London, Midland & Scottish Railway

About

The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) was the largest of the British Big Four railways and at formation was, by some measures, the largest joint-stock company in the world. It was formed at the 1923 Grouping by the amalgamation of the London & North Western, Midland, Lancashire & Yorkshire, Caledonian, Glasgow & South Western, Highland, North London and several smaller railways into a single concern operating the West Coast Main Line and the Midland and Scottish trunk routes.

The LMS's early years were marked by continuing rivalry between the Crewe (LNWR) and Derby (Midland) engineering offices. From 1932 Sir William Stanier, recruited from the GWR, imposed Swindon-style discipline, producing the Princess Royal and streamlined Princess Coronation Pacifics, the Black Five mixed-traffic 4-6-0 (842 built) and the heavy 8F freight 2-8-0 (852 built). His deputy Charles Fairburn (CME 1944–1945) and George Ivatt (1945–1947) followed Stanier's pattern.

The LMS pioneered the British high-speed train with the 'Coronation Scot' service of 1937, Britain's only pre-war Anglo-Scottish high-speed train, and held the British steam speed record at 114 mph briefly in 1937 before being overtaken by the LNER A4 the following year. The 'Coronation Scot' streamliners and Pacifics in their crimson lake or maroon livery represented the LMS at its operational peak.

At nationalisation on 1 January 1948 the LMS became the London Midland and Scottish Regions of British Railways. The Stanier classes formed the backbone of the BR fleet for the next two decades; the last Black Five was withdrawn from BR service in August 1968, the end of main-line steam in Britain.

