The Furness Railway 94 class (unofficially classified L4 by Bob Rush), or "Improved Cleator Tanks", were built to haul mineral trains from inland to the blast furnaces on the coast around Workington.
Furness Railway 94 class ‘Improved Cleator Tanks’ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Variations
editThe first two locos, numbers 94 & 95 were fitted with smokebox superheaters, with the smokebox extended to accommodate this and the chimney set far forward.[1] The apparatus was obviously unsuccessful, as a subsequent order for a further two locos, numbers 92 and 93 omitted this, having instead an extended boiler with the frames being extended to accommodate.
Use
editThe locomotives operated on the northern part of the Furness Railway, particularly on the tracks of the Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway and the Cleator & Workington Junction Railway in the Cleator and Frizington areas.[1] Here they hauled trains of Haemetite Ore over the steep and sharply curved lines linking the mines to the coast.
Numbering
editBy 1923 and the grouping of the FR into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway all four engines were still in service, and received the LMS numbers 11641–11644. The locos were withdrawn between 1929 and 1934.
Date new | FR No. | LMS No. | Date withdrawn |
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1912 | 94 | 11641 | November 1935 |
1912 | 95 | 11642 | September 1929 |
1914 | 92 | 11643 | August 1934 |
1914 | 93 | 11644 | August 1932 |
References
edit- 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. pp. 221–222.