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) Stanier Class 5 4-6-0, commonly known as the Black Five, is 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 ...
s. It was introduced 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 built between 1934 and 1951, of which 842 were built and were numbered 4658-5499 (BR then renumbered 44658-45499). Several members of the class survived to the last day of steam on
British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
in 1968, and eighteen are preserved.
Origins
The Black Five was a
mixed-traffic locomotive
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the ...
, a "do-anything go-anywhere" type, designed by Stanier, who had previously been with the
GWR. In his early LMS days, he designed his
Stanier Mogul in which he experimented with the GWR school of thought on locomotive design. A number of details in this design he would never use again realising the superiority of details not used on the GWR. Stanier realised that there was a need for larger locomotives. These were to be the LMS version of the
GWR Halls but not a copy, as the Hall was too wide to run most places in Britain. They shared similar cylinder arrangement (two outside), internal boiler design and size and 6 foot
driving wheel
On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons (or turbine, in the case of a steam turbine locomotive). On a conventional, non-articulated locomotive, the driving wheels are all coupled ...
diameters.
In their early days the locomotives were known as the "Black Staniers" from their black livery, in contrast to Stanier's other class of 4-6-0, the
LMS Jubilee Class
The London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Jubilee Class is a class of steam locomotive designed for main line passenger work. 191 locomotives were built between 1934 and 1936. They were built concurrently with the similar looking LMS Stanie ...
, which were painted
crimson
Crimson is a rich, deep red color, inclining to purple.
It originally meant the color of the kermes dye produced from a scale insect, ''Kermes vermilio'', but the name is now sometimes also used as a generic term for slightly bluish-red colo ...
(and known until April 1935 as the "Red Staniers"). Later on, the nickname of the former became "Black Five", the number referring to the
power classification
A number of different numbering and classification schemes were used for the locomotives owned by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and its constituent companies; this page explains the principal systems that were used.
The followi ...
. This was originally 5P5F, but from 1940 was shown on cabsides as the simple figure 5. Eight hundred and forty-two were constructed. The locomotives were an instant success and were well-liked by their crews for their versatility. One of them was known for reaching speeds of up to 96 mph in service.
Construction
There were a number of detail variations in the locomotives and they did not all remain in the same condition as built. Some locomotives built under British Railways administration were used as test beds for various design modifications with a view to incorporating the successful modifications in the Standard Classes of locomotives built from 1951 onwards. These modifications included outside
Caprotti valve gear
The Caprotti valve gear is a type of steam engine valve gear invented in the early 1920s by Italian architect and engineer Arturo Caprotti. It uses camshafts and poppet valves rather than the piston valves used in other valve gear. While basin ...
, roller bearings (both
Timken and
Skefco types) on the coupled and tender axles in varying combinations, and an experimental steel firebox. Other locomotives had modified draughting to "self clean" the smokebox (thereby reducing turn-around and disposal times and eliminating or mitigating one of the most unpopular jobs).
The domeless engines
![Black 5 45073 at Rose Grove](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Black_5_45073_at_Rose_Grove.jpg)
Numbering started from
5000, with the first twenty being ordered from
Crewe Works
Crewe Works is a British railway engineering facility located in the town of Crewe, Cheshire. The works, which was originally opened by the Grand Junction Railway in 1840, employed around 7,000 to 8,000 workers at its peak. In the 1980s, a lot ...
in April 1934, and a further fifty (5020–5069) ordered from 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, crossi ...
in 1933. The first of the Vulcan Foundry engines entered service in 1934, and the entire order of 50 was delivered before the first Crewe-built engine, No. 5000, was completed in February 1935. The first 57 locomotives were built with domeless boilers with straight throatplates and a low degree of superheat (14 elements in two rows), the boilers of the remaining 13 (5007–5019) were provided with a three-row version (21 elements) having greater total surface area and giving less obstruction to gas flow. The original 57 boilers were converted later to higher superheat (24 elements) and fitted with a
dome
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
. Further orders were placed with Crewe (5070–5074), Vulcan Foundry (5075–5124) and Armstrong Whitworth (5125–5224) for a total of 155 locomotives which were also built with domeless boilers with straight throatplates and 21 element superheaters. All these boilers, including the early converted ones with a dome, were fitted indiscriminately to any of the first 225 engines, which could appear at various times with domed or domeless boilers.
