Highland Railway L Class

Highland Railway L class
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer David Jones Builder HR Lochgorm Works Build date 1882–1901 Total produced 9
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 4-4-0  • UIC 2′B Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Leading dia. 3 ft 3+1⁄2 in (1.003 m) Driver dia. 5 ft 3 in (1.600 m) Loco weight 43 long tons 0 cwt (96,300 lb or 43.7 t) Boiler 4 ft 2 in (1.27 m) diameter Boiler pressure 150 lbf/in2 (1.03 MPa) Heating surface 1,216 sq ft (113.0 m2) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 18 in × 24 in (457 mm × 610 mm)
Performance figures Tractive effort 14,037 lbf (62.44 kN)
Career Operators HR → LMS Class HR: ‘Skye Bogie’; L (from 1901) Power class LMS: 1P Number in class 1 January 1923: 8 Nicknames Skye Bogies Withdrawn 1922–1930 Disposition All scrapped

The Highland Railway L class, also known as ‘Skye Bogies’ due to their association with the Kyle of Lochalsh Line. They were essentially mixed traffic versions of the earlier Duke or F class.

Nine were built at Lochgorm Works over the period 1882 to 1901. They were never named.

The 18-by-24-inch (457 mm × 610 mm) cylinders, valve gear and motion were common to the two classes, but they had smaller 5-foot-3-inch (1,600 mm) driving wheels and higher pressure 150-pound-force-per-square-inch (1,030 kPa) boilers.

• Baxter, Bertram (1984). Baxter, David (ed.). British Locomotive Catalogue 1825–1923, Volume 4: Scottish and remaining English Companies in the LMS Group. Ashbourne, Derbyshire: Moorland Publishing Company. p. 193.
• Casserley, H. C. & Johnston, Stuart W. (1974) [1966]. Locomotives at the Grouping 3: London, Midland and Scottish Railway. Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan. p. 137. ISBN 0-7110-0554-0.
• Vallance, H. A. (1938). The Highland Railway.