1P  123  4-2-2  CR  Neilson & Drummond 

123

Power Classification1P
Introduced1886
DesignerNeilson and Drummond
CompanyCR
Weight – Loco41t 7cwt
Driving Wheels7ft 0ins
Boiler Pressure160psi
CylindersInside – 18in x 26in
Tractive Effort13,638lbf
Valve GearStephenson (slide valves)

This engine was a one-off engine which was built by Neilson& Co in 1886 for the Edinburgh exhibition of that year. Afterwards it was acquired by the Caledonian Railway (CR), whose Chief Mechanical Engineer Dugald Drummond had obviously had a hand in its design, as it contained many of his characteristic features.

It was the only single wheeler ever to appear on a Scottish railway and it put in many years of useful service on main line trains, including participating in the 1888 Race to Scotland between East and West coast routes.

After the First World War it was put to work hauling the directors’ saloon, but in 1930 it reverted to ordinary services as LMS 14010 working light trains between Perth and Dundee. As such it was the last express single wheeler to work in ordinary traffic anywhere in the British Isles, and probably in the world. In 1935, having completed 780,000 miles, it was withdrawn from service and repainted in CR blue livery for preservation at St Rollox works.

In 1958 it was given a complete overhaul and was taken into stock in October 1959. It was put to work on enthusiasts’ special workings. These workings took the engine far and wide, not just in Scotland but as far south as the Bluebell Railway in Sussex.

In 1965 the engine was again retired and placed in the Glasgow Transport Museum. It is the only preserved Caledonian Railway express locomotive.

Home BaseCurrent StatusOwner
Glasgow Riverside MuseumStatic displayGlasgow Museums
123 at Llandudno Junction – 1953. Photo by John Wiltshire
123 at Cardiff Canton shed – April 1960
123 inside Old Oak Common shed – April 1960
123 on display at Westbourne Park – Circa 1962
123 & 30120 at Victoria Station – September 1963
123 at London Victoria complete with whitewashed coal – September 1963
123 at Silloth – 1964
123 in Eastfields shed, Glasgow – April 1965
123 in Glasgow Pollokshields Museum – April 1973
123 in the Glasgow Museum of Transport – October 1988
123 in the Glasgow Museum of Transport – March 2007

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