The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Fowler 2-6-4T was a class of steam locomotive passenger tank engine designed by Henry Fowler.
Construction
thumb|left|42421 at Hibel Road station in 1959 - this is one of the Fowler 4MTs with later style side window cabs.
125 examples of the class were built. The last 30 numbered 2395 to 2424 were fitted with side-windows and doors to their cabs. The LMS classified them 4P, BR 4MT. They were the basis for a family of subsequent LMS/BR Class 4 2-6-4T locomotives. The Irish Northern Counties Committee (NCC) Class W 2-6-0 moguls were also strongly influenced by this class, albeit the driving wheel diameter was three inches greater to match the NCC practice.
The cylinder and piston valve design and the setting of the Walschaerts valve gear, allowing a maximum travel of in full gear, was believed by O. S. Nock to subsequently lead to the "outstanding success" of the class.
In May 2015, the LMS-Patriot Project announced that after the completion of Patriot Class No. 45551 The Unknown Warrior, it would begin construction on a new-build Fowler 2-6-4T. Similar to the Patriot, it will carry the number of the last member of the class, No. 42424, and be built to main line running standards, though it will only primarily be used on heritage lines.
One of the NCC Class WT locos (No. 4), which drew heavily from the Fowler design and were the last steam locomotives withdrawn in Northern Ireland, is preserved by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland. In 2024 No. 4 was out of service and being dismantled before overhaul at the RPSI's Whitehead Railway Museum.
References
- David Hunt, Bob Essery Fred James (2002) LMS Locomotive Profiles No. 3: The Parallel Boiler 2-6-4 Tank Engines