LMS Route: Birmingham New Street to Tamworth

Tamworth High Level Station: mrthl1114

British Railways Standard Class 9F 2-10-0 No 92025 passes through Tamworth on a down freight service. Built at Crewe works in June 1955, No 92025 had its preheater sealed in January 1960 and from this date ran as a conventional locomotive until November 1967 when it was withdrawn from 8H Birkenhead shed. The locomotive is one of ten 9F locomotives (Nos 92020-9) fitted with Franco-Crosti boilers, thus forming a subclass. All ten were built in 1955 at Crewe Works. The Franco-Crosti boiler took the form of a single cylindrical water drum running along the underside of the main boiler barrel; the standard chimney at the front was only used during lighting-up, in normal working the gases went through firetubes inside the preheater drum that led to a second smokebox situated beneath the boiler from which there emerged a chimney on the right-hand side (fireman's), just forward of the firebox.

In the event, the experiment did not deliver the hoped-for benefits, and efficiency was not increased sufficiently to justify the cost and complexity. Moreover, conditions were unpleasant on the footplate in a cross-wind, this in spite the later provision of a small deflector plate forward of the chimney. These problems led to the subsequent sealing off of the preheater drum, over the period 1959-1961, and the locomotives were then worked conventionally. As a result of this, there was a reduced ability to generate steam, and so their power classification was reduced from 9F to 8F. All were fitted with the BR1B-type 4,275 imperial gallons tender.

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