LMS Fowler Class 3F "Jinty"

By 1924 the LMS needed a modern small-tank engine to replace the diverse pre-Grouping shunting and station-pilot fleet inherited from the absorbed companies. Sir Henry Fowler, the LMS's Chief Mechanical Engineer, designed a 0-6-0T small tank engine drawing on Midland Railway practice but with detail improvements.

The class entered production in 1924 and continued through to 1931, by which time 422 engines had been built. Production was distributed across the LMS works (Crewe, Derby, Horwich, Vulcan Foundry) and contracted private builders (the North British Locomotive Company, Beardmore, William Beardmore, and Hunslet), making the Jinty one of the most-widely-built classes ever for the LMS.

The class became known universally as "Jinty", an enginemen's nickname whose origin is uncertain but probably derives from a generic small-tank-engine slang term used on the Midland Railway. The name stuck and is now the standard identifier.

The Jinty was the LMS's and BR LMR's universal small-tank engine. The class was found at almost every LMS shed in the country, shunting goods yards, working station pilots at major termini, hauling short-haul freight and trip workings, banking heavy trains, and occasionally working branch passenger services. The class's ubiquity made it one of the most-photographed pre-Stanier LMS classes despite its modest role.

British Railways inherited the full 422-engine fleet in 1948. Withdrawals began in the late 1950s as diesel shunters (Class 08 in particular) arrived. The class continued through the 1960s on lighter duties; the last Jinty in BR service was withdrawn in 1967.

The classic LMS small-tank outline. Side tanks alongside the boiler, modest cab with side windows, single chimney, brass dome on the boiler, and the inside-cylinder arrangement (visible only from underneath as the cylinders are between the frames). The whole engine has a chunky business-like appearance characteristic of LMS Fowler-era practice. The class was unnamed.

47279, preserved at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, working order.

47298, privately preserved.

47324, preserved at the East Lancashire Railway.

47327, preserved at the Midland Railway Centre, Butterley.

47357, preserved at the Midland Railway Centre.

47383, preserved at the Severn Valley Railway, working order.

47406, preserved at the Midland Railway Centre.

47445, preserved at the Midland Railway Centre.

47493, preserved at the Spa Valley Railway.

47564, preserved at the Midland Railway Centre.

LMS era (1924–1947): the Jinty was distributed across virtually every LMS shed in the country. Major allocations at Camden, Crewe, Edge Hill, Saltley, Toton, Glasgow Polmadie, Holbeck, and dozens of other sheds. The class was the LMS's small-tank workhorse.

British Railways London Midland Region (1948–1967): continued at the same sheds. Withdrawals through the late 1950s and 1960s as diesel shunters arrived. The class continued in BR service through to 1967.

Final years (1962–1967): displacement by BR Type 1 diesels (Class 08 shunters, Class 20s) progressively withdrew the class. The last Jinty in BR service was withdrawn in 1967.

LMS unlined black (1924–1947): the class was outshopped in plain LMS black with shaded "LMS" lettering, the LMS standard goods/shunting livery.

British Railways unlined black (1948–1967): from 1948 the class wore BR-standard unlined black with the early lion-and-wheel emblem (later the late BR crest from 1956). This was the dominant BR livery to the end.

Preservation: preserved Jintys have appeared in LMS unlined black, BR unlined black with each emblem variant, and (occasionally) experimental liveries representing pre-LMS constituent companies.