LMS Route: Trent Valley Line

LMS Route: Nuneaton to Leamington

Nuneaton Shed: lnwrns3812

USATC S160 2-8-0 Class No 2153 is seen in steam coaled and watered outside Nuneaton shed circa 1944. On the left LMS Stanier 8F 2-8-0 No 8135 follows on behind the S160 after being coaled and watered. The S160 was allocated to 6B Mold Junction shed and may have been on a running in turn after some work on the valve gear which looks much cleaner than the rest of the locomotive. The locomotives were a standard design used by the US Army Transportation Corps (USATC), and shipped to Britain during World War 2 in large numbers ready for the Invasion of France in 1944. Prior to the invasion, they were used by all four of Britain's main railway companies. The S160 was designed in May 1942 by Major JW Marsh from the Railway Branch of the Corps of Engineers. The Corps would later become a part of the Transportation Corps (USATC). Many details from the 'Lend-Lease' S200 (a 2-8-2 designed for the British Army) were incorporated into the S160 design. However, the S160 was also an Austerity design with many features chosen for fast construction rather than long life, such as axlebox grease lubricators being used, and rolled plates being preferred to castings. A total of almost 800 were built between 1942 and 1943, and shipped to Britain. These were constructed in thirteen batches by the American Locomotive Company (Alco), Baldwin, and Lima. The above locomotive was the second locomotive of a batch of niney built by Lima in 1943. Although intended for use after the invasion, the first four hundred were put to immediate use by the British War Department working with the 'Big Four' railway companies. This is one of three photographs of No 2153 at Nuneaton therefore further prototype information has been added to the other two captions.

Photograph courtesy of the LNWR Society. To order a copy of this photograph email photographs@lnwrs.org.uk and quote 'LNWR Society JMD/406'

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