The Midland Railway 700 Class was a large class of double framed

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 ...

freight

steam locomotives 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, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

Matthew Kirtley Matthew Kirtley (6 February 1813 – 24 May 1873) was born at Tanfield, Durham. He was an important early locomotive engineer. Career Early years At the age of thirteen he began work on the Stockton and Darlington Railway; he was fireman on th ...

for 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 ...

. They were in the

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 ...

1F.

Early withdrawals

Six locomotives - nos. 271/9, 1007/31/52/3 - were withdrawn from service between 1903 and 1905. Fifty more were sold in 1906 to the Italian State Railway,

Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. (; ; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the initialism FS) is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estate services and other services in ...

(FS), where they formed FS Class 380; they had been ordered by one of the constituents of the FS, the

Rete Mediterranea Rete Mediterranea (RM) defines that part of the Italian railway network that, under the law of 27 April 1885, no. 3048 was assigned to the Società per le Strade Ferrate del Mediterraneo for operation and development. These were mainly lines fro ...

. They were meant to fill a gap of usable locomotives after the nationalization of the Italian railways. They were intended to remain in service for a few years; however, some of them remained active into the 1920s.

Numbering

After the Midland Railway's 1907 renumbering scheme, the numbers were: * 2592–2671, 2674–2711 and 2713–2867 Numbers 2672/3 were members of the 480 Class; no. 2712 was a member of the 240 Class, which had been given a number in the wrong series as the result of a clerk's error.

Accidents and incidents

*On 3 December 1892, locomotive No. 871 was hauling a freight train that crashed at Wymondham Junction,

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, severely damaging the signal box.

Military service

78 locomotives of the class were loaned 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 ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and were used by the

Railway Operating Division The Railway Operating Division (ROD) was a division of the Royal Engineers formed in 1915 to operate railways in the many theatres of the First World War. It was largely composed of railway employees and operated both standard gauge and narrow ...

of the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

for military duties in France. A further three were selected to go but instead were loaned to the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exete ...

(LSWR) between December 1917 and February 1920 The locomotives allocated were 2707–11/13–88 of which 2783–85 were sent to the LSWR. The remainder went to France at various dates in 1917 before being returned to the MR in 1919–20. All returned to service with the MR except 2765, which was scrapped at Derby in 1920 after suffering broken frames during its time with the ROD. One engine, 2717, was cut off in No man's land during the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917 and was subsequently captured by the German army during

Operation Michael Operation Michael () was a major German military offensive during World War I that began the German spring offensive on 21 March 1918. It was launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vicinity of Saint-Quentin, France. Its goal was to bre ...

. The Germans salvaged the engine and used it on their military railway in the Brussels area. Recovered after the war, the engine was returned to the MR.

Preservation

None of the 700 Class locomotives survived into preservation, but a tender from No. 2846 does survive behind preserved 156 Class No. 158A.

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Midland Railway 0700 Class 0700 0-6-0 locomotives Railway Operating Division locomotives Dübs locomotives Kitson locomotives Neilson locomotives Vulcan Foundry locomotives Standard-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Freight locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1869 Scrapped locomotives C n2 locomotives