View source for WD ex-LMS Fowler Class 3F

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2018}}
The [[War Department (United Kingdom)|War Department]] '''ex-LMS Fowler Class 3F''' consisted of 8 [[LMS Fowler Class 3F]] [[0-6-0T]] [[steam locomotives]] requisitioned in 1940 from the [[London Midland and Scottish Railway]] (LMS).

==Career==
The Class 3F 0-6-0Ts were selected by the War Department to be their standard shunting engine.  Eight engines were prepared and exported to [[France]] during the [[Phoney War]] and were used to support British forces there.  In an attempt to [[standardisation|standardise]], locomotives were chosen from the 1928 batch built by [[William Beardmore & Co.]], with the exception of one [[Hunslet Engine Company|Hunslet]]-built engine, No. 7589.  Two are thought to have been destroyed by retreating British forces during the chaotic retreat at the [[Fall of France]]. Photographic evidence exists showing one such example at [[Berlin-Tempelhof station]] in 1953  with Wehrmacht markings and had recently been in service, overhauled at [[Cottbus]] in 1944.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.drehscheibe-online.de/foren/read.php?017,8160299|title=Drehscheibe Online Foren :: 04 - Historische Bahn :: Englischer Tenderlok in Berlin|website=www.drehscheibe-online.de|access-date=2017-11-18}}</ref> The remaining known five were left behind and were subsequently pressed into [[SNCF]] service as their 030.TW class on ''Région Nord''.

It was later (1943) decided to adopt the [[Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST]] as the War Department's shunting steam engine, so no more were required.

After the [[liberation of Europe]], the surviving five were returned in August and September 1948, by which time the LMS had been nationalised into [[British Railways]], and they assumed their original numbers within the ex-[[LMS Fowler Class 3F]] 0-6-0Ts, albeit with the addition of 40000 standard to most ex-LMS locomotives.

The eight engines concerned were as follows:

{|class="wikitable sortable" style=text-align:center
! LMS No. !! WD No. !!SNCF No. !! BR No. !! Builder !! Serial No. !! Date built !! Fate
|-
| 7613 ||  8 || — || <span style="display:none">47613</span>— || [[William Beardmore & Co.]] || 361 || 1928 || align=left | scrapped DR, Berlin, 1953/4 
|-
| 7611 ||  9 || 030.TW.042 || 47611 || [[William Beardmore & Co.]] || 359 || 1928 || align=left | Returned August 1948
|-
| 7607 || 10 || 030.TW.043 || 47607 || [[William Beardmore & Co.]] || 355 || 1928 || align=left | Returned September 1948
|-
| 7660 || 11 || 030.TW.044 || 47660 || [[William Beardmore & Co.]] || 408 || 1929 || align=left | Returned August 1948
|-
| 7659 || 12 || 030.TW.026 || 47659 || [[William Beardmore & Co.]] || 407 || 1929 || align=left | Returned September 1948
|-
| 7663 || 13 || — || <span style="display:none">47663</span>—|| [[William Beardmore & Co.]] || 411 || 1929 || align=left | Destroyed by 1945
|-
| 7589 || 14 || 030.TW.027 || 47589 || [[Hunslet Engine Company]] || 1613 || 1929 || align=left | Returned September 1948
|-
| 7617 || 15 || — || <span style="display:none">47617</span>—|| [[William Beardmore & Co.]] || 365 || 1928 || align=left | Destroyed by 1945
|}

Of these, WD No. 9 (ex-LMS 7611) was sent instead of 1928 [[Hunslet Engine Company|Hunslet]] built No. 7587 which had been prepared for WD service.

The following engines were ordered to be prepared for service but were not actually sent.  These were quickly returned to LMS stock, and the allocated WD numbers were reused for ex-[[LMS diesel shunters]].  All these were also Beardmore engines:

{|class="wikitable sortable" style=text-align:center
! LMS No. !! WD No. !! Builder || Serial No. !! Date built
|-
| 7620 || 23 || [[William Beardmore & Co.]] || 368 || 1928
|-
| 7624 || 24 || [[William Beardmore & Co.]] || 372 || 1928
|-
| 7629 || 22 || [[William Beardmore & Co.]] || 377 || 1928
|-
| 7631 || 20 || [[William Beardmore & Co.]] || 379 || 1928
|-
| 7638 || 19 || [[William Beardmore & Co.]] || 386 || 1928
|-
| 7643 || 21 || [[William Beardmore & Co.]] || 391 || 1929
|}

The five that returned were withdrawn between 1961 and 1966 and none were preserved.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
* {{Davies-SNCFLocoList|page=80}}
* {{Rowledge-Engines of the LMS|pages=23–24}}
* {{Tourret-Allied Military Locomotives|pages=43–44}}

[[Category:War Department locomotives|LMS Fowler Class 3F]]
[[Category:William Beardmore and Company locomotives|LMS Fowler Class 3F]]
[[Category:Hunslet locomotives]]
[[Category:0-6-0T locomotives]]
[[Category:Scrapped locomotives]]