Highland Railway W Class
Highland Railway W class
Type and origin |
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Power type |
Steam |
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Designer |
Peter Drummond |
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Builder |
HR Lochgorm Works |
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Build date |
1905–1906 |
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Total produced |
4 |
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|
|
|
Career |
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Operators |
HR → LMS → BR (Sc) |
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Class |
HR: W |
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Power class |
LMS: 0P |
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Withdrawn |
1930–1957 |
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Disposition |
All scrapped, but the locomotive this class was based on, the prototype, is preserved. |
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The Highland Railway W class were four small 0-4-4T locomotives built by the Highland Railway in 1905–1906 to the design of locomotive superintendent Peter Drummond. They were the last engines that were built at the company's Lochgorm works in Inverness, and were used on branch line services.
Predecessor
Dunrobin was an 0-4-4T built in 1895 by Sharp, Stewart & Co. for the 4th Duke of Sutherland.[1] The W class were near-clones of Dunrobin.[2]
Numbers / Names
Table of locomotives
HR No. | HR Name | Built | Withdrawn | LMS No. | BR | Notes |
25 | Strathpeffer | 000000001905-03-01-0000March 1905 | 000000001965-06-01-0000June 1965 | 15051 | 55051 | Name removed in 1920 |
40 | Gordon Lennox | 000000001905-09-01-0000September 1905 | 000000001930-12-01-0000December 1930 | 15052 | — | Name removed in 1920 |
45 | — | 000000001905-12-01-0000December 1905 | 000000001957-01-01-0000January 1957 | 15053 | 55053 | |
46 | — | 000000001906-02-01-0000February 1906 | 000000001945-10-01-0000October 1945 | 15054 | — | |
Service
All four locomotives passed to the LMS in 1923, where they were numbered 15051–15054 and given power classification '0P'. Locomotive 15052 was withdrawn in 1930, and 15054 followed in the 1940s, but the other two survived to become British Railways 55051 and 55053. These spent their final years based at Helmsdale for working the Dornoch Light Railway, which required locomotives with exceptionally light axle loadings. By the time they were finally withdrawn (in 1956 and 1957 respectively) they were the last former Highland Railway locomotives still in use, and were still in almost original condition.
In order to replace these locomotives, British Railways transferred two GWR 1600 Class 0-6-0PT locomotives (numbers 1646 and 1649) to Helmsdale to work the Dornoch line.
References
- ↑ Streeter, Tony (January 7 – February 3, 2011). "Dunrobin: coming home and steaming in 2013!". Steam Railway (Peterborough: Bauer Media) (384): 6, 8.
- ↑ Streeter, Tony (January 7 – February 3, 2011). "A Highland legacy". Steam Railway (Peterborough: Bauer Media) (384): 8.
- Baxter, Bertram (1984). Baxter, David, ed. British Locomotive Catalogue 1825–1923, Volume 4: Scottish and remaining English Companies in the LMS Group. Ashbourne, Derbyshire: Moorland Publishing Company. p. 199.
- Haresnape, Brian; Rowledge, Peter (1982). Drummond Locomotives, a pictorial history. Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allen Limited. pp. 103, 112, 127. ISBN 0-7110-1206-7.
- Longworth, Hugh (2005). British Railways Steam Locomotives 1948-1968.
- Vallance, H. A. (1938). The Highland Railway.
External links