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) 6170 (later 46170) ''British Legion'' was a British

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 ...

. It was the

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

for, and is sometimes considered a member of, the Rebuilt Royal Scot Class but differed from those later rebuilds principally in having a unique type 2 boiler, rather than a type 2A boiler, the two not being interchangeable.

Overview

6170 was constructed in 1935 utilising the frames of the unsuccessful experimental high pressure compound locomotive 6399 ''Fury''. The Schmidt-Henschel boiler was replaced with a taper boiler, designed by

William Stanier Sir William Arthur Stanier, (27 May 1876 – 27 September 1965) was a British railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. Biography Sir William Stanier was born in Swindon, where his ...

, and a new smokebox and inside cylinder were fitted. The locomotive was named after the

British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in ne ...

and given a number as part of the Royal Scot Class. The boiler type was type 2. It remained the only Class 6P rebuild until 1942 when two Jubilee Class engines 5735 ''Comet'' and 5736 ''Phoenix'' were also rebuilt with 2A boilers. After that, the LMS rebuilt all 70 of the Royal Scots, between 1943 and 1955 and 18 of the Patriot Class between 1946 and 1949 with 2A boilers. Thus 6170 was a prototype of a family of LMS 2A boilered 4-6-0s. When built, 6170 was given the standard passenger livery of LMS crimson lake and was the only rebuilt Scot to wear that livery whilst in service, though 6100 ''Royal Scot'' carries it in preservation. There were numerous differences between 6170 and the other rebuilt Scots 6170's boiler was longer and it had a new cab with side windows, whereas the other rebuilt Scots retained their old cut-out cabs (the rebuilt Jubilees retained their original side window cabs and the rebuilt Patriots gained new side window cabs). It was the only rebuilt Scot built with a single chimney. Changes during its lifetime saw the fitting of a double chimney and smoke deflectors. After nationalisation in 1948, 6170 was renumbered 46170. It was withdrawn in 1962 and subsequently scrapped.

References

Sources

*{{cite book , last=Cox , first=E.S. , title=Royal Scots of the LMS , year=1970 , publisher= Ian Allan , location=Shepperton , isbn=0711001650 , url-access=registration , url=https://archive.org/details/royalscotsoflms0000dohe

External links

Railuk database
6170 British Legion The Royal British Legion Railway locomotives introduced in 1935 Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Scrapped locomotives Rebuilt locomotives individual locomotives of Great Britain 4-6-0 locomotives