The

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * D ...

(WD) "Austerity" 2-10-0 is a type of heavy freight

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 ...

that was introduced 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 ...

in 1943.

Background

The Austerity 2-10-0 was based on the Austerity 2-8-0, and was designed to have interchangeable parts by

R.A. Riddles Robert Arthur "Robin" Riddles, CBE, MIMechE, MinstLE (23 May 1892 – 18 June 1983) was a British locomotive engineer. Biography LNWR and LMS Riddles was born in 1892 and entered the Crewe Works of the London and North Western Railway as a pr ...

. It had the same power output as the 2-8-0 but a lighter

axle load An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearing ...

, making it suitable for secondary lines.

Design

It had a parallel boiler and round-topped firebox. While the 2-8-0 had a narrow firebox, the 2-10-0 had a wide firebox placed above the driving wheels. This arrangement was common in the United States (e.g. the

USRA 0-8-0 The USRA 0-8-0 was a USRA standard class of steam locomotive designed under the control of the United States Railroad Administration, the nationalized railroad system in the United States during World War I. This was the standard heavy switcher ...

) but unusual in Britain, where wide fireboxes were usually used only where there was a trailing bogie, e.g. in 4-4-2 and

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomotiv ...

types. These were the first 2-10-0 locomotives to work in Great Britain, and the first major class of ten-coupled engines — they had been preceded by two 0-10-0 locomotives; the

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...

's Decapod and the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

's Lickey Banker. The 2-10-0 wheel arrangement was later used by Riddles when he designed the

BR standard class 9F The British Railways Standard Class 9F 2-10-0 is a class of steam locomotive designed for British Railways by Robert Riddles. The Class 9F was the last in a series of standardised locomotive classes designed for British Railways during the 1950 ...

. This, too, had a wide firebox placed above the driving wheels.

Construction

Two batches were built by the

North British Locomotive Company The North British Locomotive Company (NBL, NB Loco or North British) was created in 1903 through the merger of three Glasgow locomotive manufacturing companies; Sharp, Stewart and Company (Atlas Works), Neilson, Reid and Company (Hyde Park Wor ...

, the first batch of 100 introduced in 1943/1944 and the second batch of 50 in 1945. Their WD Nos were 3650–3749 (later 73650–73749), and 73750–73799. 20 of the first batch were sent to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. During running-in they worked in Britain, but their length made them unsuitable. Most saw service with the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in France after

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

in the drive towards the Siegfried Line.

Post-war service

After the war the 150 locomotives were distributed as follows, the majority going to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Netherlands

In 1946, the

bought those in continental Europe. They formed the NS 5000 class, and were numbered 5001-103. They had a short working life, the last being withdrawn in 1952. 5085, ex WD 73755, the one-thousandth British built locomotive to be shipped to Europe after D-Day, was named ''Longmoor'' and subsequently preserved in the Utrecht railway museum.

British Railways

After the war, the

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 ...

(BR) bought twenty-five locomotives. These were initially numbered 73774-73798 but later re-numbered 90750-74. They were mostly operated by BR's

Scottish Region The Scottish Region (ScR) was one of the six regions created on British Railways (BR) and consisted of ex- London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and ex- London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) lines in Scotland. It existed from the creatio ...

on heavy freight trains and were all withdrawn between 1961 and 1962. File:Motherwell Locomotive Yard War Department 2-10-0 geograph-2755968-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg, ex-WD 2-10-0 No. 73798 'North British' stands at Motherwell Depot in 1948 Image:WD 2-10-0 90768 at Motherwell shed in 1958.jpg, BR Scottish Region WD 2-10-0 90768 at

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

motive power depot in 1958 Image:WD 2-10-0 WD 601 Kitchener at Carlisle Kingmoor in 1958.jpg, WD 2-10-0 WD 601 "Kitchener" at Carlisle Kingmoor BR shed in 1958. Note air pumps, headlight and nameplate

Greece

Sixteen of the twenty Middle East locomotives went to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, where they formed Class Λβ of the

Hellenic State Railways Hellenic State Railways or SEK ( el, Σιδηρόδρομοι Ελληνικού Κράτους, ''Sidirodromi Ellinikou Kratous''; Σ.Ε.Κ.) was a Greek public sector entity (legal person of public law, el, Ν.Π.Δ.Δ.) which was established in ...

, numbered Λβ951 to Λβ966.

Syria

The remaining 4 Middle East locomotives remained in Syria and operated on the

Chemins de Fer Syriens General Establishment of Syrian Railways ( ar, المؤسسة العامة للخطوط الحديدية, french: Chemins de fer syriens, CFS) is the national railway operator for the state of Syria, subordinate to the Ministry of Transportation. ...

(CFS). These engines formed the CFS Class 150.6.

Further WD services

In the 1952 WD renumbering scheme, the two remaining in WD service (at the

Longmoor Military Railway The Longmoor Military Railway (LMR) was a British military railway in Hampshire, built by the Royal Engineers from 1903 in order to train soldiers on railway construction and operations. The railway ceased operation on 31 October 1969. Route ...

), Nos. 73651 and 73797, were renumbered 600 and 601 respectively. The also received names: 600 ''

Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

'' and 601 '' Kitchener''.

Preservation

LMR 600 Gordon Longmoor Military Railway number 600 ''Gordon'' is a preserved British steam locomotive. It was built during World War II to the War Department "Austerity" 2-10-0 design and was the last steam locomotive owned by the British Army. It had the ...

has survived and has been steamed on the

Severn Valley Railway The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route, and c ...

, though it is out of service, cosmetically restored and on display in the Engine House. Two more have been repatriated from

. One has been numbered 90775, one higher than the last BR engine, and has carried the name ''Sturdee''after

Doveton Sturdee Admiral of the Fleet Sir Frederick Charles Doveton Sturdee, 1st Baronet (9 June 18597 May 1925) was a Royal Navy officer. After training as a torpedo officer, he commanded two different cruisers and then three different battleships before becomi ...

(as WD/LMR No. 601 before being numbered 90775) and is operational on

North Norfolk Railway The North Norfolk Railway (NNR) – also known as the "Poppy Line" – is a heritage steam railway in Norfolk, England, running between the towns of Sheringham and Holt. The North Norfolk Railway is owned and operated as a public limite ...

where it has now been renamed ''

The Royal Norfolk Regiment The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

'' as of 2022. The other is WD No. (7)3672 which has been named ''

Dame Vera Lynn Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (; 20 March 191718 June 2020) was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during World War II. She is Honorific nicknames in popular music, honorifically known as ...

''. The loco is currently being overhaul at Grosmont on the

NYMR 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 Georg ...

. The 4th one in preservation WD 73755 ( NS 5085) survives in the

Dutch Railway Museum The Railway Museum ( nl, Het Spoorwegmuseum) in Utrecht is the Dutch national railway museum. It was established in 1927 and since 1954 has been housed in the former Maliebaan station. History The museum was established in 1927 and was initiall ...

(Nederlands Spoorwegmuseum) in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

. It carries the nameplate ''Longmoor'', after the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

base at Longmoor, with the coat of arms of the

above. Four locomotives remain in various states in Greece with Λβ962 and Λβ964 operating mainline tours on the Drama to Xanthi line. Other locomotives remain in poor states stored awaiting further use. * Name or number applied after preservation

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wd Austerity 2-10-0 2-10-0 locomotives War Department locomotives NBL locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1943 Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Freight locomotives 1′E h2 locomotives