Named LNWR "Prince of Wales" Class locomotives


Throughout its existence the London and North Western Railway re-used the numbers and names of withdrawn locomotives on new ones as they came out of Crewe Works. This resulted in each class of locomotives being allotted numbers virtually at random, with names that adhered to no discernible theme. By 1911 new locomotives were being produced at a much faster rate than old ones were being scrapped, and it became necessary to introduce a new set of names for Bowen Cooke’s 4-6-0 express engines which were beginning to enter service.
On 13 July 1911 Prince Edward, the future King Edward VIII, was invested as Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle. The investiture gave the LNWR an opportunity to name the first of the locomotives in honour of the new Prince. A further nine engines were built during 1911 and given names associated with ships of the Royal Navy, in keeping with the patriotic sentiments of the time.
The second batch of 30 locomotives of 1913 and early 1914 commemorated British, European and American poets and novelists of the 18th and 19th centuries. The final engine of the batch was named G.P. Neele in honour of the former LNWR Superintendent of the Line, who had retired in 1895.
The ten engines produced in 1915 were given the names of the leaders of Britain’s allies in the Great War, and the names of two soldiers, a sailor, and a nurse who had been executed by the Germans. By the beginning of 1916 sufficient engines had been scrapped to enable the re-use of historical LNWR names. However in March and April of that year three locomotives were named in remembrance of the ill-fated campaign in the Dardanelles, and seven were named to commemorate maritime losses of 1915 and 1916.
The next batch of locomotives entered service in January 1919, by which time a decision had been taken not to allocate names until matters had returned to normal after the war. It was not until 1922 that another twelve engines were given names taken from former LNWR engines.
During 1921 and 1922 a further 90 locomotives of the class were built by William Beardmore and Company at Dalmuir. These remained nameless.
Following the absorption of the LNWR into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923, the LMS Rolling Stock Committee at Derby issued Minute no. 53 on 31 May 1923 which announced that in conformity with former Midland Railway practices
“Passenger engines and coaching stock to be painted in old Midland crimson lake, goods engines to be black without lining – new engines not to be named but those with names will continue to do so.”

One of the last locomotives to be named at Crewe was No. 5753 Premier, a clear reference to the LNWR slogan of being "the Premier Line", and a final and defiant gesture aimed at the new management in Derby.
The LMS renumbered all of the Prince of Wales in a block from 5600 to 5844, but not in exactly the same order that the locomotives had been built. A final locomotive was built by Beardmore in February 1924, which was displayed at the British Empire Exhibition that year; the LMS bought it in November 1924, and numbered it 5845.
LNWR NumberMakerWorks
No.		NameEntered ServiceLMS NumberDate
withdrawn		Notes
819Crewe5030Prince of Wales5600
1388Crewe5031Andromeda5601
1452Crewe5032Bonaventure5602
1454Crewe5033Coquette5603
1537Crewe5034 Enchantress5604
1691Crewe5035Pathfinder5605
1704Crewe5036Conqueror5606
1721Crewe5037Defiance5607
2021Crewe5038Wolverine5608
2359Crewe5039Hermione5609
362Crewe5167Robert Southey5610
892Crewe5168Charles Wolfe5611
1081Crewe5169John Keats5612
1089Crewe5170Sydney Smith5613
1134Crewe5171Victor Hugo5614
2040Crewe5172Oliver Goldsmith5615
2075Crewe5173Robert Burns5616
2198Crewe5174John Ruskin5620
2205Crewe5175Thomas Moore5621
2213Crewe5176Charles Kingsley5622
321Crewe5177Henry W. Longfellow5617
479Crewe5178Thomas B. Macaulay5618
951Crewe5179Bulwer Lytton5619
1679Crewe5180Lord Byron5623
2249Crewe5181Thomas Campbell5624
2283Crewe5182Robert L. Stevenson5625
307Crewe5183R. B. Sheridan5628
637Crewe5184Thomas Gray5629
979Crewe5185W. M. Thackeray5630
1400Crewe5186Felicia Hemans5631
86Crewe5187Mark Twain5626
146Crewe5188Lewis Carroll5627
964Crewe5189Bret Harte5632
985Crewe5190Sir W. S. Gilbert5633
1321Crewe5191William Cowper5634
2152Crewe5192Charles Lamb5635
2293Crewe5193Percy Bysshe Shelley5636
2377Crewe5194Edward Gibbon5637
2443Crewe5195Charles James Lever5638
2520Crewe5196G. P. Neele5639
136NBL21256Minerva5663
173NBL21257Livingstone5664
257NBL21258Plynlimmon5666
446NBL21259Pegasus5668
1749NBL21260Precedent5677
2063NBL21261Hibernia5679
2175NBL21262Loadstone5680
2203NBL21263Falstaff5681
2300NBL21264Hotspur5687
2392NBL23265Caliban5689
90NBL21266Kestrel5660
401NBL21267Zamiel5667
525NBL21268Vulcan5669
610NBL21269Albion5670
867NBL21270Condor5672Name removed, July 1933
1132NBL21271Scott5674
1466NBL21272Sphinx5675
1744NBL21273Petrel5676
2055NBL21274Milton5678
2339NBL21275Samson5682Name removed, July 1933
27Crewe5297General Joffre5640
88Crewe5298Czar of Russia5641
122Crewe5299King of the Belgians5642
160Crewe5300King of Serbia5643
185Crewe5301King of Italy5644
877Crewe5302Raymond Poincaré5645
1333Crewe5303Sir John French5646
2275Crewe5304Edith Cavell5647
2396Crewe5305Queen of the Belgians5648
2408Crewe5306Admiral Jellicoe5649
606Crewe5307Castor5650
745Crewe5308Pluto5651
352Crewe5309The Nile5653
379Crewe5310Witch5654
484Crewe5311Smeaton5655
810Crewe5312Onyx5652
884Crewe5313Shark5656
346Crewe5314Trent5657
417Crewe5315Atlas5658Name removed, July 1933
442Crewe5316Odin5659
95Crewe5317Gallipoli5661
126Crewe5318Anzac5662
233Crewe5319Suvla Bay5665
849Crewe5320Arethusa5671Name removed, September 1936
1100Crewe5321Lusitania5673
1324Crewe5322Falaba5683
2092Crewe5323Arabic5684
2276Crewe5234Persia5685
2295Crewe5325Anglia5686
2340Crewe5326Tara5688
940Crewe5444Richard Cobden5697Named in 1922
621Crewe5447Telford5700Named in 1922
1584Crewe5451Scotia5704Named in 1922
504Crewe5453Canning5706Named in 1922
974Crewe5454Hampden5707Named in 1922
522Crewe5470Stentor5723Named in 1922
1290Crewe5475Lucknow5729Named in 1922
1325Crewe5483Disraeli5736Named in 1922
1178Crewe5489Prince Albert5743Named in 1922
1542Crewe5597Marathon5750Named in 1922
1694Crewe5500Premier5753Named in 1922
2516Crewe5501Dalton5754Named in 1922