Locomotives owned

LMS 10000 / 10001 — H. G. Ivatt's 1947 LMS 10000 and 10001 — the first British mainline diesel-electric locomotives. Co-Co, 1600 hp, English Electric. Built at Derby and Crewe respectively. Worked LMS expresses (often paired) until withdrawal in the early 1960s. Neither preserved (a notable absence).
LMS 1831 — Earliest LMS diesel-electric shunter prototype, 1832 (1932 build). Single locomotive. Predecessor to the LMS 0-6-0DE class that became BR Class 08. Not preserved.
LMS 2 — Likely reference to Fowler's LMS 2-6-4T or LMS Class 2 4-4-0 — see specific class entries.
LMS 2P Class — Fowler's 1928 LMS 2P class 4-4-0 — LMS standard 4-4-0 derived from MR Johnson 4-4-0 design. 138 built. None preserved.
LMS 4P Compound — Reference to Midland Compound — the LMS Standard Compound 4-4-0 was a direct continuation of the MR design. 195 LMS-built Standard Compounds. See Midland Railway 1000 class.
LMS 8F war — Wartime production of Stanier's LMS 8F class 2-8-0 — adopted by the War Department in 1940 as the standard British military 2-8-0. Over 700 built between 1940 and 1946 by various contractors for British and overseas military use. Many returned to British service postwar; LMS/LM(S)R class 8F. Several preserved including 8233, 8431, 48624, 48773, 48305 etc.
LMS Crab Class — The Hughes-Fowler 2-6-0 mixed-traffic engine, universally known as the "Crab" for its distinctive raised running plate giving the appearance of a crustacean. 245 were built at Crewe and Horwich between 1926 and 1932, designed under George Hughes (the LMS's first CME) and continued under Henry Fowler. The class became the LMS's standard cross-country and fitted-freight engine and lasted in BR service to 1967. Two are preserved at the National Railway Museum.
LMS Fairburn 2-6-4T — Charles Fairburn's development of the Stanier 2-6-4T with shortened wheelbase, introduced 1945. 277 were built at Derby and Brighton between 1945 and 1951 for LMS and BR suburban services. The class became the standard British suburban tank engine of the post-war era and lasted in BR service to 1967. Two are preserved at the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway in Cumbria.
LMS Fowler — Fowler's 1927 LMS 2-6-4T "Fowler tank" — first of the LMS 2-6-4T family. 125 built. The class evolved into Stanier's larger 2-6-4Ts. Several preserved.
LMS Fowler Class 3F "Jinty" — Sir Henry Fowler's standard LMS shunting and short-haul tank engine, universally known as the "Jinty". Four hundred and twenty-two engines were built between 1924 and 1931 across the LMS workshops and contracted private builders. The Jinty was the LMS's universal small tank engine for stations, goods yards, dock work, and short-haul mineral traffic. Ten are preserved.
LMS Jubilee Class — Sir William Stanier's three-cylinder express 4-6-0, the LMS's principal express engine on routes that could not accept the heavier Pacifics. One hundred and ninety-one engines were built between 1934 and 1936 across Crewe, Derby, and the North British Locomotive Company. The class was named to mark King George V's Silver Jubilee of 1935; engines were named after British colonies and dominions, naval ships, places, and dignitaries. Four are preserved, Bahamas, Kolhapur, Leander, and Galatea, three of which are main-line registered.
LMS Patriot Class — A three-cylinder express 4-6-0 introduced 1930 for the LMS, nominally Henry Fowler's design but built mainly under Stanier and Ivatt. Often called the "Baby Scots" because they were nominally rebuilds of withdrawn LNWR Claughtons but were effectively new engines. 52 were built at Crewe and Derby between 1930 and 1934. From 1946 Stanier rebuilt 18 with taper boilers (the "Rebuilt Patriot" sub-class). All withdrawn 1960–1965; none preserved. A new-build engine, No. 5551 The Unknown Warrior, is under construction.
LMS Princess Coronation — Sir William Stanier's four-cylinder Pacific designed for the LMS's Coronation Scot service of 1937, the most powerful express passenger steam locomotive ever built in Britain. Thirty-eight engines were constructed at Crewe Works between 1937 and 1948, the first batch in streamlined "torpedo" casing for the Anglo-Scottish high-speed service, later batches and the post-war engines unstreamlined. The class set a British steam speed record of 114 mph (1937) and worked the West Coast main-line top-link expresses through to early-1960s replacement by Type 4 diesels. Three are preserved.
LMS Princess Royal — Sir William Stanier's first Pacific design for the LMS, a four-cylinder express 4-6-2 produced in 1933 to take over the heaviest West Coast main-line expresses from the Royal Scot 4-6-0s. Thirteen engines were built at Crewe Works in 1933–1935, including the unique turbine-driven prototype No. 6202. The class introduced large taper-boiler Pacific practice to the LMS and provided the engineering foundation for Stanier's later Princess Coronation. Two are preserved.
LMS Royal Scot Class — Three-cylinder express 4-6-0 designed for the LMS in 1927 by Sir Henry Fowler with North British Locomotive Company collaboration, a rapid response to the urgent post-Grouping need for heavier West Coast main-line motive power. Seventy-one engines were built in 1927–1930. Most were progressively rebuilt by H. G. Ivatt from 1943 onwards with new tapered Stanier-pattern boilers, double chimneys, and smoke deflectors, a reconstruction so thorough that the rebuilt engines became effectively a different class. Two are preserved.
LMS Stanier 8F — Sir William Stanier's heavy freight 2-8-0, the LMS's standard heavy goods engine and a major British wartime military export. Eight hundred and fifty-two engines were built between 1935 and 1946 by Crewe, Horwich, the Vulcan Foundry, the North British Locomotive Company, Beyer Peacock, and (under wartime government direction) the LNER's Doncaster, the GWR's Swindon, and the Southern's Brighton and Eastleigh Works. Many were sent overseas during World War II for military service, particularly in Persia, Egypt, and Italy. Seven are preserved.
LMS Stanier Black Five — Sir William Stanier's two-cylinder mixed-traffic 4-6-0, the most numerous and arguably the most successful steam class ever to run in Britain. Eight hundred and forty-two engines were built between 1934 and 1951 across Crewe, Horwich, Derby, Vulcan Foundry, and Armstrong Whitworth, with the final batches outshopped under British Railways. The class had universal LMS and BR route availability, hauled almost every kind of train from Glasgow to Bournemouth, and worked through to the very end of British steam in August 1968. Eighteen are preserved.
LMS Turbomotive — Stanier's 1935 LMS 6202 "Turbomotive" — a unique LMS Princess Royal class 4-6-2 fitted with a Ljungström steam turbine instead of cylinders. Worked LMS expresses 1935–1949 with mixed success; rebuilt as conventional Princess Royal No. 46202 "Princess Anne" in 1952, but destroyed in the Harrow & Wealdstone disaster of 8 October 1952 only weeks after entering service. Not preserved.

Founded	1 January 1923
Dissolved	1 January 1948
Country	England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Headquarters	Euston Station, London