LMS Route: Trent Valley Line

LMS Route: Nuneaton to Leamington

Nuneaton Shed: lnwrns3813

USATC S160 2-8-0 Class No 2153 poses with JM Dunn, shedmaster, outside Nuneaton shed circa 1944. The S160 frames were made of 4½ inch wide cast steel. The wheels were also cast steel. The driving wheels were fitted with 3 inch wide steel tyres with 0.375 inch turned off the inside of the wheel flanges so that they could run on British track. In order to provide a relatively smooth ride when running on poor quality track, the front two driving axles were sprung independently from the rear two driving axles. This worked well when running on British track, but the tyre flanges were thin compared to British locomotives and caused the wheels to occasionally 'pick' points. This was a particular problem when running tender first over tight radius points. The S160's tender was very large compared to British tender standards, and could hold 5400 Imperial gallons of water and 8 tons of coal. The layout was similar to the O7 'Austerity' 2-8-0 with the coal bunker inset above the water tank. This improved the visibility from the cab when running backwards. The first forty three locomotives to arrive in Britain were overhauled by the LNER at Doncaster, and hauled local services whilst running in. The first S160s were concentrated in the South Wales area, so they were quickly transferred to the Great Western Railway (GWR) in early 1943.

Photograph courtesy of the LNWR Society. To order a copy of this photograph email photographs@lnwrs.org.uk and quote 'LNWR Society JMD405'

back