LMS Fowler Class 4F

The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Fowler Class 4F is a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotive designed for medium freight work. They represent the ultimate development of the Midland Railway's six-coupled tender engines. Many trainspotters knew them as "Duck Sixes", a nickname derived from their wheel arrangement.Platforms Souls (Chap.1), Whittaker, Nicholas, Gollancz, London, 1995

Background The 4F was based on the 197-strong Midland Railway 3835 Class of 1911, with only a few modifications, primarily the adoption of left-hand drive instead of right-hand drive. They originally had been designed by Henry Fowler, who from 1925 became CME of the LMS.

Midland Railway locomotives were notorious for their short axle-box bearings, which were prone to overheating. This design feature was perpetuated in the LMS 4F. The problem was eventually solved with the fitting of mechanical lubricators.

Construction

The LMS constructed 530 of the locomotives between 1923 and 1928, numbered sequentially from where the Midland engines left off from 4027. A further 45 examples were reluctantly authorised by William Stanier in 1937 at the behest of the operating department.

+ LMS nos. BR nos. Lot No. Date built Built by 4027–4034 44027–44034 7 1924 Derby 4035–4056 44035–44056 7 1925 Derby 4057–4081 44057–44081 8 1925 North British Loco 4082–4106 44082–44106 9 1925 Kerr Stuart 4107 44107 10 1924 Crewe 4108–4158 44108–44158 10 1925 Crewe 4159–4176 44159–44176 10 1926 Crewe 4177–4178 44177–44178 11 1924 St. Rollox 4179–4206 44179–44206 11 1925 St. Rollox 4207–4216 44207–44216 29 1925 Derby 4217–4287 44217–44287 29 1926 Derby 4288–4301 44288–44301 29 1927 Derby 4302–4311 44302–44311 28 1926 Crewe 4312–4322 44312–44322 30 1927 St. Rollox 4323–4331 44323–44331 30 1928 St. Rollox 4332–4342 44332–44342 31 1926 Kerr Stuart 4343–4356 44343–44356 31 1927 Kerr Stuart 4357–4361 44357–44361 32 1926 Andrew Barclay 4362–4381 44362–44381 32 1927 Andrew Barclay 4382–4399 44382–44399 33 1926 North British Loco 4400–4406 44400–44406 33 1927 North British Loco 4407–4436 44407–44436 42 1927 Derby 4437–4446 44437–44446 43 1927 Crewe 4447–4456 44447–44456 43 1928 Crewe 4457–4466 44457–44466 44 1928 Horwich 4467–4476 44467–44476 45 1928 St. Rollox 4477–4506 44477–44506 46 1927 North British Loco 4507–4556 44507–44556 56 1928 Crewe 4562–4575 44562–44575 137 1937 Crewe 4577–4586 44577–44586 146 1939 Derby 4587–4596 44587–44596 147 1939 Derby 4597–4604 44597–44604 147 1940 Derby 4605–4606 44605–44606 147 1941 Derby

The missing numbers (4)4557–61 relate to five locomotives built for the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway to the Midland Railway 3835 Class design in 1922, and taken into LMS stock in 1930.

All entered British Railways stock in 1948. BR added 40000 to their numbers. They were all withdrawn between 1959 and 1966.

Accidents and incidents On 12 February 1929, locomotive No. 4491 was hauling a freight train that was in a head-on collision with an express passenger train, hauled by LNWR Claughton Class 4-6-0 No. 5977, at station, Derbyshire due to a signalman's error. Two people were killed. On 4 September 1942, locomotive No. 4541 was hauling a freight train that overran the end of a loop in blackout conditions at , Yorkshire and was derailed. On 6 June 1961, a locomotive of the class was running light when it was in a head-on collision with a freight train at station, Cumberland.

Withdrawal The locomotives were withdrawn from 1959 to 1966.

