LMS Princess Royal Class
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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 London and North Eastern Railway, LNER, Great Western Railway, GWR and Southern Railway (UK), SR. The London, Midland an ...
(LMS) Princess Royal Class is a class of express passenger
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 locomoti ...
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, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...
designed by
William Stanier Sir William Arthur Stanier (27 May 1876 – 27 September 1965) was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. Biography Sir William Stanier was born in Swindon, where his f ...
. Twelve examples were built at
Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...
Works, between 1933 and 1935, for use on the
West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
. Two are preserved.


Overview

The designer of the class,
William Stanier Sir William Arthur Stanier (27 May 1876 – 27 September 1965) was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. Biography Sir William Stanier was born in Swindon, where his f ...
, had previously been Works Manager of the
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...
's depot at
Swindon Works Swindon Works was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1843 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It served as the principal west England maintenance centre until closed in 1986. History In 1835, Parliament approved the construction of the Great ...
, and had been recruited with a brief to replace the LMS's miscellany of locomotives inherited from its constituent companies. He made extensive use of Great Western features in his designs. To match the power and speed and especially the prestige of the
London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after London, Midland and Scottish Railway, LMS) of the "Big Four (British railway companies), Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It ope ...
's express Pacific locomotives, Stanier designed the Princess Royal class almost as soon as he was appointed to the LMS. When originally built, they were used to haul the famous '' Royal Scot'' train between London Euston and Glasgow Central.


Design

The class was based on
GWR 111 The Great Bear ''The Great Bear'', number 111, was a locomotive of the Great Western Railway. It was the first 4-6-2 (Pacific) locomotive used on a railway in Great Britain, and the only one of its type built by the GWR. Origins There are differing views as ...
, a design produced in 1907 for the Great Western by
George Jackson Churchward George Jackson Churchward (31 January 1857 – 19 December 1933) was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the Great Western Railway (GWR) in the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1922. Early life Churchward was born at ...
. The smokebox and cylinders were closely based on those of the
GWR 6000 Class The Great Western Railway (GWR) 6000 Class or King Class is a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotives designed for Inter-city rail, express passenger work and introduced in 1927. They were the largest locomotives built by the GWR, apart from the unique ...
(also known as the King Class). The inside cylinders were abreast the leading bogied wheels and drove cranks on the leading coupled axle, the outside cylinders were abreast the rear bogie wheels (which made substantial cross-bracing necessary between the cylinders and the locomotive frame) and drove crank pins on the centre coupled axle. Each of the four cylinders had its own set of Walschaerts valve gear. Other minor details, such as corks to close oil boxes, closely followed Great Western practice.


Construction

A prototype batch of three locomotives was to be constructed in 1933. Two were constructed as drawn but the third set of frames was retained as the basis for an experimental turbine locomotive.


Turbomotive

The third prototype was constructed with the aid of the Swedish Ljungstrom turbine company and known as the Turbomotive, although not named. It was numbered 6202, in sequence with the Princess Royals. Although 'generally similar' to the rest of the Princess Royals, and 'not all that much different', it used a larger 40 element
superheater A superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into superheated steam or dry steam. Superheated steam is used in steam turbines for electricity generation, in some steam engines, and in processes such as steam reforming. ...
to give a higher steam temperature, more suitable for turbine use. This boiler was also domeless as would later be used for the second batch of the Princess Royals. The continuous exhaust of the turbine, rather than the sharper intermittent blast of the piston engine, also required changes to the draughting and the use of a double chimney. It entered service in June 1935 on the London–Liverpool service. This ''Turbomotive'' was rebuilt in 1952 with conventional '
Coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...
' cylinders and named ''Princess Anne'', but was soon destroyed in the Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash.


Later production

A second batch of eleven locomotives was constructed later. The first two locomotives of the class to be produced had a firebox combustion volume too small for the grate area, and the subsequent locomotives had enlarged fireboxes.


Accidents and incidents

*On 17 April 1948, a passenger train hauled by locomotive No. 6207 ''Princess Arthur of Connaught'' was halted after a passenger pulled the
communication cord Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not only transmit ...
. It was then hit from behind by a postal train, which a signalman's error had allowed into the section, resulting in the deaths of 24 passengers. * On 21 September 1951, locomotive No. 46207 ''Princess Arthur of Connaught'' was hauling an express passenger train that was derailed at Weedon, Northamptonshire due to a defective front bogie on the locomotive. Fifteen people were killed and 35 were injured. * On 8 October 1952, locomotive No. 46202 ''Princess Anne'' was one of the locomotives on the 8:00 a.m express from Euston to Liverpool and Manchester, along with
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 Stani ...
No. 45637 ''Windward Islands''. ''Princess Anne'' took serious damage in the crash, having the leading bogie torn off and main frames buckled, and was scrapped after being deemed uneconomic to repair it.


Naming

Each locomotive was named after a princess, the official name for the class was chosen because Mary, Princess Royal was the Colonel-in-Chief of the
Royal Scots The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment line infantry, of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of England ...
. However, the locomotives were known to railwaymen as "Lizzies", after the second example of the class, named for Princess Elizabeth, who later became Queen
Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
. Later examples of 4-6-2 express passenger locomotive built by the LMS were of the related but larger, Coronation Class.


Withdrawal

The class was withdrawn in the early 1960s in line with British Railways' modernisation plan.


Details


Preservation

Two examples, 6201 ''Princess Elizabeth'' and 6203 ''Princess Margaret Rose'' are preserved and both have operated on the mainline in preservation. They were named after the two children of
Prince Albert, Duke of York George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...
(later King George VI), and his wife, Elizabeth, Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth, and after the king's death, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother). Princess
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She had been queen regnant of 32 sovere ...
(later
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
) was seven years old in 1933 when her namesake was built, and Princess Margaret Rose was nearly five in July 1935 when her namesake was completed. At the time, they were third and fourth in line to the throne. 'Princess Margaret Rose' is owned by The Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust and is on static display at the West Shed Museum, Midland Railway-Butterley, Ripley, Derbyshire. Note: Loco numbers in bold mean their current number.


Gallery

Image:46201 at Carlisle.jpg, 46201 ''Princess Elizabeth'' at Carlisle awaiting scrapping. The locomotive was later preserved. Image:Princess Margaret Rose at Swanwick - geograph.org.uk - 1041810.jpg, ''Princess Margaret Rose'' at Swanwick West Shed in 2006.


Media

* 6201 at Langho on Whalley Bank – sound recording.


References

* Ian Sixsmith ''The Book of the Princess Royal Pacifics'' * Hugh Longworth ''British Railway Steam Locomotives 1948–1968'' * * David Hunt, Bob Essery and Fred James ''LMS Locomotive Profiles No. 4: The "Princess Royal" Pacifics'' *


Further reading

*


External links


6201 Princess Elizabeth Locomotive Society LTD

Princess Royal Locomotive Trust

46201 in the Railuk database

46203 in the Railuk database



''6207 A Study In Steel''
at YouTube {{Authority control 8 Princess Royal 4-6-2 locomotives 2′C1′ h4 locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1933 Standard-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Passenger locomotives