However, many of the early frames were converted to accept sloping throatplate boilers, as listed below. This modification was carried out to provide a stock of spare boilers for the early engines, which would minimise the time spent in works by engines awaiting a fresh boiler. All locomotives from no. 5225 were fitted when new with the sloping throatplate boiler. All extra boilers made had the sloping throatplate arrangement, and only one example of a later engine having been fitted with a straight throatplate boiler is known - no. 45433. Several different patterns of boiler were used on the locomotives, running into double figures. The throatplate design was the most significant, but there were also different numbers of superheater flues, firegrate arrangement, stay material, dome and water feed arrangements, washout plug placement, etc. in various combinations.
The following locomotives were built with straight throatplate boilers, but were later fitted with a sloping throatplate boiler (date in brackets). Conversion was done by relocating the frame stretcher immediately in front of the firebox. Some of them reverted to straight throatplate at a later date, and these are also shown where known. Those marked with an asterisk were fitted with a boiler which had the top feed on the front ring on the date shown. In the case of no. 45087 it had previously been converted. The first conversion was carried out on no. 5022, and the last known was on no. 45163, which has been preserved.
5002 (12/37), 45007 (1/60), 45008 (1/60*), 45011 (1/49*+), 5020 (2/37), 5022 (10/36) reverted (10/58), 5023 (2/38) reverted (3/53), 5026 (2/37) reverted (1/59), 5027 (12/36), 5040 (11/36), 5045 (11/54), 5047 (1/37), 45049 (7/54) reverted (8/59), 5054 (1/37), 5057 (11/37), 5058 (11/37), 5059 (7/45), 45066 (4/60), 45082 (12/56*), 45087 (9/55) (12/60*), 5097 (1/37), 5108 (6/45), 45109 (5/48), 5142 (12/37), 45151 (3/51), 45163 (5/61), 45169 (7/55), 45197 (5/60)
+ The subsequent history of 45011 is not clear. Official records have gone missing and have not been relocated. There is a photograph in existence dated April 1963, showing 45011 ex-works with a straight throatplate boiler and simple top feed, i.e. without the dome-like shape.
NB: The official records were not always updated after around 1960/61, although some were. For example, in the case of no. 45082, it was fitted with a brand new boiler at the end of 1956, one of the last batch of four boilers that were manufactured for this class. Since it survived in service for a further nine and a half years, there is no doubt that 45082 will have had at least one further boiler lift and indeed a photograph exists of it at Hellifield with a given date of May 1962 showing it with an older boiler with the dome and feed both on the tapered ring. Unfortunately it is not clear from the photo whether it is a straight or sloping throatplate boiler.
The pre-war domed engines
A further 227 were ordered from
Armstrong-Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles and ...
in 1936, the largest single locomotive order ever given by a British railway to an outside contractor. Crewe built a further 20, which had higher degree
superheat boilers, with 28 elements, unlike the AW boilers, which had 24 elements.
5471, built at Crewe in 1938, would be the last built for five years. During the early stages of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the priority was for heavy freight engines, and the closely related
8Fs were produced in large numbers.
Wartime and postwar domed engines
In 1943 construction was restarted, with
Derby Works
The Derby Works comprised a number of British manufacturing facilities designing and building locomotives and rolling stock in Derby, England. The first of these was a group of three maintenance sheds opened around 1840 behind Derby station. Th ...
building its first. Construction continued up to no. 5499. As the numbering block from 5500 was allocated to the
Patriot Class, a further batch of 200 locomotives were numbered from 4800 to 4999, followed by a batch from 4658 to 4799. By this time the LMS had been nationalised, and
British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
added 40000 to all numbers. Eventually the 842 examples would number 44658–45499.
