LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0

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45333 and 44665 inside Annesley shed on 11 September 1965. 45333 has a domed boiler, whilst 44665 has one of the later Ivatt forward top-feed type boilers.

44662 at Leeds City in 1966 or 1967 with an Ivatt forward topfeed boiler.

44694 and 45209 at Bradford Exchange

44964 passing St. Dunstans

The London Midland and Scottish Railway's Class 5 4-6-0, almost universally known as the Black Five, is a class of steam locomotive. It was introduced by William Stanier in 1934 and 842 were built between then and 1951. Members of the class survived to the last day of steam on British Railways, in 1968 and eighteen are preserved.

[edit] Origins

The Black Fives were a mixed traffic locomotive, a "do-anything go-anywhere" type, designed by Stanier, who had previously been with the GWR. In his early LMS days he acquiesced with the completion of a small number of 2-6-0s already under construction. But Stanier realised that there was a need for larger locomotives. These were to be the LMS's equivalent to the GWR Halls. They shared similar cylinder arrangement (two outside) and 6' driving wheel diameters.

[edit] Construction

There was a number of detail variations in the locomotives, and they did not all remain in the same condition as built. Some locomotives built under British Railways administration were used as test beds for various design modifications with a view to incorporating the successful modifications in the Standard Classes of locomotives built from 1951 onwards. These modifications included outside Caprotti valve gear, roller bearings (both Timken and Skefco types) on the driving coupled axles and an experimental steel firebox with a rocking firegrate (for ease of cleaning). Other locomotives had modified draughting to "self clean" the smokebox.

[edit] The domeless engines

Numbering initially started with 5000, with the twenty being ordered from Crewe Works and eighty from the Vulcan Foundry. The first to emerge was the first Vulcan Foundry engine, 5020 in 1934, the first built Crewe engine no 5000 not completed until 1935. The originals were built with domeless boilers with low degree superheat. However, many received later type boilers later in their lives.

[edit] The prewar domed engines

A further 227 were ordered from Armstrong-Whitworth in 1936, the largest single locomotive order ever given by a British railway to an outside contractor. Crewe built a further 142. These had domed high degree superheat boilers.

5471, built at Crewe in 1938 would be the last built for five years. During the early stages of the Second World War the priority was for heavy freight engines and the closely-related 8Fs were produced in vast numbers.

[edit] Wartime and postwar domed engines

In 1943 construction was restarted with Derby Works building its first. However, after number 5499 was built, the numbering block hit that of the Patriot Class, and so new engines were numbered from 4800 onwards. However, after another 200 were built they again ran out of numbers, so they started numbering below 4800. By this time, the LMS had been nationalisated into British Railways and BR added 40000 to all their numbers. Eventually the 842 examples would number 44658-45499.

[edit] Ivatt engines and experimental modifications

Post-war examples were built with forward topfeeds. In 1948 George Ivatt introduced more modifications to bearings and valve gear. 4767 was built with Stephenson link motion in 1947. 44738-57 were built with Caprotti valve gear. The last two, 44686 and 44687 built at Horwich in 1951, had even more modifications.

[edit] Names

One of only a handful of named black fives, 45154 Lanarckshire Yeomanry at Sheffield Brightside on 20 September 1959.

Only four black fives received names, though several have been named in preservation (see below). All of them were named after Scottish regiments. In addition, there is some evidence to suggest that 5155 carried the name Queen's Edinburgh during the Second World War, though no-one has managed to confirm this.

For some reason that appears to have been lost they were almost invariably known as 'Hikers' in Scotland.

[edit] Preservation

45305 on the Great Central Railway

45231 and 45305 on shed.

45407 on the North Yorks Moors Railway.

18 have been preserved, these being:

[edit] In fiction

In The Railway Series of childrens' books by the Rev. W. Awdry, the character Henry the Green Engine, after his rebuild, is based on a Black Five.

[edit] Sound

• 45212 passing Green End

[edit] See also

BR standard class 5

[edit] External links

• http://www.semg.org.uk/visitor/visitor_6.html#45349

http://rileysontour.fotopic.net/