The

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with London and North Eastern Railway, LNER, Great Western Railway, GWR and Southern Railway (UK), SR. The London, Midland an ...

(LMS) Fowler Class 4F is a class of

0-6-0 is the Whyte notation designation for steam locomotives with a wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. Historically, this was the most common wheel arrangement used o ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

designed for medium freight work. They represent the ultimate development of the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

's six-coupled tender engines. Many

trainspotters A railfan, train fan, rail buff or train buff (American English), railway enthusiast, railway buff, anorak (British English), gunzel (Australian English), trainspotter (British English) or ferroequinologist is a person who is recreationally in ...

knew them as "Duck Sixes", a nickname derived from their wheel arrangement.

Background

The 4F was based on the 197-strong

Midland Railway 3835 Class The Midland Railway (MR) 3835 Class is a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotive, steam locomotives designed for freight work. The first two were introduced in 1911 by Henry Fowler (engineer), Henry Fowler. After the Railways Act 1921, grouping in 1923, ...

of 1911, with only a few modifications, primarily the adoption of left-hand drive instead of right-hand drive. They originally had been designed by

Henry Fowler Henry Fowler may refer to: * Henry the Fowler (861–936), Duke of Saxony and King of the Germans * Henry Fowler (hymn writer) (1779–1838), English hymn writer * Henry Fowler (American politician) (1799–?), American farmer and politician in M ...

, who from 1925 became

CME CME. or cme, can refer to any of the following: Organizations * Canadian Military Engineers, the military engineer branch of the Canadian Forces * Central European Media Enterprises * Central Music Company (CME), Beijing, China * Christian Met ...

of the LMS. Midland Railway locomotives were notorious for their short axle-box bearings, which were prone to overheating. This design feature was perpetuated in the LMS 4F. The problem was eventually solved with the fitting of mechanical lubricators.

Construction

The LMS constructed 530 of the locomotives between 1923 and 1928, numbered sequentially from where the Midland engines left off from 4027. A further 45 examples were reluctantly authorised by

William Stanier Sir William Arthur Stanier (27 May 1876 – 27 September 1965) was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. Biography Sir William Stanier was born in Swindon, where his f ...

in 1937 at the behest of the operating department. The missing numbers (4)4557–61 relate to five locomotives built for the

Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR, also known as the S&D, S&DR or SDJR), was an English railway line Joint railway, jointly owned by the Midland Railway (MR) and the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) that grew to connect Bat ...

to the

design in 1922, and taken into LMS stock in 1930. All entered British Railways stock in 1948. BR added 40000 to their numbers. They were all withdrawn between 1959 and 1966.

Accidents and incidents

*On 12 February 1929, locomotive No. 4491 was hauling a freight train that was in a head-on collision with an express passenger train, hauled by

LNWR Claughton Class The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Claughton Class was a class of 4-cylinder express passenger 4-6-0 steam locomotives. History The locomotives were introduced in 1913, the first of the class No. 2222 was named in honour of Sir Gilbe ...

4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abs ...

No. 5977, at station,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

due to a signalman's error. Two people were killed. *On 4 September 1942, locomotive No. 4541 was hauling a freight train that overran the end of a loop in blackout conditions at ,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

and was derailed. *On 6 June 1961, a locomotive of the class was running light when it was in a head-on collision with a freight train at station,

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

Withdrawal

Withdrawals from stock occurred between 1959 and 1966.

Preservation

Three LMS-built 4Fs survive, with the first-built LMS 4F, No. (4)4027, being part of the

National Collection The UK National Collection is a collection of around 280 historic rail vehicles (predominantly of British origin). The majority of the collection is kept at four national museums: * National Railway Museum, York * Locomotion, Shildon * Science ...

Models

The 4F has been modelled by

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

(

O gauge O scale (or O gauge) is a scale commonly used for toy trains and rail transport modelling. Introduced by German toy manufacturer Märklin around 1900, by the 1930s three-rail alternating current O gauge was the most common model railroad sca ...

HO gauge HO or H0 is a rail transport modelling scale using a 1:87 scale model, scale (3.5 mm to 1 foot). It is the most popular scale of Rail transport modelling, model railway in the world. The rails are spaced apart for modelling standard ...

and British N gauge) and

Graham Farish {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 Graham Farish is a Chinese-owned brand of N scale, N gauge British railway models. The Graham Farish Ltd company was founded in 1928 in the UK and Kader Group of Hong Kong bought the firm in 2001. Kader's subsidia ...

(British N Gauge, still produced under the Bachmann label).

Airfix Airfix is a British brand and former manufacturing company which produced Injection moulding, injection-moulded plastic model, plastic scale model kits. In the UK, the name 'Airfix' has become practically synonymous with plastic models of this typ ...

produced a tender drive model of the 4F in

OO gauge OO gauge or OO scale (also, 00 gauge and 00 scale) is the most popular standard gauge model railway standard in the United Kingdom, outside of which it is virtually unknown. OO gauge is one of several 4 mm-scale standards (4 mm to , or 1: ...

in 1978. Production of this was continued by

Dapol Dapol Ltd is a model railway manufacturer based in Chirk, Wales. The factory where some of the design and manufacturing take place is just over the border in England. The company is known for its model railroad, model railway products in N gaug ...

after it acquired Airfix models in 1985, and were subsequently sold to Hornby in the late 1990s. They upgraded the model with an improved chassis in 2012.

Bachmann Bachmann is a surname of Switzerland and Germany. It originates as a description of the bearer as dwelling near a brook (''Bach''), such as a farm "Hofstatt am Bach" also called "Bachmanns Hofstatt" near Hinwil or Dürnten (recorded 1387), or the " ...

have produced a version of the Midland railway variant of the 4F since 2012.

References

;Sources * David Hunt, John Jennison Bob Essery & Fred James ''LMS Locomotive Profiles No.10: The Standard Class 4 Goods 0-6-0s'' (pictorial supplement ) *

External links

London Midland Society 4123

Class 4F-C Details
at ''Rail UK'' {{LMS Locomotives 0-6-0 locomotives C h2 locomotives 4F Andrew Barclay locomotives Kerr Stuart locomotives NBL locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1924 Standard-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Freight locomotives