LMS Period Locomotives: lnwrbns_lms1875

Midland Railway 4-2-2 No 673, a 115 class locomotive, and Midland Railway 2-4-0 No 19 are seen standing light engine at Platform 6 on 1st September 1926. The Midland Railway's 115 Class was a class known as 'Spinners', possibly because of the fast spinning motion of the single large driving wheel. They were designed by Samuel Johnson and a total of 15 of the class were built between 1896 and 1899. It was quite common for this class of engine to be able pull a typical lightly loaded Midland express train weighing 200 and 250 tons. Given a dry rail they could maintain a tight schedule with 350 tons behind and at speeds of up to 90 mph. The Midland Railway had for much of its history adopted the practice of building relatively low powered locomotives to pull lightly loaded services operated at frequent intervals.

The surge in passenger numbers combined with heavier coaches as a result of better standards of accommodation and on board facilities saw the Midland increasingly relying on double heading. Consequently the class to enjoyed working lives of up to 40 years as they made ideal pilot engines for the later Jackson/Deeley 4-4-0 classes. In the Midland Railway 1907 renumbering scheme, they were assigned numbers 670–684. During the First World War, most of the class were placed in store but surprisingly some were pressed into service afterwards as pilots on the Nottingham to London coal trains. A total of twelve locomotives survived to the 1923 grouping, retaining their Midland Railway numbers whilst employed in the LMS' service. Nevertheless by 1927 only three of the class remained with the last engine No 673, originally built as MR No 118, being withdrawn in 1928 and preserved.

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