Wirral Railway 4-4-4 Locomotives in Great_Britain

Class 11 (Locobase 3653)

The first engine of this wheel arrangement in England, this engine's bogies were not symmetrically disposed under the boiler, notes Ahrons (1927). Some data from Data from [] (accessed 8 April 2005). The rear bogie, though of the same wheelbase (5 1/2 ft) as the front, was much closer to the drivers.

The Wirral didn't keep this locomotive until grouping as it did most of the others that came into service in the same period, but scrapped it in 1919.

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Class 14 (Locobase 6476)

Data from [] (accessed 8 April 2005). This pair followed the 11 (Locobase 3653) into Wirral service 7 years later. The design had grown slightly and the round-top firebox exchanged for a Belpaire type of only slightly greater heating surface. Like the 11, its rear bogie was positioned closer to the drivers than the front.

Writing in Railway Magazine in 1954, W A Tuplin briefly summarized his feelings about the locomotives he'd grown up watching. Of the 14s he said: "Some strange instinct inclined me to disfavour the 4-4-4 tanks; now I should say that an engine with such a small proportion of its total weight on the driving wheels is not ideal for stop-and-start work."