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London North Western
Railway:
![](../railpics/invisible.gif) Midland
Railway:
![](../railpics/invisible.gif) Stratford
Midland Junction Railway
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LMS Route: Grand Junction Railway LMS Route: Birmingham
New Street to Lichfield LMS Route: Birmingham-Soho-Perry
Barr-Birmingham
Aston Shed: lnwra19
![LMS 2-6-2T No 143 stands beneath the parachute water tank near the shed's entrance on 2nd July 1938](lnwr/aston/shed/lnwra19.jpg) |
LMS 2-6-2T No 143 stands beneath the parachute water tank
near the shed's entrance on 2nd July 1938. Being built by Derby works in
November 1935, the locomotive was only three months out of the shops when seen
in the above photograph. Despite the poor performance of this class it lasted
in service until October 1961 when it was withdrawn from Widnes shed. The scale
of scrapping being carried out by BR meant that it lay in store for 18 months
before it was scrapped by the Central Wagon Company of Wigan in January 1963. A
taper-boiler version of Henry Fowler's 1930 design, the general dimensions were
the same with some improvements. They were under-boilered and although improved
they were always considered to be indifferent performers. In some ways they
were inferior to their predecessors. The cab was of Staniers usual
excellent design with the coal bunker built higher than the rear cab windows
but angled inwards to avoid them, thus giving good visibility when running
bunker first.
The first 2 lots (71 144) were built with number 6
domeless boilers but the rest were built with improved 6A boilers with separate
top-feed and steam dome. Both types of boilers were later modified to carry
Adams Vortex blastpipe in an attempt to improve steaming. The
latter locomotives being easily identifiable by the larger diameter chimney.
The one hundred and thirty-nine locomotives were numbered by the LMS as No 71
to No 209. After 1948 British Railways renumbered them from No 40071 to No
40209. In a final attempt to improve the class' steaming six locomotives were
rebuilt with larger 6B boilers and these were: No 169 in 1940; No 163 in 1941;
No 148 and No 203 in 1941; and No 40142 and No 40167 in 1956. The re-boilering
was not considered to be cost effective. They were to be found on various
duties stopping train, suburban passenger routes, branch line, empty
stock and banking. They are generally considered to be the least successful of
Staniers standard designs
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