The Highland Railway

Highland Railway

The Highland Railway was one of the smaller British railways before the Railways Act 1921; it operated north of Perth railway station in Scotland and served the farthest north of Britain...

 Ben Class were small 4-4-0

4-4-0

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

 passenger steam locomotives. There were actually two separate 'Ben' classes, usually referred to as the 'Small Bens' and the 'Large Bens'.

Introduction

Despite the large and small tags, there was actually little difference between the two groups, the most crucial being larger boilers with an increase in tube heating surface. Cylinder and wheel dimensions were identical.

The class was originally designed by Peter Drummond, whose elder (and better known) brother Dugald

Dugald Drummond

Dugald Drummond was a Scottish steam locomotive engineer. He had a career with the North British Railway, LB&SCR, Caledonian Railway and London and South Western Railway...

 had been in the company's locomotive department in earlier years and was at that time Chief Mechanical Engineer

Chief Mechanical Engineer

Chief Mechanical Engineer and Locomotive Superintendent are titles applied by British, Australian, and New Zealand railway companies to the person ultimately responsible to the board of the company for the building and maintaining of the locomotives and rolling stock...

 of the London and South Western Railway

London and South Western Railway

The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter, with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth. It also had many routes connecting towns in...

.

In appearance they were fairly typical Drummond family products with the stiffener across the cab roof. They were also inside cylindered, almost uniquely among HR bogie locomotives.

First batch

The first 8 locomotives were of the Small Ben type and were built by Dübs and Company

Dûbs and Company

Dübs & Co. was a locomotive works in Glasgow, Scotland, founded by Henry Dübs in 1863 and based at the Queens Park Works in Polmadie. In 1903 it became part of the North British Locomotive Company.-Preserved locomotives:...

 of Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

 in the period 1898 to 1899. They were:

HR No.	Name	Maufacturer	Built	Withdrawn	LMS No.	BR No.	Notes
1	Ben-y-Gloe	Dübs & Co.	1898	1949	14397	54397
2	Ben Alder Ben Alder Ben Alder is the highest mountain in the remote area of the Scottish Highlands between Loch Ericht and Glen Spean. The vast summit plateau is home of one of Britain's highest bodies of standing water, Lochan a' Garbh Coire. It is the 25th highest Munro, and due to its remote location, one of the...	Dübs & Co.	1898	1953	14398	54398
3	Ben Wyvis Ben Wyvis Ben Wyvis is a mountain located in Easter Ross, Ross and Cromarty, Highland, in northern Scotland, north-west of Dingwall. It forms an undulating ridge running roughly north-south for about 5 km, the highest summit of which is Glas Leathad Mòr...	Dübs & Co.	1898	1952	14399	54399
4	Ben More	Dübs & Co.	1899	1946	14400	—
5	Ben Vrackie Ben Vrackie Ben Vrackie is a mountain in Perthshire, Scotland. It lies north of the town of Pitlochry and reaches 841 m high at its summit. The summit may be reached easily by a direct path from Pitlochry or Killiecrankie, and commands views of Pitlochry and the surrounding glens....	Dübs & Co.	1899	1948	14401	54401
6	Ben Armin	Dübs & Co.	1899	1939	14402	—
7	Ben Attow	Dübs & Co.	1899	1949	14403	54403
8	Ben Clebrig	Dübs & Co.	1899	1950	14404	54404

There are rumours that No 1 was originally named Ben Nevis

Ben Nevis

Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British Isles. It is located at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Lochaber area of the Scottish Highlands, close to the town of Fort William....

, an action that attracted the ire of the board as it was in the territory of a competitor ( The North British Railway

North British Railway

The North British Railway was a Scottish railway company that was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923.-History:...

).

Second batch

The Highland Railway built another nine during 1899–1900 at their own Lochgorm works:

HR No.	Name	LMS No.	BR No.
9	Ben Rinnes Ben Rinnes Ben Rinnes is a mountain in Moray, in northern Scotland. The mountain is popular with hikers with the sight from the summit that is described as truly amazing....	14405
10	Ben Slioch	14406
11	Ben Macdhui	14407
12	Ben Hope Ben Hope Ben Hope is a mountain in northern Scotland. It is the most northerly Munro, standing alone in the Flow Country south-east of Loch Hope in Sutherland. The mountain is a roughly triangular wedge, with a great crag on the west, with two lower shoulders to the south and northeast...	14408
13	Ben Alisky	14409	54409
14	Ben Dearg	14410	54410
15	Ben Loyal Ben Loyal Ben Loyal is an isolated mountain of 764 m in Sutherland, the northwestern tip of the Scottish Highlands. It is a Corbett located south of the Kyle of Tongue, and provides good views of the Kyle, Loch Loyal to the east, and Ben Hope to the west....	14411
16	Ben Avon Ben Avon Ben Avon is a mountain in the Cairngorm mountains of Scotland. The highest point of the massif, known as Leabaidh an Dàimh Bhuide is classified as both a Munro and a Marilyn....	14412
17	Ben Alligan	14413

Third batch

Finally, three more were built by the North British Locomotive Company

North British Locomotive Company

The North British Locomotive Company was created in 1903 through the merger of three Glasgow locomotive manufacturing companies; Sharp Stewart and Company , Neilson, Reid and Company and Dübs and Company , creating the largest locomotive manufacturing company in Europe.Its main factories were...

 of Glasgow in 1906.

HR No.	Name	LMS No.	BR No.
38	Ben Udlaman	14414
41	Ben Bhach Ard	14415	54415
47	Ben-a-Bhuird	14416	54416

Large Bens

In 1908 a larger version appeared, initially four examples from North British Locomotive, with two more the following year

HR No.	Name	NBL serial	Built	Withdrawn	LMS No.	BR No.	Notes
61	Ben na Caillich later Ben na Caillach	18269	1908	1936	14417	—
63	Ben Mheadhoin	18270	1908	1932	14418	—
66	Ben Mholach	18271	1908	1935	14419	—	Renumbered 64 in 1909
68	Ben a'Chait	18272	1908	1934	14420	—	Renumbered 65 in 1909
60	Ben Breac Mhor later Ben Bhreac 'Mhor	18803	1909	1932	14421	—
62	Ben a'Chaoruinn later Ben Achaoruinn then Ben a'Chaoruinn	18804	1909	1937	14422	—

Grouping and Nationalisation

All of these locomotives survived to be taken over by the LMS

London, Midland and Scottish Railway

The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...

 at the Grouping

Railways Act 1921

The Railways Act 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, was an enactment by the British government of David Lloyd George intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, move the railways away from internal competition, and to retain some of the benefits which...

 in 1923. The Large Bens were all withdrawn between 1932 and 1937. The first of the Small Bens was withdrawn in 1931, but ten survived into British Railways ownership. The last of these, 54398 Ben Alder, was withdrawn in 1953 and placed in storage in the hope that it would be preserved.

Unfortunately the hopes for 54398 – which included the intention to restore the locomotive to Highland Railway condition – came to nothing, and following storage at various locations (including Boat of Garten) it was eventually cut up in 1967; and so, none were preserved. However, the possibility of building a new HR Ben Class steam locomotive for Scottish Railway Preservation has been raised.

Sources

• Ian Allan ABC of British Railways Locomotives, 1948 edition part 3, page 44
• Hugh Longworth (2005) British Railways Steam Locomotives 1948-1968)
• H.A. Vallance (1938) The Highland Railway

External links

• Rail UK database no. 54398