Ivatt engines and experimental modifications
From early 1947, engines were built with the top feed on the front ring of the boiler (from no. 4998), and Nos 44758-767 had a longer wheelbase (27 ft 6in rather than 27 ft 2in, with the change in the coupled wheelbase from 7 ft + 8 ft to 7 ft + 8 ft 3in); this was necessary in order to accommodate the Timken roller-bearing housings without fouling the ashpan. In 1948,
George Ivatt
Henry George Ivatt (4 May 1886 – 4 October 1972), known as George Ivatt, was the post-war Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London Midland and Scottish Railway. He was the son of the Great Northern Railway locomotive engineer Henry Ivatt. ...
introduced more modifications to bearings and valve gear; other experimental Ivatt features included the use of steel rather than copper fireboxes on certain engines, and the fitting of double blastpipes & chimneys in some instances.
44738-57 were built with
Caprotti valve gear
The Caprotti valve gear is a type of steam engine valve gear invented in the early 1920s by Italian architect and engineer Arturo Caprotti. It uses camshafts and poppet valves rather than the piston valves used in other valve gear. While basin ...
. The last two, nos.
44686 and 44687 built at
Horwich
Horwich ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Prior to 1974 in the historic county of Lancashire. It is southeast of Chorley, northwest of Bolton and northwest of Manchester. It l ...
in 1951, were fitted with a new arrangement of Caprotti valve gear, which was later used on some of the BR standard Class fives, and the BR class 8 4-6-2.
No. 4767, built at Crewe and delivered in December 1947, had outside
Stephenson valve gear
The Stephenson valve gear or Stephenson link or shifting link is a simple design of valve gear that was widely used throughout the world for various kinds of steam engines. It is named after Robert Stephenson but was invented by his employees.
...
: instead of eccentrics, double return cranks were used to drive the eccentric rods, and a launch-type expansion link was used. This one cost £13,278, which was about £600 more than those built at the same time with Walschaerts' valve gear. The aim of the experiment was to find out if a valve gear having variable lead (as opposed to the constant lead of the Walschaerts' motion) would affect performance. On trial, it proved to have no advantage, although in normal service it did gain a reputation as a good performer on banks.
Accidents and incidents
*On 13 October 1939, locomotive No. 5025 of the class was hauling an express passenger train from Euston to Stranraer (pilot to engine 6130) when it was in collision with locomotive
LNWR Class G1
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Class G1 was a class of 0-8-0 steam locomotives. It was a superheated version of the LNWR Class G with 8 inch piston valves. The prototype was rebuilt in 1912 from a member of Class G and a f ...
9169 which was attaching a van to the rear of an Inverness train at ,
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
, severely damaging it. Five people were killed and more than 30 were injured. No. 5025 was repaired and survives at the
Strathspey Railway.
*In 1941, locomotive No. 5425 was severely damaged in a
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
air raid. It was subsequently repaired at
Crewe Works
Crewe Works is a British railway engineering facility located in the town of Crewe, Cheshire. The works, which was originally opened by the Grand Junction Railway in 1840, employed around 7,000 to 8,000 workers at its peak. In the 1980s, a lot ...
.
*On 1 January 1946, engine No. 5495 was involved in the
Lichfield rail crash
The Lichfield rail crash was a rail crash which occurred on New Year's Day 1946 at Lichfield Trent Valley station in Staffordshire, England. 20 people were killed in the accident, caused when a points failure routed a goods train into the back ...
, in which the freight train it was hauling was derailed at station,
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
due to faulty points. The train collided with a passenger train, killing 20 people and injuring 21.
*On 23 January 1955, locomotive No. 45274 was hauling an express passenger train that was derailed due to excessive speed on a curve, in the
Sutton Coldfield rail crash
The Sutton Coldfield train crash took place at about 16:13 on 23 January 1955 in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire (now within Birmingham), when an express passenger train traveling from York to Bristol, derailed due to excessive speed on a sharp cu ...
