The locomotives of the Highland Railway were used by the

Highland Railway The Highland Railway (HR) was one of the smaller British railways before the Railways Act 1921, operating north of Perth railway station in Scotland and serving the farthest north of Britain. Based in Inverness, the company was formed by merger ...

to operate its lines in the north of Scotland. The Highland Railway locomotive works was at Lochgorm, Inverness. The works had been built about 1855 by the

Inverness and Nairn Railway The Inverness and Nairn Railway was a railway company that operated between the burghs in the company name. It opened its line in 1855 and its passenger business was instantly successful. At first it was not connected to any other line. However ...

. The locomotive classes are listed under the names of the railway's

Locomotive Superintendent Chief mechanical engineer and locomotive superintendent are titles applied by British, Australian, and New Zealand railway companies to the person ultimately responsible to the board of the company for the building and maintaining of the locomotive ...

Locomotives

William Barclay 1855–69

During Barclay's incumbency as locomotive superintendent various 2-2-2 and 2-4-0 locomotives were built, along with a solitary 0-4-0T. An 0-4-0ST was also inherited from the Findhorn Railway. Many of Barclay's locomotives would later be rebuilt by Stroudley or Jones - most of the 2-2-2s ended up as 2-4-0s and one became a 2-2-2T, a pair of 2-4-0s became 4-4-0s and the 0-4-0T became an 0-4-2T. Only 4 much rebuilt Barclay locomotives (all 2-4-0s) were still in stock at the time of the Grouping.

William Stroudley 1865–69

William Stroudley William Stroudley (6 March 1833 – 20 December 1889) was an English railway engineer, and was one of the most famous steam locomotive engineers of the nineteenth century, working principally for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (L ...

produced only one new design, an 0-6-0ST of which 3 were built. These survived to pass into LMS ownership.

David Jones 1870–96

David Jones designed several classes of 4-4-0, and was also notable for introducing the 4-6-0 wheel arrangement to the UK. He also produced small numbers of 0-4-4ST, 2-4-0, 2-4-0T and 4-4-0T locomotives. Of 88 engines built to Jones' design (including 3 built as late as 1917), 74 passed to the LMS in 1923. A small 2-4-0T purchased secondhand from the Duke of Sutherland also made into LMS ownership.

Peter Drummond 1896–1912

Under Peter Drummond, new 0-4-4T, 0-6-0T, 0-6-4T, 0-6-0, 4-4-0 and 4-6-0 designs emerged. All 72 locomotives passed to the LMS.

Frederick George Smith 1912–15

Fredrick George Smith's brief tenure was cut short by a dispute over his sole design, the 'River' Class 4-6-0. Six locomotives were built, but they were (wrongly) considered to be too heavy for the Highland Railway, and were sold to the

Caledonian Railway The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh an ...

without being used.

Christopher Cumming 1915–22

Christopher Cumming designed one class of 4-4-0 and two types of 4-6-0, totalling 18 locomotives, which all passed to the LMS.

London, Midland and Scottish Railway

The Highland Railway was absorbed by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923 and its locomotives were taken into LMS stock. Despite their small numbers, quite a few Highland Railway classes survived well into the LMS era, and even into the 1950s.

Preservation

Jones Goods 103, withdrawn by the LMS, is the only Highland Railway locomotive to have been preserved. A Drummond Small Ben 4-4-0, ''Ben Alder'', was retained for many years, with a view to preservation, before being scrapped in 1966.

References

* * {{Highland Railway locomotives Highland Railway *