LMS Class 7F 0-8-0

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LMS 7F 0-8-0
300px
49592 at Aintree, June 1948.
Type and origin
Power type Steam
Builder LMS Crewe Works
Build date 1929–1932
Total produced 175
Specifications
Configuration 0-8-0
UIC class D h2
Gauge 4 ft 8 12 in (1,435 mm)
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Wheelbase Loco: 18 ft 3 in (5.56 m)
Length 56 ft 1 in (17.09 m)
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Tender weight Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).
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Fuel type Coal
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Water cap 3,500 imp gal (16,000 L; 4,200 US gal)
Boiler LMS type G7¾S
Boiler pressure 200 lbf/in2 (1.38 MPa)
Firegrate area 23.5 sq ft (2.18 m2)
Heating surface:
 • Tubes and flues
1,434 sq ft (133.2 m2) later 1,402 sq ft (130.3 m2)
 • Firebox 150 sq ft (14 m2)
Superheater:
 • Heating area
353 sq ft (32.8 m2) to 338 sq ft (31.4 m2)
Cylinders Two
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Valve gear Walschaerts, piston valves
Performance figures
Tractive effort 29,745 lbf (132.31 kN)
Career
Power class 7F
Numbers
  • LMS: 9500–9674
  • BR: 49500–49674
Nicknames
  • Baby Austins
  • Austin Sevens
Withdrawn 1949–1962
Disposition All scrapped

The London, Midland and Scottish Railway Fowler Class 7F was a class of 0-8-0 steam locomotives. They were a Midlandised version of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Class G2 and Class G2A 0-8-0s. They were also classified as Class G3 under the former LNWR system.[citation needed] The class were sometimes known as Baby Austins, or Austin 7s, after a motor car that was becoming popular at the time.

Overview

It featured a Belpaire firebox and increased boiler pressure over its predecessor but had the same power rating of 7F. Unfortunately the design had been done at the old Midlands Railway's Derby Works and the drawing office staff insisted on using Midland practice. Among other things this meant that the axle bearings were too small for the loads they had to carry. E.S Cox, writing in a series of articles in Trains Illustrated c. 1957, suggests that they had a sufficiently modern and effective front end that, for steady slogging, some drivers preferred them to an LMS Stanier Class 8F. However, this also meant that, with bearings comparable to an LMS Fowler Class 4F and already inadequate for the lower powered engine, the bearings broke up rapidly.

Numbering

Number Lot
Number
Date
built
Crewe Works
serial Nos.
LMS BR
9500–99 49500–99 57 1929 6872–5971
9600–02 49600–02 71 1930 6047–49
9603–19 49603–19 71 1931 6050–66
9620–32 49620–32 81 1931 1–13
9633 49633 81 1932 14
9634–35 49634–35 81 1931 15–16
9636–59 49636–59 81 1932 17–40
9660–74 49660–74 84 1932 41–55

Equipment

Numbers 9672–74 were fitted with ACFI feedwater heaters when built but these were removed during the Second World War. After the war, five were briefly converted to oil burning.

British Railways

They all survived to pass into British Railways ownership but 122 had been withdrawn by the end of 1951; fifty were withdrawn without receiving their BR number. They had a fairly short life and were all withdrawn between 1949 and 1962, some time before the G2s which lasted until 1964.

Accidents and incidents

  • On 13 March 1935, a milk train was in a rear-end collision with an express freight train at King's Langley, Hertfordshire due to a signalman's error. Another freight train collided with the wreckage. Locomotive No. 9598 was hauling a coal train that ran into the wreckage. One person was killed.[1]
  • On 14 May 1948, a locomotive of the class was hauling a freight train that ran away and was in collision with an empty stock train at Battyeford, Yorkshire.[2]

Withdrawal

Table of withdrawals
Year Quantity in
service at
start of year
Quantity
withdrawn
Locomotive numbers
1949 175 61 9504/07/12/17/18/21/22/27/28/30/33/34/42/46/49/50/59/65/75/73/76/77/84/97/99,
9601/04/06/13/14/16/26/29/32/33/39/42/44/45/46/52/54/56/58/69/70,
49513/25/26/39/51/52/64/81/84, 49607/11/22/30/43/47.
1950 114 37 9514/29, 9619/21,
49500/01/16/19/20/31/35/37/41/43/53/56/61/67/69/74/75/79/83/96,
49605/09/15/28/34/35/36/41/49/51/53/55/65.
1951 77 24 49502/10/23/40/58/68/71/80/85/87/89/90/93/94/95,
49610/17/23/25/31/50/60/63/73.
1952 53 6 49506/48/63/91, 49661/71.
1953 47 4 49524, 49600/08/12.
1954 43 2 49503, 49602.
1955 41 3 49554/57/70.
1956 38 6 49532/52, 49603/20/38/66.
1957 32 12 49536/38/45/47/55/60/66, 49648/57/59/64/72.
1958 20 0
1959 20 11 49509/11/15/78/82/86/92/98, 49640/62/67.
1960 9 4 49505/44, 49624/74.
1961 5 4 49618/27/37/68.
1962 1 1 49508.

References

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  • Ian Allan ABC of British Railways Locomotives, summer 1961 edition, part 3, page 52
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External links