Hornby Magazine - reliving the past with Reality Check...

The 'Austerity' 2-8-0s –wartime veterans

Largely unnoticed and unloved during their railway service, the ‘WD’ 2-8-0s were as much a part of the post-war scene as the demob suit and rock-n’-roll. However, a recent Bachmann model and the restoration of a working example have renewed interest in these powerful and numerous locomotives, as EVAN GREEN-HUGHES finds out.

The outbreak of hostilities between Britain and Germany in 1939 caused a massive shift in the pattern of freight workings on the railways. Passenger traffic was discouraged and the spare rolling stock was used for transport of troops, evacuees and essential workers. Freight movement, which had latterly been in decline, was suddenly massively expanded by the need to move munitions, equipment and raw materials. As the war effort increased the railways found themselves unable to cope with the demand and as a result the Government was forced to look into ways of expanding the equipment available.

At the outbreak of hostilities the Government had effectively taken control of the railways and had appointed Robert Riddles, who was at the time William Stanier’s principal assistant at the LMS, to the post of Director of Transport at the Ministry of Supply. Riddles was an ideal man for the job, having been through a Crewe Works apprenticeship, but also having served in the Royal Engineers during the First World War. Although freight locomotives came in many shapes and sizes, what was really needed was a powerful, low-axle weight design, a role which had been fulfilled by the former Great Central designed ‘O4’ 2-8-0 in the Great War. He decided that the recently introduced LMS 2-8-0 freight engine – the Stanier ‘8F’ 2-8-0 fitted the bill perfectly and should therefore be adopted as the new wartime standard.

This locomotive, designed by his former boss, William Stanier, owed much to Great Western practice and was first introduced in 1935 – 126 having been built by the start of the war. It was a powerful two-cylinder design with a taper boiler and was easy to maintain and economical to operate. A programme of building was commenced both by railway workshops and by private contractors and eventually there were 852 examples in service both in the UK and overseas.

For the full story see HM May 2008 p98-101.