Birmingham New Street Station

Midland Railway Locomotives: lnwrbns_pg464

Midland Railway Class 2P 4-4-0 No 547 fitted for oil firing with tanks on the tender is seen being turned on New Street station's turntable on 30th July 1921. The diameter of New Street station's turntable was only just sufficient to accommodate an 0-6-0 or 4-4-0 locomotive which probably accounts for the reason that most photographs seen by the author are Midland Railway locomotives. The chronic shortage of coal after the First World War caused by industrial unrest resulted in the railway companies experimenting with oil firing. As can be seen above, this required two oil barrels being placed on top of the coal space in the tender and at angle to allow gravity to feed the burners which were located on top of the grate in the firebox.

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