Locomotives of the Midland Railway

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. 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.

Overview

The small engine policy 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 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.

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 arrangement	Pre-1907 Fleet number(s)	Post-1907 Fleet number(s)	Manufacturer Serial number(s)	Year made	Quantity made	Quantity preserved	Year(s) withdrawn	Comments
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, 63–67	Neilson & 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, 88–126	Neilson & Co. (20), Derby Works (42)	1871–1875	62	0
Samuel W. Johnson (1873–1903)
1070 class	2-4-0	1070–1089 (various)	127–146, 147–156	Sharp 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. 4153–4162	1900	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–1133A	1508–1517	Derby Works	1893, 1897	10	0	..
1252 class	0-4-4T	1262–1281 1252–1261	1236–1265	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 2741–2780	1900–1959	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 2521–2540	2200–2229	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	—	3835–4026	...	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 Railway

In 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

Main article: Locomotives of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway

The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (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

• Some photographs of Midland engines from the Midland Railway Society