LMS diesel shunters

The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) pioneered the use of diesel shunting locomotives in Great Britain. The variety of experimental and production diesel shunters produced by the LMS is summarised below. In each heading, the first number(s) carried are shown first, with subsequent renumbering(s) following the "/".

Note on numbering

The initial experimental diesel shunter retained the number of the steam locomotive that it was nominally rebuilt from. However, when the LMS decided to procure a further nine prototype locomotives from a variety of manufacturers, it allocated the number series 7400-7408 to them. It was soon realised that this number range was too limited for the number of production diesel shunters that were anticipated, and a new series commencing at number 7050 was used. Only 7050-7053/7058 carried their original numbers (7400-7403/7408), and they were all renumbered in November/December 1934, some before they had actually entered service.

1831

LMS diesel shunter 1831 was the original experimental shunter, nominally rebuilt from a Midland Railway steam locomotive originally built in September 1892 by the Vulcan Foundry, whose number it inherited (1831), though very little of the steam locomotive was actually re-used. Of itself, it was not very successful, but it did provide useful data for the further development of the diesel shunter design. It was withdrawn from service in September 1939 and converted to a mobile power unit, emerging in its new guise as MPU3 in November 1940. It was scrapped in the 1950s (sources disagree exactly when).

7400 / 7050

LMS diesel shunter 7050 carried its original number of 7400 only within the Preston works where it was built, and was delivered as number 7050. It was loaned to the War Department between 1940-1941, which numbered it 25. It was withdrawn from LMS stock in March 1943 and sold to the War Department, which then numbered it 224. Subsequent renumberings by the WD, and later the Army, saw it carry numbers 70224 (in 1944), 846 (1952) and 240 (1968). It was preserved in 1979, and has been displayed at the National Railway Museum in York and the now defunct Museum of Army Transport in Beverley.

7401 / 7051

This locomotive carried its original number of 7403 only within the Hunslet works, and was delivered as number 7053. It was of almost exactly the same size and shape as 7052, but had different internal fittings. It was loaned to the War Department between 1939-1942, which numbered it 23. Immediately upon return to the LMS in December 1942, it was withdrawn from stock and sold back to Hunslet. No further use was found for it and it was eventually dismantled during the mid-1950s.

7404 / 7054

This locomotive was loaned to the War Department between 1941-1943, which numbered it 233. It was withdrawn from LMS stock in January 1944 and sold back to Harland & Wolff, which rebuilt it with a new 225 hp (168 kW) engine and converted it to the Irish 5 ft 3 in gauge. It was then sold to the Northern Counties Committee, which numbered it 22. It was finally withdrawn in April 1965 and scrapped at the close of that year.

7408 / 7058 / 13000

This locomotive was based on the earlier Armstrong Whitworth prototype of 1932, which had been tested by the LMS (see below). It was loaned to the War Department between 1941-1943 for use at the Longmoor Military Railway, but despite the extensive period of time spent on loan, no WD number was allocated. It passed to British Railways upon nationalisation in January 1948, which allocated it number 13000. However, it was withdrawn in November 1949 (and scrapped shortly afterwards) before the number had been applied. The number 13000 was then used instead for the first of the British Rail Class 08 shunters.

7059-7068

7069-7129 / 12000-12042

Details of the four classes allocated numbers in this range are included on other pages, as follows:
* 7069-7078 / 12000-12001 : British Rail Class D3/6
* 7079 / 12002 : British Rail Class D3/6
* 7080-7119 / 12003-12032 : British Rail Class D3/7
* 7120-7129 / 12033-12042 : British Rail Class D3/8 (Later TOPS Class 11)

NB: Production of the last-mentioned class continued after Nationalisation, with the following two locomotives emerging as M7130 and M7131 (later 12043/12044) and the remainder carring BR numbers 12045-12138 from new. Although allocated TOPS Class 11, none of these locomotives were renumbered. When 12082 was re-registered for use on the mainline, it was allocated TOPS number 01553 in the ex-industrial registered shunters list.

Departmental 5519 / ZM9

Departmental 2 / ED1

This locomotive was very similar to the Great Western Railway's diesel locomotive number 1.

Unnumbered plant locomotives

Trial locomotives

The LMS used a number of locomotives on loan from their manufacturers for trials. These locomotives were not allocated LMS numbers, and details of their use and disposal are sketchy. Such locomotives included:

* "Vulcan" - a diesel-mechanical 0-6-0 shunter bult at the Vulcan Foundry, Newton-le-Willows, in 1936. It had a Vulcan-Frichs 6-cylinder 275 hp (205 kW) diesel engine. After loan to the LMS, it was used by the War Department, which numbered it 75 (later 70075). Following the end of World War II, it found industrial use in Yugoslavia.

* (Unnumbered) - an Armstrong-Whitworth/Sulzer shunter built in 1932, which was an earlier version of the LMS's own 7408. This locomotive was also loaned to the London and North Eastern Railway for trials.