Steam Locomotives of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) (2025)

Steam Locomotives of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (L&YR)

Lancashire & Yorkshire class 25

London, Midland & Scottish class 2F

Great Britain | 1876
280 produced

Directly after his appointment as superintendent of the Lancashire & Yorkshire, William Barton Wright designed the class 25 as a standard goods locomotive. Between 1876 and 1887, different commercial manufacturers and the LYR's own Miles Platting workshops produced a total of 280 of these locomotives also called “Ironclads”. The first 72 had a smaller boiler than the remaining 208.

Between 1891 and 1900, 230 were rebuilt to class 23 saddle tank locomotives.At the LMS, the non-rebuilt locomotives were classed in power class 2F. Withdrawals commenced in 1930, but 23 managed to survive into BR ownership. The last ones were withdrawn in 1959. The only non-rebuilt locomotive that was preserved is BR 52044, former LYR 957 and now running on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. Class 23 No. 752 is now running on the East Lancashire Railway, carrying the fictitious BR No. 51456.

Lancashire & Yorkshire class 26

Great Britain | 1903
20 produced

Lancashire & Yorkshire class 30 (Hughes)

London, Midland & Scottish class 6F

Great Britain | 1907
80 produced

Lancashire & Yorkshire class 32

London, Midland & Scottish class 6F

Great Britain | 1908
5 produced

Since the Great Northern's L1, it had become the fashion in Britain to procure very heavy tank locomotiveswithout a leading axlefor jobs requiring high tractive effort or rapid acceleration. The poorer running smoothness at higher speeds and the shorter range compared to a tender locomotivecould be ignored here. While the L1 was built for the rapid acceleration of commuter trains, the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway's Class 32 was intended to be used for heavy shunting or hauling freight trains. The area of application was primarily in the port of Liverpool, which had short, steep gradients. George Hughes, chief engineer of the L&YR, based the development to a certain extent on the class 30 D tender locomotiveof his predecessor Aspinall.

The diameter of the boiler was increased by a full footwhile still sticking to the saturated steamprinciple. Considerations had come to the conclusion that the superheatersof the time did not work with full efficiency in shunting operations and that the additional complexity would therefore not be expedient. The wheelbase of the driving axleswas increased, which required the four middle driving wheelsto be designed without flanges.The cylinders were very large for a simple expansion locomotive and powered the second axle. They provided a tractive force of about 34,000 pounds.

Five were ordered, all delivered in March and April 1908. Their use was initially planned on the shunting yards in Aintree with humps, but this was ultimately not possible. The reason for this was that some chassis parts damaged the conductor rails which were present there. Ultimately they were stationed at Accrington and Agecroft and used for heavy shunting and banking work. After the grouping of 1923, the L&YR belonged to the LMS and there there was no great need for small classes with a small number of locomotives. Therefore, they were withdrawn between 1925 and 1929 when the maintenance deadlines for the boilers expired.

Lancashire & Yorkshire class 53

Great Britain | 1847
82 produced

Between 1847 and 1849, the Lancashire & Yorkshire received a total of 82 express locomotives with a 2-2-2 wheel arrangement. These date from the time of John Hawkshaw, who was not actually a locomotive designer and whose designs are not considered the most successful. There were three slightly different variants, which differed primarily in the driving wheeldiameter.

One version had a wheel diameterof 5 feet9 inches and was built 26 times at the L&YR plants in Miles Platting. 17 of the same design came from William Fairbairn. Six and four respectively of another version with a wheel diameterof 5 feetand 6 inches were made by the same manufacturers. Finally there were 29 from Bury, Curtis & Kennedy with 5 feet10 inches.

Of the total of 82 locomotives, 69 were converted between 1867 and 1872 to a 2-4-0 wheel arrangement. Some received new cylinders with a diameter of 15.5 instead of 15 inches and a new boiler. The locomotives with the original boiler stayed in service until 1880 at the latest, and the others a few years longer.

Lancashire & Yorkshire class 629

Barton Wright 4-4-0

Great Britain | 1880
110 produced

In William Barton Wright's effort to unify the Lancashire & Yorkshire fleet with a smaller number of locomotive classes, the class 629 was developed as a 4-4-0 express locomotive. The first eight came in 1880 from Sharp, Stewart & Co., where most of the development took place. They had a driving wheeldiameter of six feet(1,829 mm), which meant that even topographically demanding lines were no problem. Compared to the previous 2-4-0 locomotives, smaller tenders initially had to be used because the turntables were too short.

Other batches came from Sharp, Kitson and Vulcan. The last 16 were delivered by Vulcan in 1887 under Aspinall, bringing the total to 110. These had a longer wheelbase between the driving axles,a different type of suspension and smaller bogiewheels. All but two of the class 629 locomotives were retired by 1914. These two went first to the LNWR and then to the LMS, where they were decommissioned in 1930. Aspinall used class 629 as the basis for his classes 2 and 3.

