The LNWR 317 class, (also known as Saddle Tank Shunter, Dock Tank or Bissel Tank) consisted of a class of 20 square saddle-tanked steam locomotives built by the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

at their

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 ...

between 1896 and 1901. They had a very short coupled

wheelbase In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...

, with a trailing

Bissel truck A Bissell or Bissel truck (also Bissel bogie or Pony truck) is a single-axle bogie which pivots towards the centre of a steam locomotive to enable it to negotiate curves more easily. Invented in 1857 by and usually then known as a ''pony truck'' ...

to carry weight.

History

They were built in three batches of 1, 9 and 10; their first running number was chosen at random from the numbers left vacant by locomotives that had been transferred to the duplicate list. This fate was almost immediately suffered by the 317 class – after only one or two months in service. All passed to 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 ...

in 1923, who initially allocated them the numbers 6400–6419 in the passenger tank sequence. Only five (6402/03/07/14/18) had been renumbered before the numbers were changed to 7850–7869 in 1927, thus moving them into the goods and shunting tanks. The LMS changed their

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 ...

from 1P to 0F at the same time. Two, 7862 and 7865, survived to enter

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 ...

service in 1948; 7865 was withdrawn in November 1953, and 7862 three years later. None were preserved. Crewe works 8 geograph-2224108

Fleet

References

* *

External links

* http://www.lnwrs.org.uk/GoodsLocos/Loco08.php Dock Tank 0-4-2ST locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1896 Scrapped locomotives Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain {{UK-steam-loco-stub