British 8 coupled loco's

Yes, well that only explains why they didn't build 28xxs and O4s ...

Tom

 

I wonder if LMS drawings etc were more standardised? Thinking of the fun Packard had with Rolls Royce Merlin drawings. Or it could have been to avoid union issues (when Riddles built the austerities there were issues with unions eanting guarantees they wouldn't be used after the war, and Riddles made a tart comment "they can push them into the sea for all I care"). You don't offend local piecework rates if you build something different)

(Nb ftaod, i am not making an anti-union point. That system won a bigger war than any more "modern" systems have done)

 

The 8F's built by Eastleigh , Brighton and Ashford were for LMS and LNER. I suspect they were used on running in turns but were quickly forwarded to their new owners.
The Eastleigh/Southampton area saw plenty of 8F's 28xx and S160's working over the DN&S for a few years in the build up to D Day and for the year afterwards.
I seem to recall that the S160's which were prepared at Eastleigh after import via Southampton were moved on elsewhere very quickly. A small batch worked from Exmouth Jn in late 1943/early 1944. (Over Here by R N Higgins published in 1980)

Cheers, Neil

 

This is correct, but as every journalist knows, never let the facts get in the way of a good story!

I hold a number of the drawings for the 8F Locomotive Society, and they certainly do not follow modern practice. Eric Langridge stated that Charles Fairbairn, when he became CME, wanted to impose more standard drawing systems, a not too popular move.

 

Apologies to LNER enthusiasts. When writing the above, I forgot the Thompson Q1 0-8-0T rebuilds, which briefly counted as the LNER standard design for heavy shunting. To complete the picture, perhaps we should also note the T1 4-8-0T, where the LNER built a few to add to those inherited from the NER.

https://www.lner.info/locos/Q/q1thompson.php
https://www.lner.info/locos/T/t1.php

Thank-you for drawing attention to this 2-8-0T design. Smart-looking train. I was really struggling to find examples of 2-8-0T engines, apart from the numerous GWR 4200 class. I had not realized that the Swedish narrow-gauge, especially Swedish 3-ft /891mm, was so extensive - I must do some reading!

As an aside, I note that a Swedish foot was exactly the length of a sheet of A4 paper - 297mm. It seems weird that international standard paper sizes should be neat round numbers in historic Swedish units!

The British Isles had one class of 8-coupled tank engine on the British 3-ft / 914mm gauge - a 4-8-4T on the Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway. Two engines were built in 1912 and scrapped in 1954 after the railway closed. At 55 tons, they were the largest British Isles narrow-gauge locomotives until the recent introduction of South African Garratts on the Welsh Highland line.

 

Not forgetting also the ex GC S1 0-8-4 tank locos.