Caledonian Railway 60 Class Explained

Caledonian Railway 60 Class
(details for original CR batch)
Powertype:Steam
Designer:William Pickersgill
Builder:St. Rollox Works
Ordernumber:Y115, Y116
Builddate:November 1916 – April 1917
Totalproduction:6
Whytetype:4-6-0
Uicclass:2′C h2
Leadingdiameter:3feet
Driverdiameter:6feet
Locoweight:75LT
Tenderweight:46.5LT
Fueltype:Coal
Boilerpressure:1752NaN2
Totalsurface:1676square feet
Superheaterarea:258.3square feet
Cylindercount:Two, outside
Cylindersize:20x
Valvegear:Stephenson
Valvetype:Piston valves
Tractiveeffort:21795lbf
Operatorclass:CR: 60
Powerclass:LMS: 4P
Withdrawndate:1944 (1), 1946–1953
Disposition:All scrapped

The Caledonian Railway 60 Class were 4-6-0 passenger engines designed by William Pickersgill and introduced in 1916. Six were built by the Caledonian Railway at its own St. Rollox works in 1916–17, and all of them passed into LMS ownership in 1923. A further twenty locomotives of a slightly modified design were built by the LMS under the auspices of George Hughes in the period of 1925–1926.

The 60 Class were rugged and free steaming, but were unsophisticated and of lethargic performance for their size. Although classified as passenger locomotives by the LMS, latterly they spent much of their time on goods trains and acquired the nickname Greybacks, either in reference to their long and grimy boilers or possibly as an insult from former Glasgow and South Western Railway enginemen[1] ('greyback' being an old term for louse). Withdrawals began in 1944 but twenty three passed into British Railways ownership in 1948. The last locomotives were withdrawn from service in 1953, and all were scrapped.

Numbering and locomotive histories

sources Longworth (2005)[2] and RailUK[3] [4]

Technical details

Pickersgill Caledonian Railway design

See box, top right.[5]

Hughes LMS development of Pickersgill design

The locomotives built by the LMS had slightly larger cylinders and weighed slightly less than the original CR locomotives. Details were as for the CR locomotives except:[6]

Notes and References

  1. Atkins, C. P. (1976), The Scottish 4-6-0 Classes, Ian Allan, p.53
  2. Longworth, Hugh (2005), British Railway Steam Locomotives 1948-1968, page 166
  3. Web site: Rail UK Steam Loco Class Information . Railuk.info . 2013-05-26.
  4. Web site: Rail UK Steam Loco Class Information . Railuk.info . 2013-05-26.
  5. Web site: Rail UK Steam Loco Class Information . Railuk.info . 2012-06-21.
  6. Atkins, C. P. (1976), The Scottish 4-6-0 Classes, Ian Allan, p.109