Furness 0-6-0 Locomotives in Great_Britain

Class 3 (Locobase 10620)

Data from "New Goods Engines, Furness Ry" The Locomotive Magazine, Vol XIII (15 July 1907), p.119. See also Steamindex's Furness Railway at [], last accessed 4 July 2009. Works numbers were 17840-17843.

This quartet replaced the Sharp, Stewart goods engines whose acquisition dated back to 1867 and added to the 1899 engines of similar design shown in Locobase 9911. It was based on a design by the railway's locomotive, carriage, and wagon superintendent W F Pettigrew and derived many of its dimensions and components were derived from the 0-6-2Ts shown in Locobase 10549.

Steamindex comments that Pettigrwe ordered six locomotives to this design from Nasmyth Wilson in 1900, but Furness had to cancel them and they were delivered to the North British Railway as their 159-164.

The LMS rebuilt 3 of the engines (3, 5, and 6) with Belpaire fireboxes (still saturated-steam types, however). 3,4, and 6 were all withdrawn in 1930; 5 was retired in 1934.

Class D3 (Locobase 9911)

Data from W F Pettigrew, M.Inst.CE, "Coal as fuel at Barrow-in-Furness, Journal

of the Iron and Steel Institute (Bennett Brough, Ed., London), Vol LXIV, No 11 (1903), pp 206-

The article that supplied the data described a series of trials to determine which coalfields offered coal of the best quality for the service. The profile of the line from Carnforth to Barrow was severe: "...particularly between Plumpton and Lindal, which is 3 1/2 miles long, with a gradient of 1 in 76 [1.3%] on the down road, and from Salthouse Junction to Lindal on the up road, about 5 1/2 miles long, with gradients of 1 in 63 [1.6%], and in places with eight and ten chain curves ...The loads consist of minerals, iron ore, pig iron, coal, coke, &c., all of which are very heavy to haul."

Class G1 "Sharp Goods" (Locobase 1093)

Data from The Evolution of the Steam Locomotive (1803 to 1898): By G.A. Sekon (George Augustus Nokes), 2nd Edition (London: The Railway Publishing Co., 1899), p. 313-314. Works numbers were 1697-1698, 1760-11761, 1764-1766 in 1866; 1784-1785 in 1867, 2064-2065, 2095-2096 in 1870; 2097-2100, 2145-2154 in 1871; 2278-2280, 2283-2285, 2316-2317, 2337-2338, 2340-2341 in 1873; 2422-2423 in 1874; 2506-2509 in 1875; 3170-3173 in 1883.

Furness took delivery of 55 engines between 1866-1883. These low-drivered freight engines proved very suitable for operating in very hilly terrain. Sharp Stewart produced another 49 for other railroads.

Class G1 Neddies (Locobase 13583)

Data from John Robinson, "Modern Locomotives", Van Norstrand's Engineering Magazine, Volume X, No LXI (January 1874), p. 46. See also Steamindex's Furness entry at [] and a multi-part history of the Furness at [] reproduces a 1946 book by W McGowan Gradon_, last accessed 26 December 2011.

Designed to meet a growing demand for helper (banking) engines on the Furness's iron-ore trains as they scaled the 11-mile-long (17.7 km) Lindal Bank, this "ungainly looking" engine entered service in small numbers over several years. Robinson's contemporary summary of this class's performance noted that it could pull 872 long tons over a level track at 20 mph (32 km/h). Up a 1.25% grade, the engine managed 11 3/4 mph (18.9-km/h) hauling 367 long tons and averaged a coal consumption of 40.16 lb (18.2 kg) per mile.

Two arrived in 1867 (works numbers 1842-1843) and proved to be the answer, but a drop in iron-ore demand delayed the acquisition of others untile 1872 (works 2204-2205) and 1873 (2300-2301). Steamindex expresses some wonderment at the austerity of provisions for the crew: "As the Neddies spent much time standing out in the open at Plumpton and Park South, waiting for trains to assist up Lindal Bank, it seems strange that no thought was given to the comfort of the enginemen in these horribly draughty cabs, but perhaps there was a handy shunters' hut."

Two served the Cleator Moor grades for a long time, but most of the relatively low mileage amassed by these single-purpose engines came on the Lindal Bank. When the LMS was formed in 1923, the last 4 were taken onto the roster but were withdrawn by 1925.

Class G5 (Locobase 6379)

Data from Vulcan Foundry catalogue, ca. 1920 ([]) and [], which gives the information that these compact tanks were VF works #2523-2528. See also "Six-Coupled Tank Locomotive, Furness Railway", The Locomotive, Volume 17, (15 July 1911), p. 154

These were "neat" engines, says Steamindex's article on Furness locomotives ([]) as in tidy and served well in banking (helper), shunting (switching), and even some passenger work. Like so much of the rest of the Furness motive power, the class was retired in 1934-1936 (except for the class leader, which lasted until 1942), because of lack of traffic.

Class M (Locobase 20175)

Data from "New Locomotives on the Hull and Barnsley, Furness, and Great Northern Railways", Railway Magazine, Volume 37, p. 98; and "New Tank Engines, Furness Ry.", Locomotive Magazine, Volume XXI [21], No. 275 (15 July 1915). Works numbers were 5119-5120) in 1915.

The data describe the first two designed by W F Pettigrew, which used the boiler and firebox of the 1910 G5 0-6-0Ts described in Locobase 6379, but rolled on drivers a full foot (plus 1/2") taller than those on the G5s. In addition to the usual fitments (two 2 1/2" Ross pop safety valves; a Detroit two-feed lubricator; two No. 8 Gresham's injectors and Davies and Metcalfe's latest pattern injector), the pair used "Lockyer's patent double beat equilibrium regulator valve for nicely regulating the steam supply."

Four more--two from Vulcan Foundry in 1916 (works 3176-3177) and two more from Kitson's (works 5172-5173) in the same year--used twelve more tubes, which increased evaporative heating surface area to 1,039 sq ft.(98,53 sq m).

At their introduction, LM said the Ms were "expecially designed for the passenger traffic on the Lakeside, Coniston, and Kendal branches, which is very heavy during the summer season."

But, Steamindex notes, their first duty was to haul the "heavy and intensive workment's services around Barrow" and it wasn't until 1919 that they began serving the branch lines.

In that role, Steamindex reports: "These handy little engines could perform without fuss, both on the long 1 in 49 gradient of the Coniston branch and the almost level LNWR line into Lancaster, on which they produced a good turn of speed."

Renumbered by the London, Midland & Scottish after Grouping, the class was withdrawn in 1930-1932.