North Staffordshire 0-4-4 Locomotives in Great_Britain

Class M/3P (Locobase 8915)

Data from Railway Engineer, August 1908 and "Bogie Tank Engines, North Staffordshire Railway", Engineer (21 August 1908), pp. 187-188.

The author noted that the 0-4-4T layout was "...a class that has of late years fallen rather into disrepute, but one which is capable of excellent work, especially on such a line as the North Staffordshire R., for which they have been built. We believe we are correct in saying that the largest run is from Stoke to Manchester ..."

The design was that of John H. Adams, the North Staffordshire's locomotive engineer and son of William Adams.(who was best known as the locomotive superintendent of the London & South Western and the designer of the widely used Adams bogie). Engineer's account said that the "good cylinder capacity, a fairly large boiler, and moderate-sized wheels" would sometimes serve to haul goods and mineral trains. The 0-4-4T layout was expected to cause less wear on the rails.

They served the NSR and successor London, Midland & Scottish (LMS) for almost thirty years. 1435 went early in August 1930. 1432-1433 were retired in October 1935, 1431 in January 1936. 1434 ran another three years until March 1939.

Class New M/3P (Locobase 20683)

Data from "New Rolling Stock for the North Staffordshire Railway", Locomotive Magazine, Volume XXVII [27] (15 January 1921, p. 5.

Locobase 8915 describes the first five M class tanks delivered in 1907. This entry covers the four that the railway produced thirteen years later. LM's report said that this quartet was "similar" to the earlier engines except for increased coal and water capacity. But only the wheelbases were unchanged.

Locomotive superintendent J A Hookham probably worked within axle loading limits, but he clearly wanted more power. So he traded some heating surface area for a slightly larger grate, reduced driver diameters by 2" (50.8 mm), added a half-inch to the cylinder diameter, and increased boiler pressure by 15 psi (1.03 bar). All contributed to an increase in tractive effort at the cost of 1 ton 16 cwt in increased engine weight. A lower factor of adhesion still worked out to very nearly the magic 4:1.

The boiler demand factor, however, jumped 30% from a typically high figure for a British engine, suggesting to Locobase that these locomotives ran over short hauls, with many frequent stops, several times a day.

When the NSR was blended into the London, Midland & Scottish in 1923, the engines assigned to the 3P motive power class and renumbeed. 1439 was withdrawn in 1931. The other three hung on for a few more year with 1437 going in July 1935 and 1438 in January 1936. When class leader 1435 succumbed in April 1939, it was the last NSR locomotive to be withdrawn by the LMS.