The Adams family

With two ‘0415’ class 4‑4‑2Ts and a Class O2 0‑4‑4T available ready-to-run in ‘OO’, and a ‘B4’ 0‑4‑0T in preparation by Dapol, William Adams’ tank locomotives for the LSWR will be well covered. CHRIS LEIGH delves into their story.

LSWR Adams’ tank locomotives are well covered in ‘OO’. Chris Leigh’s MASTERCLASS delves into their story.

In the days before Scottish engineers came south to take senior positions on the London & South Western Railway, it appointed Londoner William Adams as Mechanical Engineer in January 1878. Limehouse-born Adams should not be confused with the engineer William Bridges Adams. He designed the radial axle design used by LSWR Adams in some of his locomotives. William Adams’ first design for the LSWR was a batch of 12 4‑4‑0Ts delivered by Beyer Peacock between June and August 1879. Unofficially nicknamed ‘Ironclads’, the ‘46’ class was initially employed on suburban services with most based at Nine Elms, while Nos 375/76 worked from Windsor and No. 123 from Ascot. As built, none were fitted with train brakes, vacuum braking being fitted from 1881. They had all been withdrawn by the end of 1925.

THE ‘RADIAL TANKS’

From about 1903, the larger ‘415’ class 4‑4‑2Ts started to replace the ‘46s’ on suburban services. Adams’ ‘415’ class 4‑4‑2Ts were based on similar locomotives which he had apparently designed for the London Tilbury & Southend Railway, while working for

CHRIS LEIGH COLLECTION Top: Robert Stephenson-built ‘0415’ 4‑4‑2T No. 30582 awaits its fate at Eastleigh. It carries a Drummond boiler and the white embellishments were added for railtour duties in the London area in 1961.