LNWR DX Goods Class

Appointed Locomotive Superintendent of the LNWR's Northern Division in 1857, John Ramsbottom designed a standard goods locomotive intended for mass production: a simple, robust inside-cylinder 0-6-0 with 5 ft 1 in coupled wheels, a small but well-proportioned boiler, and Ramsbottom's own design of duplex safety valve and water troughs (Ramsbottom's other notable invention). Construction began at Crewe Works in 1858.

The DX ("Goods" in the LNWR's classification system) was so successful that production continued for 16 years, with 857 engines built at Crewe between 1858 and 1872, and a further 86 supplied to the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway between 1871 and 1874. The total of 943 made it the most numerous British locomotive class ever built — a record that has never been surpassed.

The DX worked LNWR goods traffic across the whole system from 1858 onwards, becoming the standard heavy-freight engine in northern England, the Midlands, and into Scotland over LNWR-allied lines. Many were rebuilt with larger boilers and Ramsbottom safety valves through the 1880s. Withdrawal began under Webb in the 1890s as the larger Cauliflower 0-6-0s came into service, but DXs lasted in mainline service until LMS days, with the last withdrawn in 1930. A handful were sold for industrial service and a few survived into the 1950s on colliery lines. None were preserved.

Compact inside-cylinder 0-6-0 with 5 ft 1 in coupled wheels, parallel-sided boiler with Ramsbottom safety valve cluster on the firebox, brass dome on the front ring of the boiler, and tall stovepipe chimney. The class is visually identifiable by the distinctive Ramsbottom safety-valve arrangement and the LNWR "blackberry black" livery.

• Various — none preserved (a serious gap in British preservation)