. Nineteen people were killed and 64 were injured.
*On 16 January 1951, a locomotive of the class was hauling a passenger train that collided with a light engine that was standing foul of the line at due to a signalman's error. Both trains were derailed; thirteen people were injured.
*On 2 October 2015, locomotive No. 45231 was working a private charter train for
West Coast Railways
West Coast Railways (WCR) is a railway spot-hire company and charter train operator based at Carnforth MPD in Lancashire. Using buildings and other facilities previously owned by the Steamtown Carnforth visitor attraction, in June 1998 the com ...
through
Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
when it was noticed that its TPWS (
Train Protection and Warning System) had been isolated by the footplate crew. Isolation of the TPWS had been a factor in the
Wootton Bassett SPAD incident in March of the same year. As a result, WCRC were suspended from operating on the national network by the ORR.
Construction details
Names
![45154 Lanarkshire Yeomanry, Kentish Town](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/45154_Lanarkshire_Yeomanry%2C_Kentish_Town.jpg)
Only five Black Fives received names during their mainline working lives, a small percentage of the total produced, although seven more have been named in preservation (see
below). All of those named in mainline service were named after Scottish regiments. Locomotive 5155 carried the name ''The Queen's Edinburgh'' for only two years during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Some sources have noted that no photographic confirmation of this naming is extant, although this is neither unique to the class, nor unexpected given restrictions on photography during wartime. The evidence for the naming of the locomotive is set out in full in various sources.
Withdrawal
The class remained intact until 1961 when 45401 was the first Black Five to be withdrawn from stock following a collision at
Warrington
Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...
, although the boiler was re-used and actually lasted to the end of steam on BR. The remainder of the class were withdrawn between 1962 and 1968. Some members of the class, 46 in total, survived to the
last day of steam on BR in August 1968. No. 45318, a
Lostock Hall
Lostock Hall is a suburban village within the South Ribble borough of Lancashire, England. It is located on the south side of the River Ribble, some south of Preston and north of Leyland. It is bordered on its southeastern side by the i ...
based engine, hauled the last scheduled train on 3 August 1968; a Preston to Liverpool exchange. The locomotive was withdrawn a few days later and then scrapped the following year at Drapers.
Preservation
Eighteen Black Fives have been preserved, with twelve of them being purchased directly from BR for preservation (these being 44767, 44806, 44871, 44932, 45000, 45025, 45110, 45212, 45231, 45305, 45407 & 45428), the remaining six being rescued from
Woodham Brothers
Woodham Brothers Ltd is a trading business, based mainly around activities and premises located within Barry Docks, in Barry, Wales, Barry, South Wales. It is noted globally for its 1960s activity as a scrapyard (hence its colloquial name of Bar ...
' Barry Scrapyard (these being 44901, 45163, 45293, 45337, 45379 & 45491). Members of each of the builder's batches have survived into preservation: seven LMS-built engines and eleven by outside contractors. Of the eighteen to be preserved, fourteen have operated in preservation, the class members that have not yet run being 44901, 45163, 45293 & 45491. Twelve Black Fives have been operated on the main line in preservation: 44767, 44871, 44932, 45000, 45025, 45110, 45212, 45231, 45305, 45337, 45407 & 45428.
As of September 2022 there are seven Black Fives in traffic, six of which have valid main line certificates. 44871, 44932, 45212, 45231 & 45407 have full main line certificates for use over the national network, while 45428 is certified for main line use only between Grosmont and
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
with occasional visits to
Battersby, and 45025 is only able to operate on preserved lines. 44767, 44806, & 45337 are in the process of undergoing overhauls while four, 44901, 45163, 45293 and 45491, are undergoing restorations from Barry Scrapyard condition.
No. 44781 was a candidate for preservation, but was sadly scrapped. In 2019, parts were rediscovered in
Bartlow and in the
National Railway Museum's collection in
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
.
