0-6-4 Steam Locomotives in Great Britain

Class D/M1 (Locobase 10596)

Data from Richard Marsden's LNER site -- [] accessed 9 March 2006. See also "The Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Ry and its Locos," The Locomotive Magazine, Volume XII (15 December 1906), pp. 204; and "0-6-4 Tank Engines: Lancashire, Derbyshire, and East Coast", Railway Engineer, Volume 27, No 10 (October 1906), pp. 313-314,

Marsden says that these tanks were designed for the LD & EC Railway by one of its directors "Mr" Markham. (According to steamindex.com's compilation of information the British engineer John George Robinson -- [], accessed 9 March 2006 -- the designer was Robert Absolom Thom, said to be Robinson's right-hand man and the principal mind behind the Robinson superheater.)

Because the LD&EC's 0-6-2Ts couldn't handle the coal traffic from the collieries to Grimsby and because 0-8-0s were too heavy for the line at the time, the LD & EC came up with these engines, which spread the weight over an additional axle. Six locomotives arrived in 1904, 3 more in 1906 just as the LD&EC was incorporated into the Great Central.

As delivered, the two batches had different numbers of tubes in their boilers. Also, Marsden notes, the design represented a catalogue of Kitson features: ".. including Allan's straight link motion [fitted inside with the rest of the motion] and a forward extension of the smokebox that was of a smaller diameter than the main smokebox. Other Kitson design characteristics included rounded top edges on the side tanks, and a straight-sided coal bunker that was narrower than the water tanks. Kitson built-up chimneys and Belpaire fireboxes were fitted." A photograph shows that the the tall, narrow water tanks effectively masked the firebox, but ended over the middle driver set.

The trailing bogie traversed using swing links.

As demonstration of their pulling power, the LM author reported in 1906: "These engines regularly work through from Langwith Junction to Grimsby with trains of 45 loaded coal wagons and a 20 [-tons goods] brake, equivalent to 744 tons."

RE's report spoke of two additions to the engines soon after their delivery. One was a water pickup apparatus (using track pans?) that would allow tank refill when running in either direction. The other was the proposed use of the Marshall patent valve gear after tests on an LD&EC engine produced a 20% increase in trailing load capacity without increasing fuel consumption.

As an insight into the mixed feelings lineside residents often had about steam locomotives, Locobase repeats Marsden's vivid description of Class D workings: "In about 1921, the Langwith M1s were allocated a goods train to Woodford which produced a notorious pyrotechnic display when climbing the long 1:176 gradient south of Leicester." It isn't hard to imagine the great gouts of smoke and cinders erupting from the stack as the D struggled up the grade.

In the 1920s, the LNER refitted the class with smaller boilers that had fewer tubes; see Locobase 7480.

Class M1 (LNER) (Locobase 7480)

Data from Richard Marsden's LNER site -- [] accessed 9 March 2006.

The GCR reboilered all 9 with 258 tubes and the LNER further modified the innards to the 207 seen in the specs between 1923 and 1927. Another change was the reduction by 1910 of working MEP from the 180 psi that produced 25,194 lb of tractive effort to 170 psi.

Their working lives soon consisted primarily of switching, trip, and helper runs. One assisted on a King's Cross-Leeds train, adding its muscle up grades to keep timings. But the loading gauge at Batley Carr proved insufficiently generous and the M1 was taken off the run. Engine drivers are said to have liked the class.

Most were withdrawn soon after World War II.