The LNWR 18-inch Tank class was a class of 80

0-6-2T T, or t, is the twentieth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is d ...

locomotives built by the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world. Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connec ...

in their

Crewe Works Crewe Works is a British railway engineering facility located in the town of Crewe, Cheshire. The works, which was originally opened by the Grand Junction Railway in March 1843, employed around 7,000 to 8,000 workers at its peak. In the 1980s ...

between 1898 and 1902. They were also known officially as the 5ft 3in Tank Class or unofficially as the Watford Tank Class.

Design

The design featured a boiler pressed to delivering saturated steam to two cylinders connected by Joy valve gear to the driving wheels. The "5ft 3in" in the title referred to the diameter of the driving wheels (usually the stated dimension was for the wheel centres) but which were actually . The nominal diameter including the tyres was . They were a tank engine version of the

LNWR Cauliflower Class The LNWR 18-inch Goods was a class of 310 0-6-0 freight steam locomotives built by the London and North Western Railway at their Crewe Works between 1880 and 1902. They were also known officially as the Express Goods 5 ft 0in, and unoffic ...

, built from 1892.

Service

Leighton Buzzard Station geograph-2211751

They were built as mixed traffic locomotives, and were frequently used on suburban services. Their use on Euston to

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

suburban trains gave rise to the nickname "Watford Tanks". The first locomotive was withdrawn in 1920. By the time of the

1923 Grouping The Railways Act 1921 ( 11 & 12 Geo. 5. c. 55), also known as the Grouping Act, was an act of Parliament enacted by the British government, and was intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, by "grou ...

, 77 were still in service and passed to 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 ...

who gave them

power classification A number of different numbering and classification schemes were used for the locomotives owned by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and its constituent companies. The LMS, formed on 1 January 1923 from many smaller companies include ...

1P, and renumbered them 6860 to 6939. Fifteen were still in service at nationalisation in 1948, but only two survived to receive their

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commis ...

' number. None were preserved.

References

* * {{LNWR Locomotives London and North Western Railway locomotives 0-6-2T locomotives C1′ n2t locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1898 Scrapped locomotives Standard-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain