The

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

(LMS) Fowler 2-6-4T was a class of

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

passenger

tank engine A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locomot ...

Construction

Hibel road railway station geograph-2197415

125 examples of the class were built. The last 30 numbered 2395 to 2424 were fitted with side-windows and doors to their cabs.Ian Allan abc British Railways Locomotives 1960 The LMS classified them 4P, BR 4MT. They were the basis for a family of subsequent

LMS/BR Class 4 2-6-4T locomotives The London, Midland and Scottish Railway and British Railways Class 4 2-6-4T was a family of classes of steam locomotives. A grand total of 800 engines were built to five separate designs by four different mechanical engineers, over a period o ...

. The Irish Northern Counties Committee (NCC) Class W

2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. ...

moguls were also strongly influenced by this class, albeit the driving wheel diameter was three inches greater to match the NCC practice. The cylinder and piston valve design and the setting of the

Walschaerts valve gear The Walschaerts valve gear is a type of valve gear used to regulate the flow of steam to the pistons in steam locomotives, invented by Belgium, Belgian railway mechanical engineering, engineer Egide Walschaerts in 1844. The gear is sometimes name ...

, allowing a maximum travel of in full gear, was believed by

O. S. Nock Oswald Stevens Nock, Bachelor of Science, B. Sc., Diploma of Imperial College, DIC, Civil engineer, C. Eng, Institution of Civil Engineers, M.I.C.E., Institution of Mechanical Engineers, M.I.Mech.E., Institute of Locomotive Engineers, M.I.Loco. ...

to subsequently lead to the "outstanding success" of the class.

Operational use

Most of the class were used on longer-distance commuter trains from stations in London, Manchester and other large towns. A number were allocated to

Tebay Tebay is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, within the historic borders of Westmorland. It lies in the upper Lune Valley, at the head of the Lune Gorge. The parish had a population of 728 in the 2001 census, increasing to 776 at th ...

Motive Power Depot The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...

and were used to bank heavy passenger and goods trains up the steep incline to

Shap Shap is a linear village and civil parish located among fells and isolated dales in Eden district, Cumbria, England, in the historic county of Westmorland. The parish had a population of 1,221 in 2001, increasing slightly to 1,264 at the 2011 ...

on the LMS

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

. Some operated on the long trip from

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

to Swansea (Victoria). The last two surviving locos were withdrawn from service in 1966. 42389 was hauling the Tring to Euston commuter train that was hit in the rear at Harrow and Wealdstone on 8 October 1952 by a Perth to Euston express. 112 people died in the accident. 42389 was undamaged. Despite coupled wheels of only diameter the class was sometimes noted as achieving over on outer suburban services to and from Euston.

Numbering

45552 Silver Jubilee and 42367 Fowler 2-6-4T at Willesden (cropped to Fowler tank)

The LMS numbered the class 2300–2424, BR adding 40000 to their numbers to make them 42300–424.

Preservation and revival

No locos were preserved, but the January 2013 edition of ''

The Railway Magazine ''The Railway Magazine'' is a monthly British railway magazine, aimed at the railway enthusiast market, that has been published in London since July 1897. it was, for three years running, the railway magazine with the largest circulation in t ...

'' reported that a new-build project to recreate a Fowler 2-6-4T was at an initial research stage. In May 2015, the

LMS-Patriot Project No.5551 ''The Unknown Warrior'' is a replica LMS Patriot Class steam locomotive which is under construction in the Midland Railway – Butterley's West Shed. The locomotive is a replica of the final 'Patriot' class locomotive to be built, 5 ...

announced that after the completion of Patriot Class No. 45551 ''The Unknown Warrior'', it would begin construction on a new-build Fowler 2-6-4T. Similar to the Patriot, it will carry the number of the last member of the class, No. 42424, and be built to main line running standards, though it will only primarily be used on heritage lines. One of the

NCC Class WT The NCC Class WT is a class of 2-6-4T steam locomotives built by the Northern Counties Committee's parent company, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway for service in Northern Ireland. History 18 Class WT locomotives were built at Derby ...

locos (No. 4), which drew heavily from the Fowler design and were the last steam locomotives withdrawn in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, is preserved by the

Railway Preservation Society of Ireland The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) is an Irish railway preservation group operating throughout Ireland, founded in 1964. Mainline steam train railtours are operated from Dublin and Belfast, but occasionally from other locations ...

. No. 4 returned from overhaul in June 2015 and is currently based in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

References

* David Hunt,

Bob Essery Robert J. "Bob" Essery (22 November 1930 – 23 November 2021) was a British railway modeller and historian with a particular interest in the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and one of its principal constituents, the Midland Railway (MR) ...

Fred James (2002) ''LMS Locomotive Profiles No. 3: The Parallel Boiler 2-6-4 Tank Engines'' * {{LMS Locomotives 2-6-4T locomotives 4 Fowler 2-6-4T Railway locomotives introduced in 1927 Scrapped locomotives Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Passenger locomotives