia.4 ft 5.5 in (1.359 m)
Wheelbase17 ft 3 in (5.26 m)
Loco weight50 long tons 0 cwt (112,000 lb or 50.8 t)
Fuel typeCoal
Boiler pressure175 psi (1.21 MPa)
Heating surface1,489 sq ft (138.3 m2)
CylindersThree, compound
High-pressure cylinder(2 outside) 15 by 24 inches (380 mm × 610 mm)
Low-pressure cylinder(1 inside) 30 by 24 inches (760 mm × 610 mm)
Valve gearStephenson link motion
Career
OperatorsLondon and North Western Railway
Disposition15 rebuilt to Class C 1904–06
62 rebuilt to Class D 1906–09
34 rebuilt to Class C1 1909–12

The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Class A was a class of 0-8-0 steam locomotives. From 1893 to 1900, Crewe Works built 111 of these engines, which had a three-cylinder compound arrangement, and were designed by Francis Webb. According to the LNWR Society, 110 were built between 1894 and 1900.

Construction and numbering

A prototype, no. 50, was built in 1893, and used in trials against the two-cylinder simple-expansion 0-8-0 no. 2524, which had been built the previous year. After the trials, no. 50 was renumbered 2525 and a further 110 of the compound design were then built in several batches between 1894 and 1900, as follows.

LNWR Class A orders
QuantityCrewe numbersRunning numbersEntered service
1347150, later 2525September 1893
103546–552526–35November 1894 – February 1895
203661–802536–55August–December 1896
203806–251801–20October 1897 – January 1898
103826–351821–30April–May 1898
103836–451831–40July–August 1898
103846–551841–50October–November 1898
103888–971851–60February 1899
103898–39071861–70May 1899
104025–341871–80April–May 1900

Rebuilding

Like the other Webb compounds, they proved problematic, so in 1904 George Whale began rebuilding these to simple expansion engines. Fifteen were converted to Class C between 1904 and 1906, 62 to Class D between 1906 and 1909, with the remaining 34 rebuilt by Charles Bowen Cooke to Class C1 between 1909 and 1912.

All Class D locomotives were later rebuilt to Class G1. Some of them, rebuilt to Class G2A, were still running in 1962.

Classification

The LNWR letter classification system for 8 coupled engines (A, B, C, etc.) was introduced in 1911.

References

  1. ↑ Ahorns, Ernest Leopold (1927). The British steam railway locomotive, 1825-1925. London: Locomotive Pub. Co. p. 291.
  2. ↑ LNWR Society. "Goods Engines of LNWR - 'A' Class". Lnwrs.org.uk. Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  3. ↑ Baxter, Bertram (1979). Baxter, David (ed.). British Locomotive Catalogue 1825-1923, volume 2B: London and North Western Railway and its constituent companies. Ashbourne: Moorland Publishing. pp. 250–4. ISBN 0-903485-84-2. OCLC 60038834. OL 25663326M.
  4. ↑ Brooksbank, Ben (24 March 1951), English: Ex-LNW 0-8-0 at Bescot., retrieved 19 May 2019

Further reading