On its formation in January 1948, British Railways inherited a very diverse array of 20,000 standardgauge steam locomotives. The great majority of these had been built between 1858 and 1947 to the direct order of nearly 50 privately owned railway companies, both large and sometimes very small.
Almost exactly half of these dated back to before 1923, when the so-called ‘Big Four’ companies were created by amalgamation, which between them then went on to produce nearly as many new locomotives again over the course of their 25-year existence.
In addition were a large number of locomotives, mainly 2-8-0s, which had been ordered by the Ministry of Munitions for service overseas with the Railway Operating Division of the British Army, during the First World War, and the Ministry of Supply for the War Department during the Second. Significant numbers of both were later purchased by several British railway companies in the years which followed each conflict.
Table 1 lists the last locomotive to remain in active service from each company, showing their original company and running number, together with their year of construction, and date of withdrawal. In the case of simultaneous final withdrawals: for example, the LSWR ‘O2’ 0-4-4Ts, NER 0-6-0s and 0-8-0s, and LNWR 0-8-0s, the oldest example has been selected. (Locomotives built ‘posthumously’ to pre-1923 and pre-1948 designs have not been included.)
Several interesting points arise. Of the 49 entries, no fewer than 30 are tank locomotives, which can be partly attributed to the large number of small railway companies which extensively employed these. Of these, 11 were 0-6-0Ts, and ten were 0-6-2Ts. Of the former, although only the
