CR 262 Class
The Caledonian Railway 262 Class was a series of inside-cylinder 0-6-0 goods locomotives designed by Dugald Drummond and built at St Rollox Works, Glasgow, from 1885. The 0-6-0 tender goods engine was the standard British goods type of the late Victorian era, and the Caledonian Railway required a robust and capable version for the heavy coal, mineral, and general goods traffic it handled over the Clyde valley routes and the West Coast main line north of Carlisle.
Drummond's 262 Class followed his characteristic approach of clean, functional design with an emphasis on ease of maintenance: inside cylinders for accessibility, a straightforward parallel boiler, and the Westinghouse air brake that Drummond specified for all his Caledonian designs and which gave the CR a modern, capable brake system ahead of most contemporary British railways. The 0-6-0 wheel arrangement gave maximum adhesion for slow-speed goods haulage, and the relatively modest coupled wheel diameter of 5 ft was well suited to freight work.
The class worked Caledonian goods traffic from 1885 and gave the reliable, unspectacular service that such a design was expected to provide. None of the class was preserved, and like most Victorian goods engines they left little individual historical record beyond the engineering drawings and the company's locomotive registers.
Design and development
Drummond designed the 262 Class at St Rollox as a standard Caledonian goods engine, using inside cylinders, a parallel boiler, and Westinghouse air brakes — the latter a characteristic of all Drummond's CR designs. The 5 ft coupled wheels were well matched to the slow-speed goods work the class was intended for.
Service and withdrawals
The 262 Class worked CR goods and mineral traffic from 1885. All were withdrawn before the Grouping or shortly after. None was preserved.
Identification features
Inside-cylinder 0-6-0 with 5 ft coupled wheels, similar to 294 class.
Notable locomotives
- Various — none preserved
