Midland Railway Paget locomotive

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The only known photograph of the Paget locomotive is this official portrait.

The Midland Railway's Paget locomotive, No. 2299, was an experimental steam locomotive constructed at its Derby Works in 1908 to the design of the General Superintendent Cecil Walter Paget (though Richard Deeley was Locomotive Superintendent at the time).

It was designed on the principle of the Willans high speed central valve engines, some which had been installed at the works. It had a total of eight cylinders arranged in two groups of four placed between the 1st and 2nd and 2nd and 3rd driving axles, with rotary steam distibution valves placed over each. Two were connected to the forward pair of the six driving wheels. Four were connected, two each side to the centre pair , with the final two behind the last pair. These drove a jackshaft which operated and reversed the valves, and cut off was controlled by rotary sleeves.

The boiler was large and had an integral firebox. Two wheel pony trucks were fitted front and rear. It was the first 2-6-2 tender locomotive in Great Britain and would be the only one until the LNER Class V2 of 1936.

Paget had initially financed it himself, but unfortunately ran out of money, and the railway made up for the difference. There has been a history on the railways of a distrust of new ideas and Paget and Deeley were not onthe best of terms. Lowe suggests that there was great hostility to it.

However, it had problems with seizing of the phosphor bronze sleeves in the cast iron steam chest, with leakage in the glands and piston rings.

It was soon put in store at Derby and was broken up in 1919.

There is only one known photograph of the engine as the Midland shrouded it in secrecy, which was released after the grouping.