Note: Some locos may usually have a nameplate but marked names indicate that the loco is not presently wearing them. Loco numbers in bold indicate their current number.
Preserved locos
† In all cases names are historically inaccurate, i.e. they have all been applied since preservation. Some engines might still have their names but where marked indicates that they currently do not carry them. Either for authenticity or other reasons like the engine is running in another identity.
*44767 carries a plaque on the splasher beneath the nameplate that reads 'This locomotive was named by the Rt. Hon. William Whitelaw, C.H., M.C., M.P. at Shildon on 25 August 1975, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.'
*44806 was named after the TV series
"Magpie" in 1973, it continued to wear this name during the time it was based at the
Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway
The Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway (L&HR) is a heritage railway in Cumbria, England.
Location
The L&HR runs from Haverthwaite at the southern end of the line via Newby Bridge to Lakeside at the southern end of Windermere. Some services a ...
and when it relocated to the
Llangollen Railway
The Llangollen Railway () is a volunteer-run heritage railway in Denbighshire, North Wales, which operates between Llangollen and Corwen. The standard gauge line, which is long, runs on part of the former Ruabon – Barmouth GWR route that c ...
until it was withdrawn for overhaul in 2003. After emerging from its last overhaul in 2007 it ran without the nameplates but was later named after its former owner "Kenneth Aldcroft". It is now based at the
North Yorkshire Moors Railway
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) is a heritage railway in North Yorkshire, England, that runs through the North York Moors National Park. First opened in 1836 as the Whitby and Pickering Railway, the railway was planned in 1831 by Geor ...
and has since had its nameplates removed.
Details of the boilers currently fitted to preserved examples
Sound
*
45212 passing Green End
In fiction
In
The Railway Series
''The Railway Series'' is a series of British books about a railway known as the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first published in May 1945 by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. Twen ...
children's books by the
Rev. W. Awdry and its television adaption
Thomas and Friends
''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...
, the character
Henry the Green Engine
This article is about the characters that have appeared in the books of ''The Railway Series'' by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry and Christopher Awdry. Unless otherwise stated on this page, the technical notes come from actual notes laid out by Wilbert ...
was rebuilt into a Black Five at
Crewe Works
Crewe Works is a British railway engineering facility located in the town of Crewe, Cheshire. The works, which was originally opened by the Grand Junction Railway in 1840, employed around 7,000 to 8,000 workers at its peak. In the 1980s, a lot ...
after his accident with the Flying Kipper.
In artwork
A Black 5 locomotive appears in the 1938
René Magritte
René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature and bounda ...
painting ''
Time Transfixed
''Time Transfixed'' (''La Durée poignardée'') is a 1938 oil on canvas painting by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte. It is part of the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago and is usually on display in the museum's Modern Wing ...
''.
See also
*
BR Standard Class 5
The British Railways Standard Class 5MT is one of the 12 Steam locomotives of British Railways#BR Standard Classes, standard classes of steam locomotive built by British Railways in the 1950s. It was essentially a development of the LMS Stanier ...
Further reading
* 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) ...
and Fred James with David Jennison and David Clarke ''LMS Locomotive Profiles'' (three volumes, three pictorial supplements):
** No. 5 The mixed traffic class 5s. Part 1. Nos. 5000–5224. (+ pictorial supplement)
** No. 6 The mixed traffic class 5s. Part 2. Walschaerts and Stephenson valve gear engines from the 5225–5499 and 4658–4999 series. (+ pictorial supplement)
** No. 7 Mixed traffic class 5s: Caprotti valve gear engines and class summary (+ pictorial supplement)
* J.S. Whiteley, Gavin Morrison ''The Power of the Black Fives''
References
Bibliography
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{{Authority control
5 Stanier Black Five
4-6-0 locomotives
Vulcan Foundry locomotives
Armstrong Whitworth locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1934
Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain
Mixed traffic locomotives