The Midland Railway 1377 Class was a class of 185 0-6-0T tank locomotives. They were introduced in 1878 by Samuel W. Johnson, and were almost identical to the 1102 class of 1874; the latter having fully enclosed cabs, while the 1377 class were built without a rear to the cab and only a short cab roof, hence their nickname "half-cabs". They were given the power classification 1F.

Construction history Up to 1891, 185 were built: 165 by Derby Works and the last 20 by the Vulcan Foundry. Originally they were built with type A boilers with round-topped fireboxes, but many later received type G5 boilers with Belpaire fireboxes.

+ Table of orders and numbers Original No. 1907 (& LMS) No. Manufacturer Works Nos. Qty Year Notes 1377–1386 1660–1669 Derby Works (order no. 202) 10 1878 1387–1396 1670–1679 Derby Works (order no. 218) 10 1878 1347–1356 1680–1689 Derby Works (order no. 218) 10 1879 1420–1427, 220, 221 1690–1699 Derby Works (order no. 239) 10 1879 1410–1419 1700–1709 Derby Works (order no. 262) 10 1880 1552–1561 1710–1719 Derby Works (order no. 340) 10 1882 Originally built as "1552 Class" variant with cut-down boiler mountings and cab. 210–212, 215, 216,218, 219, 1397–1399 1720–1729 Derby Works (order no. 414) 10 1883 1677–1686 1730–1739 Derby Works (order no. 496) 10 1884 1090–1092, 1094, 1095 1740–1744 Derby Works (order no. 496) 5 1884 1687–1696 1745–1754 Derby Works (order no. 499) 10 1884 1096–1100 1755–1759 Derby Works (order no. 499) 5 1885 200, 201, 213, 214, 217,222, 223, 1093, 1101, 1431 1760–1769 Derby Works (order no. 824) 10 1889–90 1843–1847 1770–1774 Derby Works (order no. 854) 10 1890 85–87, 11, 14 1775–1779 Derby Works (order no. 854) 10 1890 Renumbered 1102–1106 in 1891 203, 1848–1852, 1973–1976 1780–1789 Derby Works (order no. 854) 10 1890 1977–1981 1790–1794 Derby Works (order no. 943) 5 1890 880–889 1795–1804 Derby Works (order no. 883) 10 1890 1982–1991 1805–1814 Derby Works (order no. 968) 10 1891 Originally built as "1552 Class" variant with cut-down boiler mountings and cab. 1992, 1107–1115 1815–1824 Derby Works (order no. 991) 10 1891 1993–2012 1825–1844 Vulcan Foundry 1355–1374 20 1892

Service history

All 185 passed to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) at the grouping in 1923. Withdrawals started in 1927 and 72 locomotives passed into British Railways ownership in 1948, having 40000 added to their LMS numbers, although 14 were withdrawn before being applied. Withdrawals continued and by 1961 only 11 remained; the last five were withdrawn in September 1965. The class had only lasted so long because the Midland Railway had signed a contract in 1866 to provide shunting engines to Staveley Ironworks for 100 years; at the time the 1Fs were the only locomotives suitable for this duty.

Beyond their work with the Midland Railway, LMS and British Railways, six members of this class - 1666, 1708, 1751, 1788, 1839 and 1890 - were requisitioned by the War Department during World War II between 1940 and 1944, to operate the Melbourne Military Railway (MMR) in South Derbyshire. No. 1839 was replaced by No. 1773 during its time on the MMR.Railway Magazine, January/February, 1946, pp. 53-54 - ″The Melbourne Military Railway"

+ Table of withdrawals Year Quantity inservice atstart of year Quantitywithdrawn Locomotive numbers Notes 1927 185 1 1791 1928 184 1 1684 1929 183 0 – 1930 183 13 1673, 1701/07/22–23/37/44/74/84,1801/21/28/43 1931 170 5 1677, 1729/87, 1800/08 1932 165 53 1663/67/75/80/83/85/87–88/97–98,1703/09/15–16/19/21/28/31–32/35–36/41/50/56–58,1760/62/64–65/71/76/83/86/90/92/97–98, 1806–07/09/12–13/15/17/19–20/22–23/31/34/37/40 1831 rebuilt as diesel shunter 1933 112 15 1662/78/89/93,1704–05/33/61/72/75/82/89,1825/36/41 10 reinstated: 1756/62/71/97,1807/13/15/17/19–20 1934 107 3 1679/92, 1766 1935 104 5 1669/91/94, 1717/46 1936 99 3 1696, 1730, 1817 1937 96 4 1665, 1796, 1819/30 1938 92 5 1670, 1740/99, 1807/27 1939 87 2 1743, 1832 1940–5 85 0 – 1946 85 6 1681, 1742/51/55/71, 1816 1947 79 7 1700/38/78/85, 1802/10/15 1948 72 8 1668/74, 1714/18/59/62, 1818/42 1949 64 4 1676, 1756/68/88 1950 60 0 – 1951 60 6 1690, 1781, 41745/67/93, 41824 1952 54 4 41727/94, 41820/29 1953 50 6 41660/64/66/95, 41770/80 1954 44 5 41711/47, 41811/13/33 1955 39 5 41671–72/82, 41713/25 1956 34 8 41686, 41720/77, 41805/14/26/38–39 1957 26 7 41699, 41706/10/48/53/79, 41803 1958 19 2 41724/52 1959 17 4 41661, 41726/95/97 1960 13 2 41754/73 1961 11 0 – 1962 11 3 41702/49/69 1963 8 1 41739 1964 7 2 41712, 41844 1965 5 5 41708/34/63, 41804/35

Conversion In 1931, the frames of 1831 were used for LMS diesel shunter 1831. This was an experimental diesel (one of the first diesel locomotives on the LMS' network) and was intended for shunting work within railway yards, but it wasn't successful when it was put into service in 1932. The locomotive was later put into storage in 1936 and officially withdrawn from service in September 1939. It was converted to a mobile power unit (an MPU3) in November 1940 and ultimately scrapped in August 1951.

Preservation

One of the Staveley engines, 1418 (renumbered 1708 by the Midland Railway in 1907, and 41708 by British Railways), is preserved at Barrow Hill Engine Shed, previously at the Midland Railway - Butterley, the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, and the Swanage Railway respectively. Sometime during 1994 while visiting the Dean Forest Railway, No. 41708 was renumbered and ran as No. 41720. This change was rectified by 1997. This engine became the inspiration for the Bachmann Branchline OO scale model of the class introduced in 2014. The model, the dispute and the class had an extensive write up in Model Rail during 2014.Model Rail no. 200 (September 2014): pp. 16-19 Barrow Hill began restoring the locomotive to working order in November 2020. Preserved British Steam Locomotives: 41708 (MR 1418, LMS 1708 and BR 41708)

References