Midland Railway 3835 Class

The Midland Railway (MR) 3835 Class is a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotives designed for freight work. The first two were introduced in 1911 by Henry Fowler. After the grouping in 1923, the designs were slightly modified and continued to be built up to 1941 by the LMS as the LMS Fowler Class 4F.[1]

Midland Railway 3835 Class
"Class 4 Goods"
No. 43965 at work on the ex-Midland Melton Mowbray - Peterborough line
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerHenry Fowler
Builder
Serial number
  • AW: 416–465 (MR 3937–3986)
  • AW: 468–472 (S&DJR 57–61)
Build date1911, 1917–1922
Total produced197
Specifications
Configuration:
 • Whyte0-6-0
 • UICC h2g
Gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Driver dia.63 in (1,600 mm)
WheelbaseLoco: 8 ft 0 in (2.44 m) + 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m)
Loco weight48 long tons 15 cwt (109,200 lb or 49.5 t)
Fuel typeCoal
BoilerG7S
Boiler pressure175 lbf/in2 (1.21 MPa) superheated
SuperheaterSchmidt
CylindersTwo, inside
Cylinder size20 in × 26 in (508 mm × 660 mm)
Valve gearStephenson
Valve typePiston valves
Performance figures
Tractive effort24,555 lbf (109.23 kN)
Career
OperatorsMR, SDJR, LMS, BR
ClassMR: 3835
Power classMR: 4
LMS: 4F
Number in classMR: 192
SDJR: 5
Numbers
  • LMS: 3835–4026
  • BR: 43835–44026
Retired1954–1965
DispositionOne preserved, remainder scrapped

History edit

A total of 197 engines were built. 192 of them were sequentially numbered 3835–4026 for the Midland Railway. After nationalisation in 1948 British Railways added 40000 to their numbers so they became 43835–44026. Five engines were constructed by Armstrong Whitworth for the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway in 1922, numbered 57–61. They were absorbed into LMS stock in 1930, becoming 4557–4561.

Accidents and incidents edit

  • On 19 November 1926, locomotive No. 3980 was one of two hauling a freight train. One of the private owner wagons disintegrated, derailing the train at Parkgate and Rawmarsh, Yorkshire. A signal post was partly brought down, obstructing an adjacent line. The carriages of an express passenger train had their sides ripped open by the signal post. Eleven people were killed.[2]
  • On 6 March 1930, locomotive No. 4009 was hauling a ballast train that was in collision with a passenger train, hauled by Ex-LNWR Claughton Class 4-6-0 No. 5971, at Langwathby station, Cumberland. The passenger train had departed from Culgaith against signals. Two people were killed and four were seriously injured.[3]

Withdrawal edit

The 197 engines in this class were withdrawn between 1954 and 1965 as follows:

Preservation edit

 
43924 at Oxenhope, KVWR

One Midland-built 4F, (4)3924 is preserved on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, the first locomotive to leave Woodham Brothers scrapyard in Barry, South Wales in September 1968.[5][6]

Models edit

Bachmann Branchline 3835 Class in OO gauge, which was also adapted into Graham Farish N gauge model.

Product Ref. No. Livery
31-880 3851 LMS unlined black, number on loco.
31-882 43875 BR black, early crest
31-883 3848 Midland Railway black
31-884 44044 BR black, late crest

Hornby introduced a OO gauge model of 3924 in 2022 to celebrate the film "Return of the Railway Children" which featured this locomotive. The model is in a variation of LMS unlined black.

References edit

  1. ^ Duggan, Jamie (14 July 2018). "MR 3835 / LMS Fowler 4F Class steam locomotives - Class Information". RailAdvent. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  2. ^ Earnshaw 1993, pp. 14–15.
  3. ^ Hall 1990, p. 95.
  4. ^ Baxter 1982, pp. 180–183.
  5. ^ Devereux, Nigel (8 January 2018). "PRESERVATION HISTORY: ALEXANDER MACDONALD – FROM SCRAP TO SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS: THE 43924 STORY". No. 236. Heritage Magazine. Heritage Magazine. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  6. ^ "The Barry Scrapyard story, part 2". The Great Western Archive - part1. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  • Baxter, Bertram (1982). Baxter, David (ed.). British Locomotive Catalogue 1825–1923. Vol. 3A: Midland Railway and its constituent companies. Ashbourne, Derbyshire: Moorland Publishing Company. ISBN 9780903485524.
  • Baxter, Bertram (1984). Baxter, David (ed.). British Locomotive Catalogue 1825–1923, Volume 4: Scottish and remaining English Companies in the LMS Group. Ashbourne, Derbyshire: Moorland Publishing Company.
  • Casserley, H. C. & Johnston, Stuart W. (1974) [1966]. Locomotives at the Grouping 3: London, Midland and Scottish Railway. Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0554-0.
  • Earnshaw, Alan (1993). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 8. Penryn: Atlantic Books. ISBN 0-906899-52-4.
  • Hall, Stanley (1990). The Railway Detectives. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1929-0.

External links edit