LMS Stanier Class 8F


The London Midland and Scottish Railway's 8F class 2-8-0 heavy freight locomotive is a class of steam locomotive designed for hauling heavy freight. 852 were built between 1935 and 1946, as a freight version of William Stanier's successful Black Five, and the class saw extensive service overseas during and after the Second World War.

Background

LMS freight traction suffered from the adoption of the Midland Railway's small engine policy which had left it with trains double-headed by underpowered 0-6-0s supplemented by inadequate Garratts and Fowler 7F 0-8-0s.
The 8F design incorporated the two-cylinder arrangement of the Black Fives. They were initially classified 7F, but this was later changed to the more familiar 8F.
On the outbreak of the Second World War, the design was chosen to become the country's standard freight design, reprising the role the GCR Class 8K had in the First World War. The War Department had 208 8Fs built by Beyer Peacock and North British Locomotive Company and requisitioned 51 more.
Stanier 8F production for the WD continued until 1943 when the cheaper WD Austerity 2-8-0 was introduced. Production for British domestic use continued until 1946.

Construction

Overseas service

The War Department originally ordered 8Fs for service in support of the British Expeditionary Force, but they were not delivered until after the Fall of France. However, most of them did see wartime military service overseas in Egypt, Palestine, Iran and Italy. Many of these locomotives were later sold to the local railways in these countries, and some were also sold to Turkey and Iraq.

Egypt

The British Army's Middle East Forces in Egypt received 42 8Fs in 1941-42, with some having been lost at sea en route possibly on the. Some of these were loaned to Egyptian State Railways and the others were used by the MEF on the Western Desert Extension Railway. The scarcity of water made steam locomotive operations on the WDER difficult, and their smoke also attracted unwanted attention from enemy aircraft, so once American diesels began to arrive from late 1942 the use of 8Fs on the WDER declined. Forty locomotives were sold to ESR in 1942-44. The other two locomotives had accident damage, and were made into one good locomotive which was also sold to ESR in 1945. The remains of the last locomotive were bought by ESR for spares in 1946.
The MEF received another 50 8Fs from Iran in 1944, for use in both Egypt and Palestine, although 15 of these were transferred to Italy later in the year. Some of the 50 were not in operational condition, and 4 were scrapped by the MEF in 1946 without further use. Another 59 former Iranian 8Fs were transferred to the MEF in 1946, most of which were initially used in Palestine. This brought the number of 8Fs in the Middle East Forces up to 90.
After the war the British military presence in the region waned, so the need for military locomotives declined. The MEF's fleet was largely sold off in 1947-48 to British Railways, Palestine Railways and ESR. Five returned to Britain for continued WD use in 1952. MEF railway operation ended in 1954, with 10 8Fs being sold to ESR, and 1 scrapped by MEF following bomb damage.
ESR thus purchased a total of 62 8Fs from MEF between 1942 and 1954, and operated the type until 1963.

Iran

Following the occupation of Iran in 1941, WD locomotives were required to operate the Persian Corridor supply route, delivering war materials to the Soviet Union via the Trans-Iranian Railway. 163 8F were dispatched to Iran in 1941-42, but only 143 arrived. These operated as Iranian State Railways' Class 41.
The arrival of US Army Transportation Corps units in Iran with their own locomotives made many of the 8Fs redundant, and 50 locomotives were transferred to the Middle East Forces in 1944. At the end of the war the need for steam locomotives in Iran was further reduced and another 71 locomotives left for the MEF and Iraq in 1945-48. The remaining 22 locomotives in Iran had all been withdrawn by 1963.

Iraq

Ten WD locomotives were transferred from Iran in 1946-47, being purchased by Iraqi State Railways in 1947, and two more locomotive were purchased from Iran in 1948. These became Iraqi Class TD, and operated until the 1970s. One example, no. 1429, was still in existence in Baghdad, in 2014.

Italy

15 former Iranian 8F were transferred to Italy by way of the MEF during 1944. After the war they were sold to Ferrovie dello Stato, where they operated as FS Class 737 until the early 1950s.

Palestine and Israel

Some MEF 8Fs were loaned to Palestine Railways during 1942, but larger numbers of former Iranian locomotives arrived in 1944, being used on the Haifa Beirut Tripoli Railway and other lines. In 1947 24 MEF 8Fs were sold to Palestine Railways. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War 23 of these locomotives were taken over by Israel Railways, being operated until 1958. The war stranded the other 8F, 70372, on a small section of the main line near Tulkarm on the West Bank side of the 1949 Armistice line. It remained there, increasingly derelict, until after the 1967 Israeli invasion of the West Bank. The Israelis finally removed and scrapped it in about 1973.

Turkey

Twenty five new WD locomotives were sold to Turkish State Railways in 1941 for diplomatic reasons, but seven of these were lost at sea en route. Two more locomotives were delivered in 1943, making a total of 20. These served as the TCDD 45151 Class, operating until the 1980s.

War Department use in UK

With their intended role in France having ceased to exist, early WD 8Fs were loaned to British railway companies in 1940-42, being given temporary numbers in the LMS series. However, by late 1941 the need for locomotives in Iran and Egypt was such that all of the WD locomotives which had been completed up to that point were recalled for military service, and 50 more locomotives were requisitioned from the LMS. Locomotive WD 407 had been damaged in an accident whilst on loan to the Great Western Railway, so a 51st LMS engine was requisitioned as a replacement.
By 1942 the need for locomotives overseas had been satisfied, and the final 24 new WD 8Fs remained in the UK on loan to LMS. Also remaining in the UK were nine damaged locomotives. Two locomotives were sold to Turkey in 1944, and the other 31 were sold to the LMS in 1943.
In 1952 five WD 8Fs returned to the UK from the MEF in poor condition. These were refurbished for WD use at the Longmoor Military Railway. Three of these were sold to British Railways in 1957 becoming Nos. 48773-75. The other two were transferred to the Cairnryan Military Railway and were scrapped in 1959, ending the WD's use of 8F locomotives.