Lancashire & Yorkshire class 7 “High-Flyers”

Great Britain | 1899
40 produced

Also known as “High-Flyers”, the Lancashire & Yorkshire class 7 locomotives were among the first Atlantics in Britain. Their nickname came from the high-pitched boiler that lay above the 7 ft3 in high driving wheels.Aspinall had developed them to get a more powerful replacement for the existing 4-4-0 and 4-2-2 locomotives. As with Ivatt, this wheel arrangement was chosen to accommodate a larger, albeit narrow, firebox.

At the time of their introduction, they had the largest boiler of any British steam locomotive and reached high average speeds with the relatively light trains. While No. 1417's alleged speed of 117 mphis highly questionable, No. 1392 likely actually reached 100 mphwith a five-car train on a trial run in 1899.

After one of the locos was the first in Britain to be fitted with an early superheater,five others were also fitted with it, but this was later removed. After the grouping, they were the only 4-4-2 tender locomotiveson the LMS and were grouped into power class 2P. The withdrawals took place between 1926 and 1934.

Lancashire & Yorkshire classes 27 and 28

London, Midland & Scottish clas 3F

Great Britain | 1889
490 produced

After the L&YR had used the DX Goods from the LNWR, John Aspinall had designed the later class 27 as a new standard goods locomotive. It was a relatively simple 0-6-0 with inside cylinders and Joy valve gear. With a driving wheeldiameter of 5 ft1 in or 1,549 mm, they could also be used for passenger trains at speeds of up to 60 mph(97 km/h). Production started in 1889 and continued under George Hughes. Most batches had a cylinder diameter of 18 inches, but a number had also 17.5, 20 or even 20.5 inches. Some had a Belpaire fireboxinstead of the usual round-topped one. Nearly half of the locomotives didn't get a new-built tender, but a larger used one from withdrawn locomotives.

From 1909, 42 had been built with a superheatedboiler which also had 20-inch cylinders and piston valves, which were the first in the UK to receive the Schmidt type superheater.Compared to the saturatedvariant, they could haul trains which were 10 percent heavier and were 12.5 percent more economical. Additionally to these, 63 saturatedlocomotives were rebuilt. Five had got superheatersof Horwich types and some even had got a Belpaire firebox.Soon the saturatedlocomotives were designated class 27 and the superheatedones became class 28.

When production had ended in 1918, a total of 490 had been completed of which 105 had either been superheatedor had been built with a superheater.The LMS took over all of them in 1923 and assigned them power class 3F. When British Railways were founded in 1948, 235 had still been operational. Ironically, the last superheatedlocomotive had been withdrawn in 1957, but the last saturatedone only followed five years later. Only former No. 1300 was preserved and is now running on the East Lancashire Railway, carrying BR number 52322.

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Lancashire & Yorkshire classes 5 and 6

Great Britain | 1889
328 produced

The class 5 of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway was a 2-4-2T tank locomotivedesigned by John Aspinall in 1889 for passenger work. As a so-called “radial tank” with radially adjustable carrying axlesat both ends and with driving wheelsof 68 inches (1.727 mm), they could reach good speeds in both directions. Depending on the year of production, the cylinders had a diameter of 17.5 or 18 inches.

Starting in 1898, they were built with longer frames which allowed larger supplies and increased the service weight by nearly two and a half tons. When George Hughes took over in 1904, he produced these locomotives with a Belpaire fireboxand an extended smokebox. By 1911, 310 had been built. All were later taken over by the LMS and in 1948, 105 came to British Railways.

Starting in 1911, Hughes took 46 and superheatedthem, these were later called class 6. These also got a Belpaire firebox,an extended smokebox and the cylinder diameter was increased to 20 inches. By 1914, 18 more had been newly built in this form. Also these 18 came to the LMS and eight survived until British Railways times. The last ones were withdrawn in 1961.

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Lancashire & Yorkshire Hughes 4-6-4T “Dreadnought Tanks”

London, Midland & Scottish class 5P

Great Britain | 1924
10 produced

Based on the class 8 “Dreadnought”, George Hughes developed a tank locomotivethat was also intended for express service. Thanks to the trailing bogie,it now had a 4-6-4T wheel arrangement. The boiler with Belpaire fireboxbasically resembled the original, but was somewhat lighter. There were no changes to the 75-inch (1,905 mm) diameter driving wheelsand the four 16.5-inch (419 mm) diameter cylinders.

Although they had been developed for the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, the ten locomotives were directly delivered to the LMS in 1924 and were designated class 5P. They were also known as “Dreadnought Tanks”. However, due to their heavy weight, their possible uses were limited, so that they could only be used between Manchester and Blackpool. A further order for 20 was therefore converted into class 8. The tank locomotiveswere withdrawn from service between 1938 and 1941.

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