+ Year Quantity inservice atstart of year Quantitywithdrawn Locomotive numbers 1959 575 44 44032/50/58/64/72–73/85/95,44103/08/16/20/36/40/42/44–45/61/73/75,44201/04/17/25/27/30/85/91/93/98,44306/13/16–17/26/57/61/65/69/72/82–83/85, 44423. 1960 531 41 44029/31/52/77/93, 44163, 44343/60/66/75/91,44406/10/12/15/27/30/38/53/59/71/73/80/83/88/95–96/98,44502–03/06–07/10–11/13/15/46/55/63/85, 44600. 1961 490 23 44033/67/77/82/88/90, 44105/07/11/41/47–48/52,44206/49, 44319/24/71, 44409/74/77, 44547/90. 1962 467 74 44036/62/70/87,44107/22/28–29/38/43/54/58–59/66/87/89/93–94/96/98–99,44216/24/28/34/45/51/53–58/67/73/81/83,44307/12/14/18/20/22–23/25/28–31/38/40/68/88/93/97,44404/07/17/35/38/87/91,44508–09/18/21/37/50/53/73/76/79/94, 44606. 1963 393 134 44034/46–47/53/55/66/68–69/71/74/83/85/89/94/97–98,44100–01/12/14/19/26/32–33/50–51/53/62/64/68/74/76/83–84/86/90,44202/05/07–09/12/19/23/31–32/37–39/41/52/61–62/65/68/70/72/74/80/82/87/92/97/99,40303/08–09/35–36/41–42/45/51–52/54/59/63/70/74/78/87/95/98,44411/13/16/18–19/24/26/32/34/37/42/44–45/47–48/54–55/57/65/69–70/72/75–76/85/93–94,44504/17/19/23–24/26/30/32/35/39/41–42/45/51/56/62/68/74/82/84/92/95–96/98. 1964 259 153 44027/30/38–42/45/48–49/51/54/59–60/78–80/91–92/96,44102/06/09–10/17/24/30–31/34/46/49/56/65/67/71–72/77–80/82/85/91/97,44213–14/20–22/26/29/33/35–36/40/42/44/46/48/59–60/75/79/84/86/88–90/95–96,44301–02/04/15/21/27/32–33/37/44/48/62/64/67/73/76/79–81/84/92/96/99,44403/21/28/31/33/36/39–41/52/60–61/63–64/67–68/78–79/81–82/84/97/99,44501/12/14/16/20/29/31/33–34/38/40/43/49/52/54/64–67/69/71–72/75/77–78/80–81/83/86/88–89/91/93, 44602–05. 1965 106 95 44028/35/43–44/56–57/61/63/65/75–76/81/86/99,44115/18/21/23/25/27/31/37/39/55/57/60/69–70/81/88/92/95,44200/10–11/15/43/47/50/63–64/66/69/71/76–77/94,44300/05/34/39/46–47/49–50/53/56/58/86/89–90,44400–02/08/14/20/22/25/29/43/49–51/56/58/62/66/86/89–90,44505/22/27–28/36/44/48/70/87/97/99, 44601. 1966 11 11 44113, 44203/18/78, 44310–11/77/94, 44405, 44500/25.

Preservation

Three LMS-built 4Fs survive. The first-built LMS 4F, No. (4)4027is part of the National Collection.

NumbersBuiltBuilderWithdrawnService LifeLocationImageConditionLMSBR402744027Nov 1924Derby WorksNov 196440 YearsVale of Berkeley RailwayOverhaul in progress following the loco's arrival at Sharpness.412344123Jul 1925Crewe WorksJun 196539 Years, 11 monthsAvon Valley RailwayRestoration in progress.442244422Oct 1927Derby WorksJun 196537 Years, 8 monthsChurnet Valley RailwayUnder overhaul. Returned to the CVR in December 2019 following the termination of its previous loan agreement with the West Somerset Railway.

Models The 4F has been modelled by Lima (O gauge, HO gauge and British N gauge) and Graham Farish (British N Gauge, still produced under the Bachmann label). Airfix produced a tender drive model of the 4F in OO gauge in 1978. Production of this was continued by Dapol after it acquired Airfix models in 1985, and were subsequently sold to Hornby in the late 1990s. They upgraded the model with an improved chassis in 2012. Bachmann have produced a version of the Midland railway variant of the 4F since 2012.

References

Sources David Hunt, John Jennison Bob Essery & Fred James LMS Locomotive Profiles No.10: The Standard Class 4 Goods 0-6-0s (pictorial supplement )

LMS Fowler Class 4F

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