London & South Western 0-4-4 Locomotives in Great_Britain


Class Details by Steve Llanso of Sweat House Media

Class M7 (Locobase 3133)

Data from "Railway Notes -- London & South Western Railway", The Locomotive, Vol XII, No 170 (15 October 1906), p. 163. See also Bryan Attewell ([link] Steam Locomotive simulator and OS Nock's reference (Southern Steam, 1968) to it in his table of ex-London & South Western locomotives that were brought into the Southern.

According to the Southern E-group ([link], visited October 2002), Dugal Drummond based this passenger engine on his earlier North British Railways 157 class of 1877. Provided with a relatively large grate and ample firebox heating surface area, this design included the unusual feature of a feedwater heater in the tanks. It consisted of a bundle of forty 2" (50.8 mm) tubes, each 11 ft 3 1/2 in (3.45 m) long and deploying 234 sq ft (21.75 sq m). (The boiler and firebox also appeared on the 30 0-6-0s that began production the same year; see Locobase 14912.)

Built over a fourteen-year period, this sturdy design appeared in five major variants, although many of the differences related to sandbox location (with the splasher vs inside the boiler wrapper), pump type, and the amount of front overhang. Other changes reflect improvements, such as feedwater heating, balanced crank axles, and steam reverse gear. Drummond's feed water heater, introduced in 1911, had a bundle of tubes that comprised 234 sq ft (21.74 sq m).

After a derailment at Tavistock, the M7 no longer pulled the London & South Western's express passenger trains between Plymouth and Exeter. On the other hand, it proved a very handy size for local passenger service, both main line and branch, as well as suburban traffic. 36 were converted to push-pull operation in the 1930s.


Class T1, F6 (Locobase 3209)

Data from "LSWR T1 class" in Wikipedia at [link], last accessed 28 August 2024; "LSWR Adams 0-4-4T T1 and F6 classes" on the Southern Railway E-Mail Group at [link], last accessed 28 August 2024. See also "The History of the London & South Western Ry Locomotives", The Locomotive Magazine, Volume XIV (15 October 1908), p. 174; and Glover (1967).

William Adams placed the Jubilee (0-4-2) express-engine boiler (Locobase 2242) on a tank-engine frame with a long wheelbase as the firebox hung down between the driving axles in front and the bogie under the bunker behind the cab. Adams's first 20locomotives had inside cylinders with their steam chests positioned underneath.

SREmG tells us that the latter 30--manufactured in 1894-1996--earned a different class ID of F6 when Adams moved the steam chests between the cylinders--also inside. These engines weighed 55 tons 2 cwt (123,444 lb or 55,984 kg) or 2.1 long tons more than the T1s

Nine Elms turned out these locomotives over the course of eight years from 1888 to 1896

LSWR ran all of them for more than 40 years, primarily in London suburban service, but also throughout the eastern part of the entire system. They joined the grouped railways of the Southern Railway system in 1923.

The SR began disposing of the earlier T1s in October 1931 and disposed of the last in February 1936. Six of the F6s also departed in the 1930s. The rest remained although in diminishing numbers. Half took British Railways class numbers, which added 30000 to the original numbers (30001-30005, 30007-30010, 30013, 30020, 30361, 30363, 30366-30367). The last of these finished the class in May 1951, 56 years after they first ran.


Class unknown (Locobase 5707)

Data from April 1894 (Vol LXVIII, No 4) American Engineer & Railroad Journal. See also "Tank Engine for Suburban Traffic, '180' Class, London and South Western Railway", Railway Engineer, Volume 12, No 6 (June 1891), p. 141.

A slightly larger version of the William Adams tank engine described in Locobase 5418. Note the 1/2" increase in cylinder size. The RE reported coal consumption was under 26 lb/mile (7.33 kg/km). "They are very powerful," added RE, "and exactly suited to the heavy local passenger service of the South-Western Railway."


Class unknown (Locobase 5418)

Data from October 1891 RREJ.

This William Adams tank engine is smaller than the one referenced in Locobase 3209. The journal describes these as Forney-type engines for heavy suburban traffic that were intended to supplant a lighter class. Indeed, a few years later, C J Bowen Cooke, "British Locomotives", (London: Whitaker & Co, 1894), pronounced them as "exceedingly useful engines for working the important local services of which there are many on the South-Western [sic] Railway. They have also comfortable and roomy foot-plates and are a very favourite class of engine with the drivers."

Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media
ClassM7T1, F6unknownunknown
Locobase ID3133 3209 5707 5418
RailroadLondon & South WesternLondon & South WesternLondon & South WesternLondon & South Western
CountryGreat BritainGreat BritainGreat BritainGreat Britain
Whyte0-4-4T0-4-4T0-4-4T0-4-4T
Number in Class105501040
Road Numbers61-80, 1-20, 358-367/30001+197-206
GaugeStdStdStdStd
Number Built105501040
BuilderEastleighseveralNine ElmsNine Elms
Year1897188818901891
Valve GearStephensonStephensonStephensonStephenson
Locomotive Length and Weight
Driver Wheelbase (ft / m) 7.508 / 2.44 6.83 / 2.08 6.83 / 2.08
Engine Wheelbase (ft / m)23.58 / 7.1923 / 7.01
Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase 0.32 0.35
Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m)23.58 / 7.1923 / 7.01
Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg)40,320 / 18,28933,600 / 15,24133,600 / 15,241
Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg)79,072 / 35,86678,400 / 35,56266,100 / 29,98266,100 / 29,982
Engine Weight (lbs / kg)134,736 / 61,115118,720 / 53,85199,848 / 45,29099,400 / 45,087
Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg)
Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg)
Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML)1560 / 5.911440 / 5.45800 / 3.03960 / 3.64
Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT)3 / 3 2.50 / 2 2.50 / 2
Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m)66 / 3365 / 32.5055 / 27.5055 / 27.50
Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort
Driver Diameter (in / mm)67 / 170267 / 170258 / 147358 / 1473
Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa)175 / 1210160 / 1100160 / 1100160 / 1100
High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm)18.5" x 26" / 470x66018" x 26" / 457x66017.5" x 24" / 445x61017" x 24" / 432x610
Tractive Effort (lbs / kg)19,756 / 8961.1817,099 / 7755.9917,234 / 7817.2216,264 / 7377.24
Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) 4.00 4.59 3.84 4.06
Heating Ability
Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm)216 - 1.75" / 44216 - 1.75" / 44201 - 1.75" / 44201 - 1.75" / 44
Flues (number - dia) (in / mm)
Flue/Tube length (ft / m)10.80 / 3.2911.33 / 3.45 9.75 / 2.97 9.75 / 2.97
Firebox Area (sq ft / m2)123.90 / 11.51110 / 10.2289.75 / 8.3489.75 / 8.34
Grate Area (sq ft / m2)20.36 / 1.8917 / 1.5813.83 / 1.2913.83 / 1.29
Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)1192 / 110.741231 / 114.36988 / 91.82988 / 91.82
Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2)
Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2)1192 / 110.741231 / 114.36988 / 91.82988 / 91.82
Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume147.36160.75147.87156.70
Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information)
Robert LeMassena's Power Computation3563272022132213
Same as above plus superheater percentage3563272022132213
Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area21,68317,60014,36014,360
Power L14376415533263524
Power MT244.02233.68221.86235.07

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