LNWR Improved Precedent Class

The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Improved Precedent Class or Renewed Precedent Class is a class of 2-4-0 steam locomotives originally designed for express passenger work. They later gained the nickname of Jumbos.

History

The locomotives were designed by F. W. Webb. A total of 158 were built in batches by Crewe Works 1887–1897 with two further additions in 1898 and 1901 respectively. They were officially "renewals" (i.e. replacements) of 96 Newton Class and 62 Precedent Class, so that, for accountancy purposes, they could be charged against the Revenue account rather than the Capital account of a "new" locomotive. On renewal, they kept the numbers and names of their predecessors, and as a result the numbering system continued to be completely haphazard. In addition, the eight Precedent class locomotives that were not renewed, were rebuilt to the Improved specification, but they retained their original 7⁄8-inch (22.2 mm) thick frames, whereas the renewed locomotives had 1-inch (25.4 mm) frames.

On 22 August 1895, 790 Hardwicke took 2 hours and 6 minutes for the 141 miles (227 km) from Crewe to Carlisle, with an average speed of 67.1 mph (108.0 km/h), setting up a new speed record during the Race to the North.

When George Whale (who succeeded Francis Webb in 1903) introduced his Precursor and Experiment Classes in March 1904 and April 1905 respectively, the Improved Precedents ultimately began seeing withdrawals, starting in December 1905. By the outbreak of the First World War in July 1914, only 112 Large Jumbos were in service.

The London, Midland and Scottish Railway acquired 76 upon the grouping of 1923, and gave them the power classification 1P. The LMS assigned these the numbers 5004–79, in order of build date, though not all received them as withdrawals continued apace. All members of this class were deemed extinct by 1933, when the 4 remaining members in service were sent for scrap.

Accidents and incidents

• On 15 August 1895, locomotive No. 275 Vulcan was one of two locomotives hauling an express passenger train that derailed at Preston, Lancashire due to excessive speed on a curve. One person was killed.
• On 27 October 1895, locomotive No. 790 Hardwicke was hauling an express passenger train that collided with a freight train at Preston. The express was derailed and Hardwicke was severely damaged. The accident was caused by the driver of the freight misreading signals.
• The Ditton Junction rail crash: On 17 September 1912, a late afternoon express train, packed with holidaymakers returning to Liverpool from Chester, hauled by Precedent class "Cook" left the rails just to the east of Ditton Junction railway station and crashed into the brickwork of the bridge that carried Hale Road over the railway. Thirteen passengers were killed.
• The Weedon rail crashes: On 14 August 1915, a locomotive hauling a passenger train suffered a mechanical defect which resulted in track being damaged at Weedon, Northamptonshire. Locomotive No. 1189 Stewart was one of two hauling a mail train that was derailed on the damaged track. Ten people were killed and 21 were injured.

Preservation

One, No. 790 Hardwicke (built 1892, LMS No. 5031, withdrawn 1932) has been preserved as part of the National Railway Collection. It was overhauled in 1976[citation needed] and hauled some excursion trains on the main line, on one of which it double-headed with Flying Scotsman. In the same year it made a special run on the Settle - Carlisle railway, double heading with Midland compound 1000, to celebrate the line's centenary. During this period it was allocated TOPS number 98 190. It is currently a static exhibit in the National Railway Museum Shildon.

Fleet list

† LMS number allocated, but never applied

In fiction

No.790 “Hardwicke” has appeared in the episode 1 and OVA of “Unbreakable Machine-Doll”, the 2013 Japanese animation. In the series, the nameplate spells “Hardrock”.

Notes

Sources

• Baxter, Bertram (1979). Baxter, David (ed.). British Locomotive Catalogue 1825–1923. Vol. 2B: London and North Western Railway and its constituent companies. Ashbourne, Derbyshire: Moorland Publishing Company. pp. 188–191. ISBN 0-903485-84-2.
• Casserley, H. C. & Johnston, Stuart W. (1974) [1966]. Locomotives at the Grouping 3: London, Midland and Scottish Railway. Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan. pp. 58–59. ISBN 0-7110-0554-0.
• Yeadon, W. B. Yeadon's Register of LNWR Locomotives, Volume 1: Passenger Tender Engines.

External links