The Caledonian Railway 812 and 652 Classes were 0-6-0 steam tender locomotives designed by John F. McIntosh, and introduced in 1899 for express-freight and mixed traffic on the Caledonian Railway. They had the same large boiler type as 721 “Dunalastair” Class 4-4-0s which operated at 160 psi, and were fitted with additional tubes, making it a prodigious raiser of steam. They could easily reach speeds of up to .

Construction

Since the design was considered a development of an existing one and the need for locomotives was urgent, the company commissioned production directly from the drawing board. The need was so great that some had to be built by external contractors.

96 locomotives were built, as follows:

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

|+Table of locomotives, 812 Class

! Year !! Quantity !! CR Nos. !! Builder !! Builders No. !! LMS Nos. !! BR Nos. !! Notes

|-

| 1899 || 17 || 812–828 || CR, St. Rollox || Y054 || 17550–17566 || 57550–57566 || 828 preserved

|-

| 1899 || 10 || 829–838 || Neilson, Reid & Co. || 5613–5622 || 17567–17576 || 57568–57576 || 17567 withdrawn before nationalisation

|-

| 1900 || 10 || 839–848 || Neilson, Reid & Co. || 5623–5632 || 17577–17586 || 57577–57586 ||

|-

| 1900 || 15 || 849–863 || Sharp Stewart || 4633–4647 || 17587–17601 || || 17598 withdrawn before nationalisation

|-

| c.1900 || 15 || 864–878 || Dübs & Co. || 3880–3894 || 17602–17616 || || 17610 withdrawn before nationalisation

|-

| 1899 || 12 || 282–293 || CR, St. Rollox || Y058 || 17617–17628 || 57617–57628 ||

|}

Subsequently, between 1908 and 1909, another batch of 17 locomotives was built with the same basic specifications, although with minor differences in the cab, reinforced frames, and the replacement of the old coil springs with laminated springs on the driving axle. These locomotives were designated the "652" class. It is worth noting that the Belgian State Railways copied the "812" design.

{|class="wikitable sortable" style=text-align:center

|+Table of locomotives, 652 Class

! Year !! Quantity !! CR Nos. !! Builder !! Builders No. !! LMS Nos. !! BR Nos. || Notes

|-

| 1908 || 8 || 652–659 || CR, St. Rollox || Y087-Y086 || 17629–17636 || 57629–57636 ||

|-

| 1908 || 4 || 662–665 || CR, St. Rollox || Y086 || 17637–17640 || 57637–57640 ||

|-

| 1909 || 4 || 325–328 || CR, St. Rollox || Y086 || 17641–17644 || 57641–57644 ||

|-

| 1909 || 1 || 661 || CR, St. Rollox || Y086 || 17645 || 57645 ||

|}

left|thumb|335x335px|EX-CR Class 812. LMS Nos.17578

As built, seventeen were fitted with the Westinghouse air brakes for passenger train working: were turned out in Caledonian blue livery, while the rest of the class was lined black, while there were minor changes in appearance with the original safety valves being replaced, some receiving a flatter dome and others being fitted with an LMS-pattern boiler. As built all had 3,000 gallon six-wheel tenders but during the 1940s some were given 3,570 gallon versions from scrapped 4-4-0s, with the originals being cascaded to older ‘294’ class engines. All 96 locomotives passed to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway at the 1923 grouping: All engines were painted unlined black and remained so for the rest of their lives. The air brake equipment was removed in LMS days and instead some engines were fitted with vacuum brakes.

Operations

Initial passenger duties included boat trains to Gourock and Wemyss Bay from Glasgow Central, with this work lasting until 1906, while some also worked turns around Perth and Dundee. Most of the others were employed on medium to long-distance freight trains with the class predominant on coal trains originating from the Lanarkshire coalfields. Some engines were also employed on fast fish trains and this led to examples being equipped with vacuum ejectors and through pipes to enable them to work fitted freight trains. where it joined fellow Caledonian survivor 419 during the Scottish Steam Up over Easter 2022.

Belgian derivatives

thumb|A Type 30 engine used by the [[Railway Operating Division]]

Belgian State Railways (SNCB-NMBS) derived three series of steam locomotives (891 units) from the class 812 between 1899 and 1914. They had a shallower firebox, able to burn semi-bituminous coal and briquettes, allowing a shorter wheelbase due to its positioning above the rear axle. There were three classes:

  • Type 30 – first variant with several details in common with the Caledonian engines (cab windows, gauges, and tender coupling). 82 built between 1899 and 1901.
  • Type 32 (later renamed Type 44) – more powerful and fitted with a Belgian cab, higher steam pressure, new gauges and tender coupling. 502 built between 1901 and 1910.
  • (later renamed Type 41) – same features but improved with a Schmidt superheater. 307 built between 1905 and 1914.

Until 1909, they were the only new engines used with freight trains. They were also used on suburban and local passenger trains and some expresses on hilly sections. Most of them were retired between 1947 and 1959. Some of them were then used as stationary boilers and two of them (44.225 and 41.195) survive in museums. A third one (44.021) was kept as a parts donor and scrapped in 2002.

Models

Rails of Sheffield announced at the opening of Model Rail Scotland on 23 February 2018, that in conjunction with Bachmann Europe Plc they have reached agreement with The Caledonian Railway 828 Trust to produce OO scale models of the 812 Class 0-6-0 locomotives. Bachmann's American branch through their Thomas & Friends line offers models of Donald and Douglas in HO/OO scale, a pair of fictional 812 class locomotives that originated in The Railway Series.

See also

  • Locomotives of the Caledonian Railway

References

Bibliography

  • The Caley 828 Overhaul Website
  • Rail UK database 812 and 652 Classes