The LNER Encyclopedia

I'm interested in the background to WD locos (particularly during WWII but also WWI if anyone has any info).

Am I correct that WD locos were constructed by the War Department and then allocated among big four according to need? Or was their deployment coordinated centrally? Were they shedded and maintained by the railways? Who drove them - railway staff or defence personnel?

I imagine the availability of 200 newish heavy freight locos (even if not built to pre-war standards and a little worse for wear) was a Godsend to the cash-strapped LNER. What would have happened if the LNER had said 'no thanks'? Why didn't the LNER buy more than 75 J94s - there must have been 100s available and they were very capable machines. Surely the LNER could have used another 100 or so to phase out some of the older shunting locos.

What happened to the other 533 WD 2-8-0s between the end of the war and BR ownership? Were they still in use (many on the LNER as well) or were they in store?

As a general answer, they were ordered by the War Department, but constructed by a variety of organisations. Even the "Hunslet" Austerities (J94s) were built by a number of companies. The Big Four also helped out - hence the Stanier 8Fs being built at Doncaster and Brighton amongst other places. (the 8F was the WD standard heavy freight engine for a short while before the "cheap & quick to build version", aka the WD 2-8-0 / LNER O7 was designed).

I'd have to dig out the RCTS books, but in the case of WW1, large numbers of RODs were kept in storage after WW1. The LNER eventually bought these in a number of batches in the 1920s - with successively deeper and deeper discounts. The Government needed to get rid of them! Quite a deal really, when you consider how much the GCR/etc was paid to build them ten years earlier!

For the J94s, I think the LNER did investigate the condition of the engines and chose the better ones where it could. Also, it had a very limited post-war budget and limited need. Yes they were good cheap engines - but there's no point in buying more than is necessary.

Richard

The yeadons for the austerities says that the LNER was looking to build 50 J50 class tank engines post ww2 but due to the shortage of materials and labour the J94 became the better option.

With regard to the O7 many went abroad and would have come back as and when the army or govt had the boats and money to bring them back after D-day I imagine this took quite a while.

regrds
Simon Baldwin