LMS Route: Birmingham West Suburban Railway

Bournville Shed: mrb16

Midland Railway class 1 2-4-0 No 25, clearly still in use, photographed at Bournville on Sunday 9th April 1922. Despite its age, the engine would have been painted in the company's standard passenger livery of lined Crimson Lake. The boards in the foreground are probably the base for a coal stack, the young trees in the background part of adjoining Cotteridge Park [created in 1905]. The engine, with its outside frames and six foot nine inch driving wheels, was one of the forty-eight strong Kirtley 800 class, built in 1870-1871. No 25 was one of the first, built in February 1870 at the company's Derby Works and entering service as No 167. In the period 1876-1882 all were rebuilt by Kirtley's successor Johnson, with better boilers, larger cylinders, and cabs instead of weatherboards. The 800 class were main line engines that were highly regarded in their time, but it became difficult to find suitable work for them as more and more 4-4-0s were built.

All were transferred to the duplicate list in the period 1898-1903, which involved the addition of "A" at the end of the number. Three were withdrawn before 1907, when the remainder were reinstated in the main stock list in the block 23-67. In 1920 No 25 was one of four allocated to Birmingham [Hawkins & Reeve]. Twenty-five survived long enough to be taken over by the LMSR, including No 25. It was withdrawn soon afterwards, in June 1925. For a view of sister engine No 24 on pilot duty at New Street see image 'lnwrbns_pg1936' and for another unidentified '800' double heading a northbound train at New Street see image 'lnwrbns_pg1929'. The last surviving '800' and the only one to make it onto the LMSR duplicate list was No 20060, withdrawn in July 1936.

John Dews

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