LNWR 18in Goods Class

The LNWR 18-inch Goods was a class of 310 0-6-0 freight steam locomotives built by the London and North Western Railway at their Crewe Works between 1880 and 1902.

They were also known officially as the Express Goods 5 ft 0in, and unofficially as the Crested Goods or Cauliflower Class, due to the application of the large LNWR crest on the middle splasher in the original livery.

Design
The design featured a boiler pressed to 150 lbf/in2 delivering saturated steam to two 18 by cylinders connected by Joy valve gear to the driving wheels.

The dimensions quoted in the class title could be misleading: several locomotives ran for a period with 17 or cylinders; and the “5ft 0in” referred to the diameter of the wheel centres – measured of the tyres the diameter was 5 ft.

A tank locomotive version was also produced as the LNWR 18in Tank Class 0-6-2T.

Service
Two locomotives were withdrawn before the 1923 Grouping, leaving 308 to pass to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, who gave them power classification 2F, and renumbered them 8315–8624. The LMS later added them to the duplicate list by the addition of 20000 to their numbers to make room for additional Class 8F locomotives.

Sixty-nine locomotives entered British Railways (BR) stock in 1948. BR allocated them the numbers 58362–58430, as adding 40000 to their numbers as was done with most ex-LMS locomotives would have taken them into the 6xxxx ex-LNER series. The last one was withdrawn from British Railways service in 1955. None were preserved.