Caledonian Railway 944 Class
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.
Overview
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 Caledonian [Railway 60 Class|60 Class 4-6-0s]. 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] 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 2-6-4T|LMS Fowler] and Fairburn 2-6-4Ts and by the time of Transport [Act 1947|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 They were all withdrawn and scrapped between 1946 and 1953.