The LNWR ''Newton'' Class was a class of ninety-six steam locomotives built by the London and North Western Railway 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 1866 and 1873. They were officially designated Curved Link 6-ft 6-in Passenger due to the use of a curved link between the fore and back eccentric rods of their

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. ...

and the use of diameter wheel centres, which, together with thick tyres gave a driving wheel diameter of . They were designed by John Ramsbottom who had 76 built, all without cabs and with pierced driving wheel splashers. Ramsbottom's successor F. W. Webb, built twenty more, all with cabs. The earlier locomotives also gained cabs, and all eventually had the splashers filled in. All were 'renewed' (replaced) by a like number of

LNWR Improved Precedent Class The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Improved Precedent Class or Renewed Precedent Class is a class of steam locomotives originally designed for express passenger work. They later gained the nickname of ''Jumbos''. History The locomotiv ...

between 1887 and 1894.

Fleet list

Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway

In 1873 ten locomotives of the type were built at Crewe for the

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern ...

(L&YR) and utilised on passenger expresses between Blackpool, Manchester and Yorkshire. They were given the numbers 456–462 and 731–733. Most were fitted with replacement boilers about and other standard L&YR parts 1888. They were then used on Liverpool−Manchester expresses on the new L&YR route. The more powerful Barton Wright s took over on the more demanding sections to Yorkshire though the Ramsbottom engines were considered faster on light loads. Most were withdrawn in the period 1895 to 1897 but Nos. 461, 462 and 731 lasted to 1904, 1912 and 1926 respectively. No. 731 had been used as the Chief Mechanical Engineer's (CME) locomotive since 1886, based at Horwich and attached to a combined bogied tender-saloon vehicle. It passed back to the LNWR when the L&YR amalgamation of 1922 and into 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 ...

(LMS) in 1923 at the grouping. It was scrapped when the LMS CME department moved to Derby.

References

* * London and North Western Railway locomotives 2-4-0 locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1866 {{England-steam-loco-stub