The British Railways (BR) ex-WD Austerity 2-8-0 was a class of 733 2-8-0 steam locomotives designed for heavy freight. These locomotives of the

WD Austerity 2-8-0 The War Department (WD) "Austerity" 2-8-0 is a type of heavy freight steam locomotive that was introduced in 1943 for war service. A total of 935 were built, making this one of the most-produced classes of British steam locomotive. They were nic ...

type had been constructed by the

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * D ...

as war locomotives 1943-1945. After the war they were surplus and so in 1946 the

LNER LNER may refer to: * London and North Eastern Railway, a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1923 until 1947 * London North Eastern Railway, a train operating company in the United Kingdom since 2018 * Liquid neutral earthing resistor, a typ ...

bought 200 of them, classifying them as LNER Class O7, and by the end of 1947 when the LNER was nationalised, had taken another 278 O7s on loan. After nationalisation, BR purchased 533 more 2-8-0s, including all of those on loan, giving a class total of 733. As many of these needed overhauling before being put to work, they were activated slowly. BR chose to reclassified from LNER Class O7 and renumbered them from the 6xxxx LNER series in the 90000-732 series for BR standard designs.

Naming

90732 was named ''Vulcan'' after the

Vulcan Foundry The Vulcan Foundry Limited was an English locomotive builder sited at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire (now Merseyside). History The Vulcan Foundry opened in 1832, as Charles Tayleur and Company to produce girders for bridges, switches, crossin ...

Classification

BR considered them as standard classes, numbering them in the numbering series allocated for BR standard classes, assigned them the boiler diagram BR10; while their tenders were assigned the diagram BR5. BR built 53 new boilers at Crewe between 1951 and 1954.

Operation

The class were used almost entirely on freight services, and were always unusual on passenger work. Well over half the total number were always on the former LNER system, from East Anglia up to Scotland, and there was also a large number across the former Lancashire & Yorkshire railway depots. Some were initially used on the Southern Region, but later left there, while another smaller group was on the Western Region for much of their lives. The Scottish ones later spread from just the ex-LNER lines across the rest of the Region.

Accidents and incidents

*On 16 January 1958, locomotive 90277 was standing foul of the line at when it was run into by a passenger train due to a signalman's error. The passenger train was derailed, 90277 ended up on its side. Thirteen people were injured.

Withdrawal

The engines were withdrawn from service as follows:

Preservation

Preserved Austerity in British Railways livery and carrying a BR series number, was actually never a BR engine. None of the BR Austerity 2-8-0s was preserved. However, one Austerity 2-8-0 (out of a total of 935 engines) has survived; WD No. 79257. This has returned to Britain via the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and Sweden, and has been restored to original condition and given the "BR number" 90733. It is based at the

Keighley and Worth Valley Railway The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway is a heritage railway line in the Worth Valley, West Yorkshire, England, which runs from Keighley to Oxenhope. It connects to the National Rail network at Keighley railway station. History Inception ...

References

* Roger Tourret ''Allied Military Locomotives of the Second World War'' *

Willie Yeadon Willie Brayshaw Yeadon (28 June 1907 – 16 January 1997), was a British railway historian known for his ''magnum opus'', ''Yeadon's Register of LNER Locomotives'' and other works. Biography Willie Yeadon was born in Yeadon, West Riding of York ...

, ''Yeadon's Register of LNER Locomotives'' Vol.15: Class J94, O6, and O7 the engines from the years of expediency. Challenger, 1999 ;Notes {{DEFAULTSORT:Br Ex-Wd Austerity 2-8-0 2-8-0 locomotives War Department locomotives NBL locomotives Vulcan Foundry locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1943 Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Steam locomotives of the Netherlands Steam locomotives of Sweden Standard gauge locomotives of the Netherlands Standard gauge locomotives of Sweden Scrapped locomotives Freight locomotives