Caledonian Railway 944 Class

Caledonian Railway 944 Class
Works Photograph of C.R. No. 950
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer William Pickersgill Builder North British Locomotive Company, Hyde Park Works, Glasgow Serial number 21480-21491 Build date 1917 Total produced 12
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 4-6-2T Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Driver dia. 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1] Loco weight 91 long tons 13 cwt (205,300 lb or 93.1 t)[1] Boiler pressure 170 psi (1,172 kPa)[1] Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 19.5 in × 26 in (495 mm × 660 mm)[1] Valve gear Stephenson
Performance figures Tractive effort 20,804 lbf (92.54 kN)[1]
Career Operators CR • LMS  • BR Class CR: 944 Power class LMS: 4P Withdrawn 1946-1953 Disposition All scrapped

The Caledonian Railway 944 Class were 4-6-2T passenger tank locomotives designed by William Pickersgill and built in 1917, at the North British Locomotive Company's Hyde Park Works in Glasgow. They were the Caledonian Railway's only Pacific-type.

Although the Caledonian Railway built a long and successful series of small 0-4-4T passenger tank engines, the twelve locomotives of the 944 Class were the only large passenger tanks operated by the company. They shared much of their design with the contemporary 60 Class 4-6-0s.^[2] They were originally used on the Inverclyde Line and so gained the nickname 'Wemyss Bay Pugs' amongst enginemen.

The locomotives passed into the ownership of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) upon its formation in 1923, and were repainted from Caledonian blue into LMS crimson lake livery, although within a few years this gave way to lined black livery. They were later displaced from the Inverclyde line by LMS Fowler and Fairburn 2-6-4Ts and by the time of nationalisation in 1948, the surviving locomotives were all allocated to Beattock shed, primarily for banking duties on Beattock Summit. They were all withdrawn and scrapped between 1946 and 1953.

sources: BritishSteam,^[3] Longworth (2005) p167 ^[4]