Highland Railway F Class Explained

Highland Railway F class
Powertype:Steam
Designer:David Jones
Builder:Dübs & Co. (10)
HR Lochgorm Works (7)
Serialnumber:Dübs: 714–723
Builddate:1874 (10), 1876–1888 (7)
Totalproduction:17
Whytetype:4-4-0
Uicclass:2′B n2
Leadingdiameter:3feet
Driverdiameter:6feet
Watercap:1800impgal
Boiler:4feet diameter
Boilerpressure:140-
Totalsurface:1228square feet
Cylindercount:Two, outside
Cylindersize:18x
Valvegear:Allan
Operator:Highland Railway
London, Midland & Scottish
Operatorclass:HR: Duke; F (from 1901)
Fleetnumbers:HR: 60–69, 4 (→ 31), 71–75, 84
Withdrawndate:1907-1923
Disposition:All scrapped

The Highland Railway F class 4-4-0s were a class of British steam locomotives introduced in 1874. The first 10 were built by Dübs and Company in 1874. A further seven were built in Lochgorm works between 1876 and 1888. Originally they were the first Bruce class, and later became known as the Duke class to avoid confusion with the second Bruce class. As part of Peter Drummond's 1901 classification scheme they became class F.

Dimensions

They featured 6-feet 3½-inch driving wheels and weighed 41LT. The original batch had boilers pressed to 140lbf/in2, the later batch had slightly smaller boilers but a higher pressure of 150-1NaN-1. Of typical Allan/Jones appearance, they had outside cylinders of 18by.

Disposal

Withdrawal commenced in 1907, and by 1909 all-but-one of the Dübs-built examples had been withdrawn. Numbers 31A and 74 were retired in 1913, number 71A was broken up in 1915. The remaining five survived until 1923 but none of them acquired a new London, Midland and Scottish Railway number.

Numbering

Table of locomotives! HR
No. !! First
name !! Manufacturer !! Serial
No. !! Date
new !! Date
withdrawn !! Notes
60 Bruce Dübs & Co. 714 1909 style=text-align:left Renamed Sutherland in 1884
61 Sutherlandshire Dübs & Co. 715 1907 style=text-align:left Renamed Duke in 1877
62 Perthshire Dübs & Co. 716 1909 style=text-align:left Renamed Stemster in 1889, Huntingtower in 1899, and Aultwherrie in 1903
63 Inverness-shire Dübs & Co. 717 1907 style=text-align:left Renamed Inverness
64 Morayshire Dübs & Co. 718 1909 style=text-align:left Renamed Seafield c. 1889
65 Nairnshire Dübs & Co. 719 1909 style=text-align:left Renamed Dalraddy
66 Ross-shire Dübs & Co. 720 1907 style=text-align:left Renamed Ardvuela
67 The Duke Dübs & Co. 721 1923 style=text-align:left Renamed Cromartie in 1877. Renumbered 67A in 1918, 70A in 1923.
68 Caithness-shire Dübs & Co. 722 1907 style=text-align:left Renamed Caithness, then Muirtown
69 The Lord Provost Dübs & Co. 723 1909 style=text-align:left Renamed Sir James, then Aldourie
4 Ardross Lochgorm 1913 style=text-align:left Renamed Auchtertyre in 1901. Renumbered 31 in 1899, and 31A in 1911.
71 Clachnacuddin Lochgorm 1915 style=text-align:left Renumbered 71A in 1912
72 Bruce Lochgorm 1923 style=text-align:left Renamed Grange c. 1886. Renumbered 72A in 1915
73 Thurlow Lochgorm 1923 style=text-align:left Name removed at unknown date; renamed Rosehaugh in 1898. Renumbered 73A in 1916
74 Beaufort Lochgorm 1913 style=text-align:left Name removed at unknown date
75 Breadalbane Lochgorm 1923 style=text-align:left Renumbered 75A in 1917
84 Dochfour Lochgorm 1923 style=text-align:left Renumbered 84A in 1917

References