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 L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the ...

(LNWR) Experiment Class was a class of

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 absenc ...

steam locomotive designed by George Whale.

Career

They were an extended version of the Whale's Precursor Class

4-4-0 4-4-0 is a locomotive type with a classification that uses the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement and represents the arrangement: four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four pow ...

, with slightly smaller driving wheels. The first of the class, 66 ''Experiment'' was built in 1905 and a total of 105 were constructed up until 1910. The LNWR reused numbers and names of withdrawn locomotives, with the result that the numbering system was completely haphazard. A 19in Express Goods Class with smaller driving wheels was also built from 1906. From 1911, a superheated version, the Prince of Wales Class was built. In 1915, 1361 ''Prospero'' was experimentally rebuilt with four cylinders,

Dendy Marshall valve gear Dendy may refer to: * Arthur Dendy, English zoologist who worked on the "living fossil" ''Peripatus'' * Edward Stephen Dendy, English officer of arms * Henry Dendy, founder of Brighton, Melbourne * Marquis Dendy (born 1992), American long jumper ...

and superheated. The conversion was not repeated. Only two other engines were given

superheater A superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into superheated steam or dry steam. Superheated steam is used in steam turbines for electricity generation, steam engines, and in processes such as steam reforming. There ar ...

s; 2624 ''Saracen'' and 1993 (LMS 5472) ''Richard Moon''. All entered

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 LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

(LMS) stock upon grouping in 1923. The LMS gave them the power classification 3P. The LMS renumbered them into a more logical series of 5450–5553 according to date of construction. An exception was made for 1361 ''Prospero'' which became 5554. Not all however survived long enough to receive their LMS numbers — withdrawals had started in 1925. In 1934 the thirteen then remaining were renumbered with the addition of 20000 to their numbers make room for Black Five, Patriot and

Jubilee A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of ...

class locomotives. The final engine was withdrawn the following year and none were preserved.

Fleet list

Accidents and incidents

* On 15 October 1907, a mail train hauled by No. 2052 ''Stephenson'' was derailed at ,

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

due to excessive speed on a curve. Eighteen people were killed. * On 5 July 1923, an express passenger train hauled by 1406 ''George Findlay'' was involved in a rear-end collision with a freight train at ,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

due to confusion by the driver of the freight train over flag signals. Four people were killed.

References

* *

External links

LNWR Society
Photographs of the Whale 4-6-0 ''Experiment'' class steam locomotives. {{LNWR Locomotives Experiment (Whale) 4-6-0 locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1905 Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Scrapped locomotives Passenger locomotives