LMS McIntosh/Pickersgill Class 2P (Caledonian Railway classes 439 & 431)
LMS Class 2P/CR Class 439 no. 419 at Winchcombe, Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway
Technical Data
Introduced: 1900
No. Built: 96 (92 of 419 Class, 4 of 431 Class, 78/4 of each in service in 1944)
Wheel arrangement: 4-4-0
These were pre-Grouping locomotive from the Caledonian Railway mainly for use on suburban passenger work. They were fitted with air-braking at a time when most train braking systems were vacuum-braked, and this, combined with a large driving wheel diameter meant they could accelerate and decelerate quickly. However, the LMS used vacuum braking as standard, so the class was switched to this after the grouping.
The 439 class was designed by John McIntosh. The 431 class was a modified version of the 439 designed by William Pickersgill in 1922, just prior to the Grouping; these had larger cylinders and cast iron buffer beams, probably to facilitate the use of the class as banking locomotives
74 of the class passed into British Railways ownership, and some examples were still working into the 1960s.
Preservation
One member of the 439 class survived: no. 419 (LMS 15189/BR 55189) which was built in 1909 and withdrawn from BR service in 1962. It is currently based at the Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway.