The London and North Western Railway ''Experiment'' Class was a series of 30 three-cylinder 2-(2-2)-0

compound locomotive A compound locomotive is a steam locomotive which is powered by a compound engine, a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. The locomotive was only one application of compounding. Two and three stages were used in shi ...

s designed by Francis Webb for 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 ...

between 1882 and 1884. They were Webb’s first large-scale experiment with a class of express compound locomotives, and the first engine was named accordingly. They were followed by a class of similar, but larger locomotives, that featured larger boilers and smaller driving wheels – the

LNWR Dreadnought Class The LNWR Dreadnought class was a class of 40 passenger three-cylinder compound 2-2-2-0 locomotives designed by F. W. Webb for the London and North Western Railway, and manufactured by them in their Crewe Works between 1884 and 1888. The railw ...

. After Webb's retirement, his successor,

George Whale George Whale (7 December 1842 – 7 March 1910) was an English locomotive engineer who was born in Bocking, Essex, and educated in Lewisham, London. He worked for the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). Career In 1858 he entered the LNWR' ...

, withdrew the ''Experiment'' class locomotives soon after he took up office in 1903.

Accidents and incidents

: *On 22 December 1894, a gust of wind blew a wagon into a rake of wagons at ,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

. They were derailed and fouled the main line. Locomotive No. 520 ''Express'' was one of two hauling an express passenger train that collided with the wagons and was derailed. 14 people were killed and 48 were injured.

Locomotives

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lnwr Webb Experiment Class

Experiment An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into Causality, cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome oc ...

2-2-2-0 locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1882 Compound locomotives Scrapped locomotives Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain