LMS Royal Scot Class

LMS Royal Scot Class
LMS Royal Scot class No. 6137 'Vesta', 1928.
Power type steam
Designer Sir Henry Fowler
rebuilt: Sir William Stanier
Builder North British Locomotive Company (6100–6149)
London Midland & Scottish Railway, Derby works (6150–6169)
Serial number 23595–23644 (6100–6149)
Build date 1927, 1930
Total produced 70
Configuration 4-6-0
Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Leading wheel
diameter		 3 ft 3 1⁄2 in (1.003 m)
Wheel diameter 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Locomotive weight 84.9 long tons (86.3 t)
Boiler G10¼S; rebuilt: 2A
Boiler pressure 250 psi (1.7 MPa) superheated
Cylinders 3
Cylinder size 18 × 26 in (460 × 660 mm)
Valve gear Walschaert (piston valves)
Tractive effort 33,150 lbf (147.5 kN)
Class 6P; reclassified 7P in 1951
Axle load class Route Availability 9

The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Royal Scot Class is a class of 4-6-0 express passenger locomotive introduced in 1927. Originally having parallel boilers, all members were later rebuilt with tapered type 2A boilers, and were in effect two classes.

Contents

Background

Until the mid-1920s, the LMS had followed the Midland Railway's small engine policy, which meant that it had no locomotives of sufficient power for its expresses on the West Coast Main Line. Trains were entrusted to LMS/MR Midland Compounds 4-4-0s, the LNWR Claughton Class and the L&YR Dreadnought 4-6-0s. To remedy the deficiency, construction of 50 of a new class of 4-6-0 was authorised from the North British Locomotive Works in Glasgow. They were introduced without testing, the design being based on the SR Lord Nelson Class, although Radford claims that the boiler owed much to the MR 0-10-0 Lickey Banker 'Big Bertha'. A further 20 were built by Derby Works.

They were initially named after regiments of the British Army, and after historical LNWR locomotives. Those with LNWR names were renamed in 1935 and 1936 with more names of regiments.

From late 1931, after several bizarre forms of smoke deflectors were tried on various locomotives to stop drifting smoke obscuring the crew's forward vision, the straight sided smoke deflectors were added. These were later replaced by deflectors with angled top. From 1933 the class were taken off the top-link expresses, being superseded by the LMS Princess Royal Class and later the LMS Princess Coronation Class pacifics.

North American Tour

In 1933 one locomotive was sent to North America on a tour, 6152 swapping identities with 6100 The Royal Scot, the identities never being swapped back after its return.

Fury

LMS 6399 Fury, built in 1929, was an unsuccessful experimental prototype locomotive with a high-pressure, water tube boiler and compound 3-cylinder drive, based on the Royal Scot. It was rebuilt by William Stanier in 1935 with a Type 2 conventional boiler to become 6170 British Legion. This served as the blueprint for later rebuilding, but always remained a one-off.

Rebuilding

In 1942 the LMS rebuilt two LMS Jubilee Class locomotives with Type 2A boilers, but later turned to the parallel-boilered Royal Scots whose boilers and cylinders were life-expired, and whose smokeboxes were difficult to keep airtight. Between 1943 and 1955 the whole class was rebuilt.[1]Most of these were however "paper" rebuilds, being in effect new locomotives, but rebuilding was more easily justified in the eyes of accountants and of the wartime government. The new 'Rebuilt Scot' design was carried out under the auspices of William Stanier, who was then engaged on war work, and so was actually undertaken by George Ivatt and E.S. Cox.[2] Initially these too were built without smoke deflectors but later acquired them.

Withdrawal

All were withdrawn between 1962 and 1965.

The class title of Royal Scot was subsequently re-used in 1976 as an official name for the then-new Class 87s but it never stuck, partly out of respect for the original fleet.

Details

Note: Built below refers to the 'LMS build date'.


Preservation

Two have been preserved. These are (4)6100 Royal Scot and (4)6115 Scots Guardsman. No. 6100 Royal Scot is owned by Bressingham Steam Museum in Norfolk, and returned to steam for first time in over 20 years at the West Somerset Railway's 2009 spring gala.

In fiction

This class forms the basis for the Big City Engine in The Railway Series. No. 6115 Scots Guardsman featured in the 1936 film Night Mail.

Models

Models to 00 scale of the Royal Scot in both unrebuilt and rebuilt forms have been produced by several manufacturers, and each has been available in several liveries with a variety of numbers and names. Mainline (Palitoy) introduced a model of the rebuilt locomotives in 1977[3] and they were followed by Airfix who introduced their own version in 1978,[4] but after the Airfix range was incorporated into the Mainline range, the ex-Airfix model was dropped. In unrebuilt form, G & R Wrenn introduced a model in 1980;[5] and Mainline introduced their own version in 1982.[3] Bachmann took over the tooling for both of the Mainline locomotives, and did do several production runs,[6] with the ultimate intention of re-tooling the design to upgrade it to modern standards and detailing, but unfortunately for them, Hornby beat them to it.

Hornby produced their own Rebuilt Scots, these being introduced in 2007, along with the rebuilt patriot locomotives. Rivarossi (now part of Hornby) made a similar model of the No. 6100 in an intermediate 1:80 scale (approx. 3.8mm/ft) between HO & OO in 1977 based on the original unrebuilt form in LMS livery. It also made another model of the No. 6140 "Hector" sister engine.

Graham Farish released a 'N' gauge model in 2009, in LMS Black, and BR Brunswick Green liveries.

Brassmasters did a limited edition kit in 4mm.

The erstwhile Kitmaster company produced an unpowered polystyrene injection moulded model kit for TT gauge. In late 1962, the Kitmaster brand was sold by its parent company (Rosebud Dolls) to Airfix. It is thought that the moulds for this locomotive were amongst those lost or destroyed at about this time or before. As a result, unmade examples of this kit exchange hands between collectors for considerable sums. [7]

Gallery

References

  1. ^ Classic British steam locomotives, Abbeyille Press, 2004. p.117.
  2. ^ O.S. Nock, British locomotives of the twentieth century, vol. 2 1930-1960, Patrick Stephens, 1984, pp.136-7.
  3. ^ a b Ramsay, John; Hammond, Pat (2002) [1998]. King, John. ed. Ramsay's British Model Trains Catalogue (3rd ed.). Felixstowe: Swapmeet Publications. p. 205. ISBN 0 9528352 7 4. 
  4. ^ Ramsay & Hammond 2002, p. 24
  5. ^ Ramsay & Hammond 2002, p. 314
  6. ^ Ramsay & Hammond 2002, pp. 32–33
  7. ^ Knight, Stephen (1999). Let's Stick Together: An Appreciation of Kitmaster and Airfix Railway Kits. Clopthill: Irwell Press. pp. 7,9,41,46,66. ISBN 1 871608 90 2. 
Hughes (1923–1925)
Fowler (1925–1931)
Stanier (1932–1944)
Fairburn (1944–1945)
Ivatt (1945–1947)
Other designs