The LNWR 5ft 6in Tank was a class of 160 passenger 2-4-2T locomotives manufactured 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 1890 and 1897. The "5ft 6in" in the title referred to the diameter of the driving wheels – although the stated dimension was for the wheel centres – the nominal diameter including the tyres was .

Design

The design featured a boiler pressed to delivering saturated steam to two cylinders connected by

Allan valve gear The Stephenson valve gear or Stephenson link or shifting link is a simple design of valve gear that was widely used throughout the world for various kinds of steam engines. It is named after Robert Stephenson but was invented by his employees. ...

to the driving wheels. They were effectively a tank version of the

LNWR Webb Precursor Class The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Precursor class was a class of forty steam locomotives designed by F. W. Webb and built at the railway's Crewe Works between 1874 and 1879. History The Precursor class was the first locomotive class ...

, which were then being withdrawn.

Service

Three locomotives were withdrawn before the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 ...

; the remaining 157 locomotive 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 renumbered them 6600–6757, and 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. Forty-two locomotives were fitted up between 1929 and 1932 by the LMS for push-pull train service. Two were sold to the

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet ...

in 1930 and 1931; they served on the

Longmoor Military Railway The Longmoor Military Railway (LMR) was a British military railway in Hampshire that was built by the Royal Engineers from 1903 to train soldiers on railway construction and operations. The railway ceased operation on 31 October 1969. Route ...

where they became LMR 22 ''

Earl Haig Earl Haig is a title in the peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1919 for Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. During the First World War, he served as commander of the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in France and B ...

'' and LMR 23 ''

Earl Roberts Earl Roberts, of Kandahar in Afghanistan and Pretoria in the Transvaal Colony and of the City of Waterford, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1901 for Field Marshal Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, Frederic ...

''. No. 22 was scrapped circa 1939, No. 23 lasted long enough to be renumbered WD 206, but was scrapped during the war. Forty-three survived to

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 ...

service in 1948; their numbers were increased by 40000. The last of the class was withdrawn in September 1955 and none were preserved. File:LNWR 5ft 6in 2-4-2 Tank.jpg, LNWR era shot, posed for the camera File:Crewe 4 wiorks geograph-2210701.jpg, LMS Livery File:Craven Arms & Stokesay Station geograph-2211737.jpg, Early BR livery with "BRITISH RAILWAYS" lettering File:Cheddington on the Last Day geograph-2821204-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg, BR livery

References

* * * {{LNWR Locomotives 2-4-2T locomotives 1′B1′ n2t locomotives London and North Western Railway locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1890 Standard-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Passenger locomotives in the United Kingdom War Department locomotives Scrapped locomotives