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WD Austerity 2-8-0
The War Department (WD) "Austerity" 2-8-0 is a type of heavy freight steam locomotive that was introduced in 1943 for war service. A total of 935 were built, making this one of the most-produced classes of British steam locomotive. They were nicknamed Ozzies by the railwaymen.
The Austerity 2-8-0 was based on the LMS Stanier Class 8F, which until that point had been the government's standard design. The 8F was reliable and powerful and had proved to have the performance required. But it had been originally designed and built for main-line heavy and express freight service on UK railways. It was intensive in labour, materials and time to construct in large quantities. At a time when both manpower and key materials were in short supply in the UK, an 8F required 33,000 man-hours to build and each locomotive included 17 tons of steel castings and 16 tons of steel forgings - capacity for both the material itself and the production capacity to make these components was in strong demand for armaments production. In hotter, dustier regions with poor-quality water, fuels and lubricants than the 8F had been intended for, some specific mechanical shortcomings had also been identified.
Robert Riddles, then engaged as Deputy Director General of Equipment for the Royal Engineers, was tasked with adapting the 8F to wartime conditions of both construction and service. He was assisted by Thomas Coleman, Chief Locomotive Draughtsman of the LMS, and from design offices of several private locomotive building companies. His goal was to reduce the time, man-hours and strategic materials needed to produce a locomotive with the same performance and capabilities as the 8F, and which would be operationally interchangeable with the LMS engine.
The main design changes were:
As well as significant savings in key strategic materials, the WD 2-8-0 design required 6000 fewer man-hours to construct than the original LMS 8F - a saving of roughly 20 per cent.
Other considerations were included in the WD design, such as the boiler being able to be converted between coal and oil fuel without having to lift the boiler from the frames.
The North British Locomotive Company (NBL) of Glasgow built 545 (split between their two works at Hyde Park and Queen's Park) and the Vulcan Foundry (VF) of Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, built 390. North British also built a larger 2-10-0 version.
WD nos. 800–879 were ordered as LMS Class 8F. No. 9312, the last one built, was named Vulcan when new. NBL builder's plates were not all in correct sequence, and were mixed up between the two works as well as between batches. All locomotives had their WD numbers increased by 70000 prior to shipping to mainland Europe; those completed after 5 September 1944 carried their 70000 series numbers from new. All but three (WD nos. 77223, 77369 and 79250) saw service with the British Army in mainland Europe after D-Day.
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WD Austerity 2-8-0
The War Department (WD) "Austerity" 2-8-0 is a type of heavy freight steam locomotive that was introduced in 1943 for war service. A total of 935 were built, making this one of the most-produced classes of British steam locomotive. They were nicknamed Ozzies by the railwaymen.
The Austerity 2-8-0 was based on the LMS Stanier Class 8F, which until that point had been the government's standard design. The 8F was reliable and powerful and had proved to have the performance required. But it had been originally designed and built for main-line heavy and express freight service on UK railways. It was intensive in labour, materials and time to construct in large quantities. At a time when both manpower and key materials were in short supply in the UK, an 8F required 33,000 man-hours to build and each locomotive included 17 tons of steel castings and 16 tons of steel forgings - capacity for both the material itself and the production capacity to make these components was in strong demand for armaments production. In hotter, dustier regions with poor-quality water, fuels and lubricants than the 8F had been intended for, some specific mechanical shortcomings had also been identified.
Robert Riddles, then engaged as Deputy Director General of Equipment for the Royal Engineers, was tasked with adapting the 8F to wartime conditions of both construction and service. He was assisted by Thomas Coleman, Chief Locomotive Draughtsman of the LMS, and from design offices of several private locomotive building companies. His goal was to reduce the time, man-hours and strategic materials needed to produce a locomotive with the same performance and capabilities as the 8F, and which would be operationally interchangeable with the LMS engine.
The main design changes were:
As well as significant savings in key strategic materials, the WD 2-8-0 design required 6000 fewer man-hours to construct than the original LMS 8F - a saving of roughly 20 per cent.
Other considerations were included in the WD design, such as the boiler being able to be converted between coal and oil fuel without having to lift the boiler from the frames.
The North British Locomotive Company (NBL) of Glasgow built 545 (split between their two works at Hyde Park and Queen's Park) and the Vulcan Foundry (VF) of Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, built 390. North British also built a larger 2-10-0 version.
WD nos. 800–879 were ordered as LMS Class 8F. No. 9312, the last one built, was named Vulcan when new. NBL builder's plates were not all in correct sequence, and were mixed up between the two works as well as between batches. All locomotives had their WD numbers increased by 70000 prior to shipping to mainland Europe; those completed after 5 September 1944 carried their 70000 series numbers from new. All but three (WD nos. 77223, 77369 and 79250) saw service with the British Army in mainland Europe after D-Day.