The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Stanier Class 8F is a class of steam locomotives designed for hauling heavy freight. 852 were built between 1935 and 1946 (not all to LMS order), as a freight version of William Stanier's successful Black Five, and the class saw extensive service overseas during and after the Second World War.
Background LMS freight traction suffered from the adoption of the Midland Railway's small engine policy which had left it with trains double-headed by underpowered 0-6-0s supplemented by disappointing Garratts and Fowler 7F 0-8-0s.
The 8F design incorporated the two-cylinder arrangement of the Black Fives. They were initially classified 7F, but this was later changed to 8F.
On the outbreak of the World War II, the design was chosen to become the country's standard freight design, reprising the role the GCR Class 8K had in the First World War. The War Department had 208 8Fs built by Beyer Peacock and North British Locomotive Company and requisitioned 51 more.
Stanier 8F production for the WD continued until 1943 when the cheaper WD Austerity 2-8-0 was introduced. Production for British domestic use continued until 1946.
Construction +Construction of LMS Stanier Class 8F: general summaryOrdering organisation Numbers Quantity TotalLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway 8000–8225 226 8301–8399 998490–8495 6LMS total 331War Department 300–449 150 500–524 25540–571 32623 1War Dept total 208Railway Executive Committee 8400–8479 80 8500–8559 608600–8704 105REC total 245London and North Eastern Railway 7651–7675 25 3125–3167 43LNER total 68Grand total 852 +Ordered by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway Builder Delivered Quantity Original Numbers LMS Crewe Works 1935–44 137 LMS 8000–8026, 8096–8175, 8301–8330 Vulcan Foundry 1936–37 69 LMS 8027–8095 North British Locomotive Co. 1942 50 LMS 8176–8225 LMS Horwich Works 1943–45 75 LMS 8331–8399, 8490–8495Total331 LMS nos. 8012–6/8–25/8/30–2/4/8–49/51/2/8/9/61/6/8/9/71/2/7–80/5–8/91/3/4 were requisitioned by the War Department in 1941 and renumbered 572–622 (not in order). These 51 locomotives were intended for service in Persia, but twelve never got there: four (former nos. 8066/8/71/87) were lost in the Irish Sea whilst being shipped in 1941 and eight more were damaged in transit, repaired and returned to LMS stock in 1943 (on loan from 1942), resuming their former LMS numbers 8024/69/78–80/5/8/93. After the war, ten were bought from the WD by British Railways in 1949, and were given BR numbers 48012/6/8/20/39/45/6/61/77/94, being their original numbers increased by 40000. One final locomotive, originally LMS 8025, was bought by BR in 1957 and renumbered 48775. Thus 299 former LMS locomotives were eventually in BR stock.
+Ordered by the War Department Builder Delivered Quantity Original Numbers Notes North British Locomotive Co. 1940–42 158 WD 300–399, 500–524, 540–571, 623 300–337 delivered as LMS 8226–8263, on loan from WD Beyer, Peacock & Co. 1940–42 50 WD 400–449 400–414 delivered as LMS 8286–8300, on loan from WDTotal208 Not all were required immediately by the War Department, and so beginning in August 1940, 53 were loaned to the LMS and given temporary LMS numbers as shown. 25 of these were subsequently transferred to the GWR, still on loan from the WD, but retained their LMS numbers. No. 407, then on loan to the GWR and running as LMS 8293, was damaged in an accident at Dolphin Junction, Slough; after repair it was bought by the LMS in 1943, retaining number 8293. The remainder were returned to the WD during 1941 and resumed their original WD numbers. Others were loaned to the LMS but initially retained their WD numbers; in 1943, 22 of these (WD 549–551, 553, 555–571 and 623) were bought by the LMS and renumbered 8264–85. In 1948–49, 29 more (original WD numbers 300/1, 311/4/8, 332, 363, 376/8, 384, 394, 321, 398, 504, 518, 544, 373, 506, 401–3, 413, 438, 440/2/3/6/7/9) were bought by British Railways and renumbered 48246–63, 48286–92, 48294–7 without regard to any LMS numbers previously carried. Two more, originally WD nos. 307 and 320, were bought by BR in 1957 and renumbered 48773/4. 54 of the 208 locomotives ordered by the WD were eventually in BR stock.
