LSWR C8 class

LSWR C8 class
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Dugald Drummond Builder LSWR, at Nine Elms Build date 1898 Total produced 10
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 4-4-0 Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Leading dia. 3 ft 7 in (1.092 m) Driver dia. 6 ft 7 in (2.007 m) Length 54 ft 11 in, later 56 ft 5+1⁄4in. Loco weight 46 tons 16 cwt Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 4 tons, later 5 tons Water cap. 3,500 gallons, later 4,000 gallons. Boiler pressure 175 lbf/in2 (1.21 MPa) Cylinders Two, inside Cylinder size 18+1⁄2 in × 26 in (470 mm × 660 mm)
Performance figures Tractive effort 16,755 lbf (74.53 kN)
Career Operators London and South Western Railway Southern Railway Power class LSWR/SR: I Locale Great Britain Withdrawn 1933–38 Disposition All scrapped

The LSWR C8 class was the first class of 4-4-0 express steam locomotives designed by Dugald Drummond for the London and South Western Railway and introduced in 1898. According to Dendy Marshall they "were of orthodox design, very much like engines which Drummond had put on the Caledonian". Dendy Marshall gives few other details, except to say that they were numbered 290-299 and had 18 in x 26 in cylinders. H.C. Casserley states that they were very similar to the Caledonian Railway 66 class.

They used a similar boiler to the Drummond M7 0-4-4T and 700 class 0-6-0 engines built for the LSWR. They originally used a similar tender to the 700 class, but these were later replaced with Drummond's eight-wheeled bogie "watercart" tenders. They were not particularly good steamers, due to their firebox being too small. None were ever superheated, and they were withdrawn after service lives of 35 to 40 years. In November 1898, No. 291 worked a train carrying the Grand Duke and Duchess Serge of Russia from Windsor through to Dover on the LCDR.

Withdrawal

Table of withdrawals

Year	Quantity in service at start of year	Quantity withdrawn	Locomotive numbers	Notes
1933	10	2	290/294
1934	8	0	–
1935	8	4	291/293/295–296
1936	4	2	292/297
1937	2	1	299
1938	1	1	298