The 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) Alfred the Great class, after modification known as the Benbow Class was a class of 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...

 4-cylinder compound locomotive

Compound locomotive

A compound engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages.A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure cylinder, then having given up heat and losing pressure, it exhausts directly into one or more larger...

s by F.W. Webb. A total of forty were built from 1901–1903. They were a development of the Jubilee Class

LNWR Jubilee Class

The London and North Western Railway Jubilee Class was a class of 4-4-0 4-cylinder compound locomotives by F.W. Webb. A total of forty were built from 1897–1900.Slightly unusually for the LNWR, the class received a number series, this being 1901–1940....

, with a slightly larger boiler.

Unusually for the LNWR, the locomotives were assigned a number series, this being 1941-80.

Compounds had proven unreliable, so starting in 1908 Whale started rebuilding the Jubilees into the 2 cylinder simple Renown Class

LNWR Renown Class

The London and North Western Railway Renown Class was a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives. They were rebuilds of F.W. Webb's 4 cylinder compounds of the Jubilee and Alfred the Great classes into 2 cylinder simple engines by George Whale, later continued by Charles Bowen-Cooke.The first to be...

. Bowen-Cooke started the same process with the Benbows in 1913, and these too were added to the Renown Class. Rebuilt engines retained their numbers. Benbow 1974 Howe was superheated in 1921; the only member of the class so treated.

Number 1976 Lady Godiva was withdrawn in December 1922 without rebuilding. By 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...

 of 1 January 1923, when the LNWR passed into London, Midland and Scottish Railway

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...

(LMS) ownership, 25 had been rebuilt to Renowns, leaving fourteen Benbows. Of these, 1956 was withdrawn in early 1923, before it could be allocated an LMS number, but the remaining 13—1944/52–55/64/66/67/69/70/74/77/79 were allocated the LMS numbers 5118–5130, sequentially. The LMS continued conversions, rebuilding another eight—1952–54/64/67/69/70/74 in 1923/4. The remainder four Benbows 1944/55/66/79 were withdrawn between 1923–1927, the last being 1974 Howe in 1928 – none of these last five received their allocated LMS numbers. And thus the class was made extinct.

Stock list

LNWR/LMS stock list

LNWR No.	LNWR Name	Date built	Date rebuilt	LMS No.	Date withdrawn	Notes
1941	Alfred the Great			5179
1942	King Edward VII			5185
1943	Queen Alexandra			5145
1944	Victoria and Albert		—	5118		Never carried its LMS number
1945	Magnificent			5139
1946	Diadem			5138
1947	Zillah			5174
1948	Camperdown			5141
1949	King Arthur			5152
1950	Victorious			5186
1951	Bacchante			5136
1952	Benbow			5119
1953	Formidable			5120
1954	Galatea			5121
1955	Hannibal		—	5122		Never carried its LMS number
1956	Illustrious		—	—
1957	Orion			5148
1958	Royal Oak			5181
1959	Revenge			5143
1960	Francis Stevenson			5153
1961	Albemarle			5140
1962	Aurora			5171
1963	Boadicea			5163
1964	Caesar			5123
1965	Charles H. Mason			5151
1966	Commonwealth		—	5124		Never carried its LMS number
1967	Cressy			5125		Never carried its LMS number
1968	Cumberland			5164
1969	Dominion			5126
1970	Good Hope			5127
1971	Euryalus			5135
1972	Hindostan			5168
1973	Hood			5175
1974	Howe		—	5128		Superheated 1921. Never carried its LMS number
1975	Jupiter			5167
1976	Lady Godiva		—	—
1977	Mars			5129
1978	Merlin			5177
1979	Nelson		—	5130		Never carried its LMS number
1980	Neptune			5182