The Crewe type locomotive was a design of steam locomotive

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

 designed by Alexander Allan (locomotive engineer)

Alexander Allan (locomotive engineer)

Alexander Allan was a Scottish mechanical engineer. He was born at Montrose, Angus, in 1809 and died on 2 June 1891.From 1843 to 1853 he was Works Manager at the Crewe Works of the Grand Junction Railway, later London and North Western Railway, under Francis Trevithick. Here he was responsible for...

 and William Buddicom during the 1840s. It was widely copied elsewhere, particularly in France.

History

During early 1840s Alexander Allan and William Buddicom of the Grand Junction Railway

Grand Junction Railway

The Grand Junction Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was merged into the London and North Western Railway...

 created the design incorporating inclined outside cylinders and a double frame

Locomotive frame

A locomotive frame is the structure that forms the backbone of the railway locomotive, giving it strength and supporting the superstructure elements such as a cab, boiler or bodywork. The vast majority of locomotives have had a frame structure of some kind...

. It was built due to combat the frequent failure of crank axles

Crank (mechanism)

A crank is an arm attached at right angles to a rotating shaft by which reciprocating motion is imparted to or received from the shaft. It is used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion. The arm may be a bent portion of the shaft, or a separate arm...

 on contemporary inside cylinder locomotive designs. The earliest examples were built by Buddicom at Chartreux

Chartreux

The Chartreux is a breed of domestic cat from France and is recognised by a number of registries around the world. It is not recognised by the GCCF in the UK, ostensibly for being too similar to the British Shorthair, one of whose colours is a similar blue-grey. The Chartreux is large and...

 for the Chemins de Fer de l'Ouest

Chemins de Fer de l'Ouest

The Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Ouest , often referred to simply as L'Ouest or Ouest, was an early French railway company.- Birth of the company :...

 in 1844 where the type became know known as 'Le Buddicom'.

The first British examples were built by the newly created London and North Western Railway

London and North Western Railway

The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...

 (LNWR) at Crewe Works

Crewe Works

Crewe railway works is a British railway engineering facility built in 1840 by the Grand Junction Railway. It is located in the town of Crewe, in the county of Cheshire....

 in 1845, with a 2-2-2

2-2-2

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-2-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle two powered driving wheels on one axle, and two trailing wheels on one axle. The wheel arrangement both provided more stability and enabled a larger firebox...

 wheel arrangement for passenger classes and 2-4-0

2-4-0

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels....

for freight. These designs were widely copied by other railways both in the UK and overseas during the 1850s and 1860s.