LNWR Class E

The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Class E was a class of 2-8-0 steam locomotives. 26 were rebuilt by Bowen Cooke from Class B 4-cylinder compounds with the simple addition of a leading pony truck to reduce excessive front overhang between 1904-1908. The only alteration was to wheelbase and weight, but when the letter classification system was introduced in 1911, this took them into a different class.

Two of Class Es were further rebuilt to Class Fs by the replacement of the 4'3" diameter boiler with a larger 5'2" diameter boiler; these being 1038 in 1907 and 647 in 1908.

From 1917, Bowen Cooke started to rebuild the remaining 24 Class Es into LNWR Class G1 0-8-0s with simple expansion engines. 12 had been so treated by the grouping of 1923, and a further pair were treated in January and February of that year. Of the remaining ten Class Es, the LMS allocated them the numbers 9600-9. A further four were rebuilt to Class G1 in 1923-4, while the remaining six engines were withdrawn still as Class Es in 1927/8, two of them never receiving their allocated LMS No. None was preserved.

Further reading

• Bob Essery & David Jenkinson An Illustrated Review of LMS Locomotives Vol. 2 Absorbed Pre-Group Classes Western and Central Divisions
• Edward Talbot, The London & North Western Railway Eight-Coupled Goods Engines
• Willie Yeadon, Yeadon's Compendium of LNWR Locomotives Vol 2 Goods Tender Engines

External links

• LNWRS Webb page on the Class E (NB lifetime is incorrect as it includes G1 rebuilds)