+Ordered by the Railway Executive Committee Builder Delivered Quantity Original Numbers Notes GWR Swindon Works 1943–45 80 LMS 8400–8479 Loaned to the GWR from new LNER Darlington Works 1944–45 30 LMS 8500–8509, 8540–8559 Loaned to the LNER from new LNER Doncaster Works 1944–45 30 LMS 8510–8539 Loaned to the LNER from new SR Eastleigh Works 1943–44 23 LMS 8600–8609, 8650–8662 SR Ashford Works 1943–44 14 LMS 8610–8612, 8618–8624, 8671–8674 SR Brighton Works 1943–44 68 LMS 8613–8617, 8625–8649, 8663–8670, 8675–8704Total245 Although none of these was built by the LMS, all were considered to be LMS property; those built by the GWR and LNER were loaned to the railways which built them, being returned to the LMS during 1946–47. All 245 entered BR stock at the start of 1948 and subsequently had their LMS numbers increased by 40000.
+Ordered by the London and North Eastern Railway (Class O6) Builder Delivered Quantity Original Numbers Notes SR Brighton Works 1944 25 LNER 7651–7675 renumbered LNER 3100–3124, then LNER 3500–3524 LNER Darlington Works 1945–46 23 LNER 3125–3147 renumbered LNER 3525–3547 LNER Doncaster Works 1945–46 20 LNER 3148–3167 renumbered LNER 3548–3567Total68 These were paid for by the LNER, which had informed the Ministry of War Transport that they were willing to buy up to 100 of these locomotives in the national interest. Once replacement locomotives became available from September 1947, they were loaned to the LMS and given LMS numbers 8705–72; by nationalisation at the start of 1948, only one (LNER no. 3554) remained, and this was loaned to what was now the London Midland Region (LMR) in January 1948, duly becoming BR (LMR) no. 8759. The loan of all 68 became a permanent transfer in May 1948 and they subsequently became BR nos. 48705–72.
Overseas service
The War Department originally ordered 8Fs for service in support of the British Expeditionary Force, but they were not delivered until after the Fall of France. However, most of them did see wartime military service overseas in Egypt, Palestine, Iran and Italy. Many of these locomotives were later sold to the local railways in these countries, and some were also sold to Turkey and Iraq.
Egypt The British Army's Middle East Forces (MEF) in Egypt received 42 8Fs in 1941-42, with some having been lost at sea en route (246-304, 322, 370, 371, 415, 416, 428, 429, 444 & 445)HaRakevet: Rothschild PhD, Rabbi Walter (March 1991), ROD 2-8-0s in Palestina, 11942-1946. Issue 12 possibly on the .In the fins of Cousteau … The S.S. Thistlegorm and its incredible cargo Some of these were loaned to Egyptian State Railways (ESR) and the others were used by the MEF on the Western Desert Extension Railway (WDER). The scarcity of water made steam locomotive operations on the WDER difficult, and their smoke also attracted unwanted attention from enemy aircraft, so once American diesels began to arrive from late 1942 the use of 8Fs on the WDER declined. Forty locomotives were sold to ESR in 1942-44. The other two locomotives had accident damage, and were made into one good locomotive which was also sold to ESR in 1945. The remains of the last locomotive were bought by ESR for spares in 1946.
The MEF received another 50 8Fs from Iran in 1944, for use in both Egypt and Palestine, although 15 of these were transferred to Italy later in the year. Some of the 50 were not in operational condition, and 4 were scrapped by the MEF in 1946 without further use. Another 59 former Iranian 8Fs were transferred to the MEF in 1946, most of which were initially used in Palestine. This brought the number of 8Fs in the Middle East Forces up to 90.
