Caledonian Railway 918 Class

Type and origin
Power type	Steam
Designer	John F. McIntosh
Builder	St. Rollox
Build date	1906
Total produced	5

Specifications
Configuration:
• Whyte	4-6-0
Gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Driver dia.	5 ft 0 in (1.52 m)
Length	17.526 m (57.50 ft)
Adhesive weight	46.8 tons
Loco weight	60 tons 8 cwt
Firebox:
• Grate area	2.41 m (25.9 sq ft)
Boiler pressure	175psi
Heating surface	187.47 m (615.1 ft)
Superheater	not equipped
Cylinders	Two, inside
Cylinder size	19 in × 26 in (483 mm × 660 mm)
Valve gear	Stephenson

Performance figures
Tractive effort	23,269 lbf (103.51 kN)

Career
Operators	CR • LMS
Class	CR: 918
Power class	LMS: 3F

The Caledonian Railway 918 Class were 4-6-0 steam tender locomotives designed by John F. McIntosh and built in 1906, at the Caledonian Railway's own St. Rollox Works.

Overview

McIntosh developed six different classes of 4-6-0 for the Caledonian Railway:

large 49 and 903 Classes for express passenger traffic, with 6' 6" driving wheels
intermediate 908 and 179 Classes for mixed traffic, with 5' 9" driving wheels
small (5') wheeled 55 and 918 Classes for the Oban line and express goods traffic respectively

The 55 class had been introduced in 1902, specifically for use on the Caledonian's Oban line, and the 918 class was a development of the 55 class which was intended for express goods traffic on the main line. Whereas the 55s featured a relatively small boiler to keep axle weights low and very short tenders to keep within the length of the Oban shed turntable, the otherwise similar 918s had larger boilers and tenders.

Although built for freight service they were also used occasionally on passenger trains, and like all Caledonian 4-6-0s they were painted in the Railway's blue passenger livery.

LMS ownership

The locomotives passed into the ownership of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway upon its formation in 1923, and were repainted into the LMS's unlined black freight livery.

They were displaced by new LMS standard locomotives such as the "Crab" 2-6-0s and were withdrawn for scrap between 1929 and 1930. Two of the boilers from the withdrawn 918s were transferred to 55 Class engines at that time, with the result that the receiving locomotives effectively became "quasi-918s" for their last few years.

Numbering and locomotive histories

CR no.	LMS no.	Delivered	Withdrawn
918	17900	07/1906	12/1930
919	17901	07/1906	12/1930
920	17902	08/1906	12/1930
921	17903	08/1906	05/1929
922	17904	09/1906	04/1930

source: BritishSteam

References

^ Casserley, H. C. & Johnston, S.W. (1966), Locomotives at the Grouping 3: London Midland and Scottish, Ian Allan, p.182
^ Essery, Bob & Jenkinson, David (1986), An Illustrated History of L.M.S. Locomotives, Volume Three: Absorbed Pre-Group Classes, Northern Division, OPC, p.103
"BritishSteam locomotive information". BritishSteam.com. Archived from the original on 4 April 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2016.

v t e Caledonian Railway locomotives
Robert Sinclair (1847–1856)	59 (2-2-2) 96 101 111
Benjamin Connor (1856–1876)	59 (2-4-0) 552 600
George Brittain (1876–1882)	1 130 140 152 179 485 486 670
Dugald Drummond (1882–1890)	66 80 123 124 171 262 264 272 294 323
Hugh Smellie (1890)	Appointed 1 September 1890. Died 19 April 1891
John Lambie (1891–1895)	1 13 19 211 538A
John F. McIntosh (1895–1914)	29 43 49 55 92 139 140 179 184 439 492 498 611 652 711 721 766 782 812 879 900 903
William Pickersgill (1914–1923)	60 72 113 159 191 300 431 944 956
Miscellaneous	Highland Railway River Class
Locomotives of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway Steam locomotives of British Railways

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