The Highland Railway F class 4-4-0s were a class of British steam locomotives introduced in 1874. The first 10 were built by Dübs and Company in 1874. A further seven were built in Lochgorm works between 1876 and 1888. Originally they were the first Bruce class, and later became known as the Duke class to avoid confusion with the second Bruce class. As part of Peter Drummond's 1901 classification scheme they became class F.
Dimensions They featured 6-feet 3½-inch driving wheels and weighed . The original batch had boilers pressed to , the later batch had slightly smaller boilers but a higher pressure of . Of typical Allan/Jones appearance, they had outside cylinders of .
Disposal Withdrawal commenced in 1907, and by 1909 all-but-one of the Dübs-built examples had been withdrawn. Numbers 31A and 74 were retired in 1913, number 71A was broken up in 1915. The remaining five survived until 1923 but none of them acquired a new London, Midland and Scottish Railway number.
Numbering + Table of locomotives HRNo. Firstname Manufacturer SerialNo. Datenew Datewithdrawn Notes 60 Bruce Dübs & Co. 714 1909 Renamed Sutherland in 1884 61 Sutherlandshire Dübs & Co. 715 1907 Renamed Duke in 1877 62 Perthshire Dübs & Co. 716 1909 Renamed Stemster in 1889, Huntingtower in 1899, and Aultwherrie in 1903 63 Inverness-shire Dübs & Co. 717 1907 Renamed Inverness 64 Morayshire Dübs & Co. 718 1909 Renamed Seafield c. 1889 65 Nairnshire Dübs & Co. 719 1909 Renamed Dalraddy 66 Ross-shire Dübs & Co. 720 1907 Renamed Ardvuela 67 The Duke Dübs & Co. 721 1923 Renamed Cromartie in 1877. Renumbered 67A in 1918, 70A in 1923. 68 Caithness-shire Dübs & Co. 722 1907 Renamed Caithness, then Muirtown 69 The Lord Provost Dübs & Co. 723 1909 Renamed Sir James, then Aldourie 4 Ardross Lochgorm — 1913 Renamed Auchtertyre in 1901. Renumbered 31 in 1899, and 31A in 1911. 71 Clachnacuddin Lochgorm — 1915 Renumbered 71A in 1912 72 Bruce Lochgorm — 1923 Renamed Grange c. 1886. Renumbered 72A in 1915 73 Thurlow Lochgorm — 1923 Name removed at unknown date; renamed Rosehaugh in 1898. Renumbered 73A in 1916 74 Beaufort Lochgorm — 1913 Name removed at unknown date 75 Breadalbane Lochgorm — 1923 Renumbered 75A in 1917 84 Dochfour Lochgorm — 1923 Renumbered 84A in 1917
References
H. A. Vallance (1938) The Highland Railway