LMS diesel shunters
Encyclopedia
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway
(LMS) pioneered the use of diesel
shunting locomotives in Great Britain
. The variety of experimental and production diesel
shunters produced by the LMS is summarised below. In each heading, the first number(s) carried are shown first, with subsequent renumbering(s) following the "/".
This was the original experimental shunter, nominally rebuilt from a Midland Railway
steam locomotive originally built in September 1892 by the Vulcan Foundry
, whose number it inherited (1831), though very little of the steam locomotive was actually re-used. Of itself, it was not very successful, but it did provide useful data for the further development of the diesel shunter design. It was withdrawn from service in September 1939 and converted to a mobile power unit, emerging in its new guise as MPU3 in November 1940. It was scrapped in the 1950s (sources disagree exactly when).
in 1936.
NB: Production of the last-mentioned class continued after Nationalisation, with the following two locomotives emerging as M7130 and M7131 (later 12043/12044) and the remainder carrying BR numbers 12045-12138 from new. Although allocated TOPS
Class 11
, none of these locomotives were renumbered. When 12082 was re-registered for use on the mainline, it was allocated TOPS number 01553 in the ex-industrial registered shunters list.
's diesel locomotive number 1.
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...
(LMS) pioneered the use of diesel
Diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...
shunting locomotives in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. The variety of experimental and production diesel
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
shunters produced by the LMS is summarised below. In each heading, the first number(s) carried are shown first, with subsequent renumbering(s) following the "/".
Note on numbering
The initial experimental diesel shunter retained the number of the steam locomotive that it was nominally rebuilt from. However, when the LMS decided to procure a further nine prototype locomotives from a variety of manufacturers, it allocated the number series 7400-7408 to them. It was soon realised that this number range was too limited for the number of production diesel shunters that were anticipated, and a new series commencing at number 7050 was used. Only 7050-7053/7058 carried their original numbers (7400-7403/7408), and they were all renumbered in November/December 1934, some before they had actually entered service.1831
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
steam locomotive originally built in September 1892 by the Vulcan Foundry
Vulcan Foundry
Vulcan Foundry was a British locomotive builder sited at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire .-History:It was originally opened in 1832 as Charles Tayleur and Company to produce girders for bridges, switches and crossings, and other ironwork following the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway...
, whose number it inherited (1831), though very little of the steam locomotive was actually re-used. Of itself, it was not very successful, but it did provide useful data for the further development of the diesel shunter design. It was withdrawn from service in September 1939 and converted to a mobile power unit, emerging in its new guise as MPU3 in November 1940. It was scrapped in the 1950s (sources disagree exactly when).
7400-7408 / 7050-7058
For detailed information see the main articles:- LMS diesel shunter 7050LMS diesel shunter 7050LMS diesel shunter 7050 is a one-off diesel shunter railway locomotive, now preserved at the National Railway Museum.-History:The 7050 locomotive carried an original number of 7400 only within the Preston works where it was built, and was delivered as number 7050. It was loaned to the War...
- LMS diesel shunter 7051LMS diesel shunter 7051London Midland and Scottish Railway diesel locomotive 7051 was built by the Hunslet Engine Company to demonstrate its wares. After public exhibition in February 1932, it was used for trials at a colliery, before being tested by the LMS. After further public exhibition in February 1933, it was at...
- LMS diesel shunter 7052LMS diesel shunter 7052LMS diesel shunter 7052 carried its original number of 7402 only within the Hunslet Engine Company's works, and was delivered as LMS number 7052. It was loaned to the War Department between 1940-1942, which numbered it 24. It was withdrawn from LMS stock in December 1943 and sold for use at RNAD...
- LMS diesel shunter 7053LMS diesel shunter 7053LMS diesel shunter 7053 carried its original number of 7403 only within the Hunslet Engine Company's works, and was delivered as LMS number 7053. It was of almost exactly the same size and shape as LMS diesel shunter 7052, but had different internal fittings. It was loaned to the War Department...
- LMS diesel shunter 7054LMS diesel shunter 7054LMS diesel shunter 7054 was initially allocated the number 7404 but this number was never carried. It was supplied by the Hunslet Engine Company in 1934. Testing started in October 1934 and it was taken into LMS stock in November 1934.-War Department use:...
- LMS diesel shunters 7055/6LMS diesel shunters 7055/6LMS diesel shunters 7055/6 were built by Hudswell Clarke. They were initially allocated numbers 7405/7406 but these numbers were never carried. Testing started in August 1934...
- LMS diesel shunter 7057LMS diesel shunter 7057LMS diesel shunter 7057 was built by Harland & Wolff. Testing started in July 1934 and the locomotive was taken into LMS stock in February 1935...
