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London North Western
Railway:
Midland
Railway:
Stratford
Midland Junction Railway
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LMS Route: Rugby to Wolverhampton LMS Route: Rugby to
Leamington LMS Route: Rugby to Tamworth LMS Route: Rugby to
Leicester LMS Route: Rugby to Market Harborough
Rugby Shed: lnwrrm345
LNWR Southern Division 2-2-2 'Small Bloomer' No 602 seen posed
outside one of Rugby's coke sheds circa 1868. The most famous engines on the
Southern Division were McConnell's 'Bloomers' which were introduced in 1851 and
were inside-cylinder inside-frame single-wheelers. In 1854 the 'Small Bloomer'
as seen above were introduced. The were basically similar to the Large
Bloomer but had smaller boiler and 6'-6" driving wheels instead of 7'-0"
driving wheels. In 1861 McConnell produced three enlarged Bloomers
at Wolverton Works which had 7ft 6in driving wheels and boilers with various
McConnell patent features. On 4th July 1861 a member of the 'Large Bloomers'
class, LNWR No 249, suffered a severe boiler explosion north of Rugby whilst
working the down Irish Mail. Remarkably the boiler had run 336,368 miles in
9¾ years.
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