Accidents and incidents

'The Big Four' railways

Some 331 locomotives were built for the London Midland and Scottish Railway between 1935-45. A further 245 were built by the London and North Eastern Railway, Great Western Railway and Southern Railway in 1943-45 for LMS stock, though mostly retained on loan by the other railways during the war. The LNER also purchased 68 Stanier 8Fs for its own use in 1944-46, classifying them O6, though these were also sold to the LMS after the war. As noted above, 51 LMS locomotives were requisitioned by the WD in 1941, but 31 WD locomotives were subsequently purchased by the LMS in 1943.

British Railways

As a result, 624 8Fs passed into British Railways ownership when Britain's railways were nationalised in 1948. A further 39 were purchased from MEF stock in 1948, and a final 3 from the Longmoor Military Railway in 1957, bringing the total to 666. The 8Fs were concentrated on the London Midland Region, but were also allocated to former LMS sheds on other regions. Despite some having operated in Scotland by the LMS, they were not common on the Scottish Region under BR ownership as the later WD 'Austerity' 2-8-0 and 2-10-0 types were used instead.
8F No. 48600 was used in the 1953 Glenn Ford film Time Bomb, also called Terror on a Train.

Withdrawal

The 8Fs were successful and durable locomotives in BR service, with all 666 locomotives surviving until 1960 and routine withdrawals not beginning until 1964. The first to go in 1960 was 48616, followed two years later by 48009. 48773–48775 were also withdrawn in 1962, but these were reinstated into London Midland Region stock in 1963. The remaining 664 were withdrawn between 1964 and 1968, with 150 surviving to the last year of steam on BR.
During the late 1960s, no. 48773 had diagonal yellow stripes painted on the cabsides to indicate that it could not run south of Crewe due to it being out of gauge for the new 25 kV AC overhead electrification.
YearQuantity in
service at
start of year		Quantity
withdrawn		Locomotive number
1960666148616
19616650–
1962665448009/773–775
1963661-3
196466426etc.
196563895etc.
1966543162etc.
1967381231etc.
196815015048010/12/26/33/36/45–46/56/60/62–63/77/81/90
48107/11/15/17/24/32/51/53/67–68/70/82/91–93/97
48200–01/06/12/24/47/52–53/57/67/72/78/82/92/94
48304–05/07–08/17/19/21–23/25/27/29/34–35/38/40/44–45/48/51/56/65/68–69/73–74/80/84/90/92–93
48400/10/21/23–24/33/37/41–42/45/48/51/53/65/67–68/71/76/91–93
48503–04/07/10/29/32–33/44/46/49/51/53/59
48609/12/14/17/20/26/31–32/39/46/52/65–66/77–78/83–84/87/92
48700/02/15/20/22–23/27/30/40/44–46/49–50/52/63/65/73/75

Preservation

Fourteen 8Fs are known to have survived with six LMS/BR locomotives being preserved in the UK, a seventh was used a spares donor for other preserved 8Fs as well as a number of new build projects. None of the prewar 8Fs survived into preservation. Of the six LMS/BR locomotives that exist only 48773 was purchased directly from BR for preservation following withdrawal from Rose Grove in July 1968, the remaining five including 48518 which would later be used as a donor engine were all rescued from Barry Scrapyard. Three members of the class have over the years been repatriated to the UK from Turkey, with one later sent to a museum in Israel. Two of the Turkish based 8F's which were to be repatriated to the UK no's 45166 & 45170 made an appearance on the Channel 5 TV programme Monster Moves, this episode showed the two engines being moved 850 miles by rail across Turkey from Sivas to Izmir. 45166 would later end up in Israel as a static exhibit while 45170 is presently under restoration at Bo'ness. In addition, two Turkish Railway locomotives have been preserved in Turkey, and some more remain there in a derelict state. One locomotive has even survived in Iraq. The complete list is shown below. Two more are also visible underwater on the wreck of the.
Of the fourteen engines known to have survived into preservation, all the British located examples except 48173 & 45170 “Sir William McAlpine” have run in preservation. Two of the British-based engines have even seen main line operation: Nos. 48151 and 48773. These have been regular main line performers in recent years with 48773 being withdrawn from operation in 2000. As of 2019 none of the class are operational on the main line.
Some of the preserved examples have stars on their cabsides indicating that they have specially balanced wheelsets/motion. This practice began under the auspices of British Railways, to denote that locomotives thus treated were able to work fast, vacuum-braked goods services. Other members of the class have a yellow stripe on the cab meaning that they were not permitted to run south of Crewe as the WCML south of Crewe had been electrified with overhead wires. Another difference between the British engines and the locos that were exported from Britain is the position of the driver's controls. The British based engines like all LMS engines were left hand drive, the locos exported to Turkey and other countries were right-hand drive.
Loco numbers in bold mean their current number.
No 48518, formerly LMS 8518, built in 1944, was the only surviving LNER-built example. Formerly part of the 'Barry Ten', 48518 was used as a parts donor for 1014 County of Glamorgan and 45551 The Unknown Warrior. It was consequently dismantled and the frames were scrapped at Bury in mid-2013.

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