After the war the British military presence in the region waned, so the need for military locomotives declined. The MEF's fleet was largely sold off in 1947-48 to British Railways (39), Palestine Railways (24) and ESR (11). Five returned to Britain for continued WD use in 1952. MEF railway operation ended in 1954, with 10 8Fs being sold to ESR, and 1 scrapped by MEF following bomb damage.
ESR thus purchased a total of 62 8Fs from MEF between 1942 and 1954, and operated the type until 1963.
Iran Following the occupation of Iran in 1941, WD locomotives were required to operate the Persian Corridor supply route, delivering war materials to the Soviet Union via the Trans-Iranian Railway. 163 8F were dispatched to Iran in 1941-42, but only 143 arrived (12 being lost at sea (246-444, 445, 608, 617, 619, 622 (latter 4 former LMS 8066, 8068, 8071, 8087)) and 8 returned to Britain with sea damage). These operated as Iranian State Railways' Class 41.
The arrival of US Army Transportation Corps units in Iran with their own locomotives (including diesels which were more suitable for use in desert regions) made many of the 8Fs redundant, and 50 locomotives were transferred to the Middle East Forces in 1944. At the end of the war the need for steam locomotives in Iran was further reduced and another 71 locomotives left for the MEF (59) and Iraq (12) in 1945-48. The remaining 22 locomotives in Iran had all been withdrawn by 1963.
Iraq Ten WD locomotives were transferred from Iran in 1946-47, being purchased by Iraqi State Railways in 1947, and two more locomotives were purchased from Iran in 1948. These became Iraqi Class TD, and operated until the 1970s. One example, no. 1429, was still in existence in Baghdad, in 2014.
Italy 15 former Iranian 8F were transferred to Italy by way of the MEF during 1944. After the war they were sold to Ferrovie dello Stato, where they operated as FS Class 737 until the early 1950s.
Palestine and Israel Some MEF 8Fs were loaned to Palestine Railways during 1942, but larger numbers of former Iranian locomotives arrived in 1944, being used on the Haifa Beirut Tripoli Railway and other lines. In 1947 24 MEF 8Fs were sold to Palestine Railways. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War 23 of these locomotives were taken over by Israel Railways, being operated until 1958. The war stranded the other 8F, 70372 (NBL works no. 24680), on a small section of the main line near Tulkarm on the West Bank side of the 1949 Armistice line. It remained there, increasingly derelict, until after the 1967 Israeli invasion of the West Bank. The Israelis finally removed and scrapped it in about 1973.
Turkey
Twenty-five new WD locomotives were sold to Turkish State Railways (TCDD) in 1941 for diplomatic reasons, but seven of these were lost at sea en route (338, 343-345, 354-356. 343, 344 and 345 sunk when the collided with Baron Pentland on 16 February 1941). Two more locomotives were delivered in 1943, making a total of 20. These served as the TCDD 45151 Class, operating until the 1980s.
War Department use in UK With their intended role in France having ceased to exist, early WD 8Fs were loaned to British railway companies in 1940-42, being given temporary numbers in the LMS series. However, by late 1941 the need for locomotives in Iran and Egypt was such that all of the WD locomotives which had been completed up to that point were recalled for military service, and 50 more locomotives were requisitioned from the LMS. Locomotive WD 407 (LMS 8293) had been damaged in an accident whilst on loan to the Great Western Railway, so a 51st LMS engine was requisitioned as a replacement.
By 1942 the need for locomotives overseas had been satisfied, and the final 24 new WD 8Fs remained in the UK on loan to LMS. Also remaining in the UK were nine damaged locomotives (WD 407 and 8 requisitioned locomotives whose voyage to Iran had been aborted after the suffered severe storm damage – 4 other locomotives had had to be jettisoned into the sea to save the ship). Two locomotives were sold to Turkey in 1944, and the other 31 were sold to the LMS in 1943.