- LMS diesel shunter 7058LMS diesel shunter 7058LMS diesel shunter 7058 was based on an earlier Armstrong Whitworth prototype of 1932, which had been tested by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway...
7059-7068
These were 0-6-0 diesel-electric shunters built by Armstrong WhitworthArmstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...
in 1936.
7069-7129 / 12000-12042
Details of the four classes allocated numbers in this range are included on other pages, as follows:- 7069-7078 / 12000-12001 : British Rail Class D3/6British Rail Class D3/6Class D3/6 were diesel shunters built in 1935 by English Electric for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. They were the first of a new design of diesel shunters based on the English Electric 6K of diesel engine.-Numbering:...
, twin motor - 7079 / 12002 : British Rail Class D3/6British Rail Class D3/6Class D3/6 were diesel shunters built in 1935 by English Electric for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. They were the first of a new design of diesel shunters based on the English Electric 6K of diesel engine.-Numbering:...
, twin motor - 7080-7119 / 12003-12032 : British Rail Class D3/7British Rail Class D3/7British Railways Class D3/7 were diesel shunters built from May 1939 through to July 1942 by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway at their Derby Works. They were the first of a new design of diesel shunters based on the English Electric 6K diesel engine of .-Numbering:These were given LMS...
, single motor, jackshaft drive - 7120-7129 / 12033-12042 : British Rail Class D3/8British Rail Class 11The British Rail Class 11 was applied to a batch of diesel shunting locomotives built from April 1945 to December 1952, based on a similar earlier batch built by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway between 1939 and 1942.-Numbering:...
(Later TOPSTOPSTotal Operations Processing System, or TOPS, is a computer system for managing the locomotives and rolling stock owned by a rail system...
Class 11), twin motor
NB: Production of the last-mentioned class continued after Nationalisation, with the following two locomotives emerging as M7130 and M7131 (later 12043/12044) and the remainder carrying BR numbers 12045-12138 from new. Although allocated TOPS
TOPS
Total Operations Processing System, or TOPS, is a computer system for managing the locomotives and rolling stock owned by a rail system...
Class 11
British Rail Class 11
The British Rail Class 11 was applied to a batch of diesel shunting locomotives built from April 1945 to December 1952, based on a similar earlier batch built by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway between 1939 and 1942.-Numbering:...
, none of these locomotives were renumbered. When 12082 was re-registered for use on the mainline, it was allocated TOPS number 01553 in the ex-industrial registered shunters list.
Departmental 2 / ED1
This locomotive was very similar to the Great Western RailwayGreat Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
's diesel locomotive number 1.
Trial locomotives
The LMS used a number of locomotives on loan from their manufacturers for trials. These locomotives were not allocated LMS numbers, and details of their use and disposal are sketchy. Such locomotives included:- Vulcan - a diesel-mechanical 0-6-00-6-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels...
shunter built at the Vulcan FoundryVulcan FoundryVulcan Foundry was a British locomotive builder sited at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire .-History:It was originally opened in 1832 as Charles Tayleur and Company to produce girders for bridges, switches and crossings, and other ironwork following the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway...
, Newton-le-Willows, in 1936. It had a Vulcan-Frichs 6-cylinder 275 hp (205 kW) diesel engine. After loan to the LMS, it was used by the War Department, which numbered it 75 (later 70075). Following the end of World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, it found industrial use in YugoslaviaYugoslaviaYugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
.
- (Unnumbered) - an Armstrong-Whitworth/Sulzer shunter built in 1932, which was an earlier version of the LMS's own 7408/7058LMS diesel shunter 7058LMS diesel shunter 7058 was based on an earlier Armstrong Whitworth prototype of 1932, which had been tested by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway...
. This locomotive was also loaned to the London and North Eastern RailwayLondon and North Eastern RailwayThe London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...
for trials.
See also
- GWR diesel shuntersGWR diesel shuntersThe Great Western Railway purchased two diesel shunters, and ordered a further seven immediately prior to Nationalisation, which were delivered to British Rail in 1948-49. The two shunters used by the GWR were numbered 1 and 2, while a series commencing at 501 was planned for the new locomotives...
- LNER internal combustion locomotivesLNER internal combustion locomotivesThe London and North Eastern Railway used a small number of petrol and diesel locomotives . These included the LNER Class Y11 petrol locomotives, the diesel shunters which later became British Rail Class D3/9 and British Rail Class D3/14 and the Kitson-Still steam diesel hybrid locomotive...
- Southern Railway dieselsSouthern Railway DieselsThe Southern Railway built three diesel shunters in 1937, numbered 1–3. These became British Rail 15201–15203, and were later classified as British Rail Class D3/12. Twenty-six similar locomotives were built in 1949–1951 after nationalisation...