| Power Classification | 8F |
| Introduced | 1943 |
| Designer | Riddles |
| Company | Ministry of Supply |
| Weight – Loco | 78t 6cwt |
| Tender | 55t 10cwt |
| Driving Wheels | 4ft 8½ins |
| Boiler Pressure | 225psi superheated |
| Cylinders | Outside – 19in x 28in |
| Tractive Effort | 34,215lbf |
| Valve Gear | Walschaert (piston valves) |
These were an enlarged version of the 2-8-0 WD Austerity locomotives and 150 were built by the North British Locomotive Company. They were given an extra set of wheels to enable them to work over lightly laid track. As such they were the first successful locomotives with ten coupled wheels to work in this country (the short lived GER Decapod of 1902-1906 and the Midland 2-10-0 for the Lickey Bank were the only other ten coupled locomotives which had run in Britain). They paved the way for the development of Riddles successful 9F 2-10-0 of 1954. They also differed from the 2-8-0 engines in that they were fitted with wide fire-boxes.
 |
MOS (WD) 2-10-0 Austerity introduced in 1943 |
 |
MOS (WD) 2-8-0 Austerity introduced in 1943 |
 |
Standard class 9F introduced in 1954 |
To enable the locomotive to negotiate sharp curves, the 2-10-0’s centre driving wheels were flangeless whilst the next pairs had reduced flanges (a feature continued in the BR Standard 9F).
The first of 100 were completed in 1943 and 1944 with a second batch of 50 produced in 1945. They were numbered WD 73650-73799.
Of the original batch of 100, one was allocated to the Longmoor Military Railway, and twenty were shipped out to Egypt and placed in store.
The LMS received the remaining 79 until they were needed in continental Europe in late 1944.
One (WD 73797 Kitchener) of the second batch of locomotives was allocated to the Longmoor Military Railway.
Twenty-five of the locomotives were on loan to BR at nationalisation. These were purchased at the end of 1948. Two other locomotives worked at the Longmoor Military Railway 600 Gordon and 601 Kitchener. 601 Kitchener was temporarily loaned to BR from 1957 until 1959.
After being used in the Second World War the 150 locomotives were redeployed.
|
103 |
Were purchased in 1946 by the Dutch State Railway – Nederlandse Spoorwegen and became class NS series 500011. The last was withdrawn in 1952. |
|
25 |
Were initially loaned to BR and subsequently purchased in 1948. |
|
16 |
Were transferred to Greece from Egypt and worked on the Hellenic State Railway as class SEK AB. They were mainly allocated to the Salonika division, but hauled both freight and passenger trains (including Athens to Istanbul Expresses) all across Greece, until they were slowly replaced by diesel locomotives until the mid-1970s, being one of the last classes of steam locomotives of SEK to be withdrawn from regular service. |
|
4 |
Were transferred to Syria from Egypt to work on the Chemins de Fer Syriens as CFS class 150.6 |
|
2 |
Retained to work on the Longmoor Military Railway. 600 Gordon (WD73651) and 601 Kitchener (WD73797). The latter was loaned to BR from 1957 until 1959. |
|
150 |
- A total of six Greek Austerity 2-10-0s have survived the 1984-1985 steam locomotive scrappings, two of which were repatriated to Great Britain. All of these six still exist, however, none of the ones in Greece is in working condition.
- The last Longmoor WD 2-10-0, AD600 Gordon was withdrawn in October 1969 when the Longmoor Military Railway was closed.
Locomotives taken into BR stock.
| Built | Withdrawals | No. in Service | |||
| BR Numbers | WD Numbers | Quantity | |||
| 1945 | 90750 – 90774 | WD73774 – WD73799* |
25 |
25 |
|
| 1946-60 |
25 |
||||
| 1961 | 3 |
22 |
|||
| 1962 | 22 |
0 |
|||
- *The 25 locomotives acquired by BR excludes WD73797 Kitchener which was later loaned from the Longmoor Military Railway from May 1957 until February 1959. It was scrapped in 1967.
- Unusually 90773 and 90774 both carried the same name – North British. The names were later removed from both locomotives.
The 2-10-0 Austerity locomotives were used to haul heavy freight trains and were mostly allocated to Scottish Region ex-LMS (Caledonian) motive power depots in the Central Belt, Motherwell and Grangemouth always being their principal bases, where they were mixed with the much more widespread WD 2-8-0s.
Allocation of locomotives in service as at 1st of January.
| 1948 | 1950 | 1955 | 1960 | 1961 |
1962 |
|
| Bidston |
1 |
|||||
| Carlisle Kingmoor |
2 |
3 | 3 | 1 |
1 |
|
| Carstairs |
2 |
2 | 2 | 2 |
1 |
|
| Grangemouth | 4 | 5 | 8 | 8 |
8 |
|
| Hamilton | 1 | 1 |
1 |
|||
| Motherwell |
9 |
13 | 11 | 11 |
11 |
|
| Polmadie | 2 | 2 |
2 |
|||
| SR Trials |
1 |
|||||
| Stored |
23 |
6 |
||||
|
25 |
25 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
22 |
- Apart from short periods for trials the locomotives were substantially used on the Scottish Region. Carlisle Kingmoor supplied the motif power for trains working further north and at times was under Scottish Region management. 90763 is perhaps the exception having spent a year (August 1959 – July 1960) based at Bidston on the Wirral.
- 90757 was based briefly at Old Oak Common for trials in July 1948. It was also for a short time based at Doncaster (August 1952) and Ashford (September 1952).
- 90764 was based at the Rugby Testing Station from August 1950 until March 1951 having previously been allocated to the CME at Rugby in February 1949.
- Trials were undertaken with the locomotives on the Southern and Western Regions.
- 90750 on the Western Region – September 1948 to February 1949
- 90757 on the Southern Region – August 1948 to February 1949
- 90764 on the Southern Region – March 1949 to August 1950
Preservation
None of the BR class have been preserved, but some of the others which worked overseas have been preserved in this country, together with 600 Gordon (WD73651) from the Longmoor Military Railway.
Preserved British Steam Locomotives 