Liverpool Crampton locomotive (H0 gauge)
| Past Exhibit |
|---|
Liverpool Crampton locomotive (H0 gauge) |
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| location: |
| Arch Four , Area 36 - |
| Shelf 1 |
An 00-gauge model of the green Crampton-design 6-2-0 LNWR locomotive, "Liverpool", with tender.
The loco has a large black stovepipe and a grey bed, and a distinctive eight-foot drivewheel on each side of the driver's (cabless) position.
The original locomotive
When it was built (by the Bury Curtis and Kennedy company), the Liverpool was reckoned to be the world's most powerful locomotive and won a medal when it was exhibited at the "Great Exhibition" of 1851, but the 6-2-0 Crampton configuration was problematic on contemporary British track, and the locomotive saw little use.
The Liverpool was effectively "mothballed" after its trials (pending track improvements), and when it eventually came back into service it had been extensively rebuilt with a new wheel configuration. The Crampton design, with an axle placed behind the firebox, allowed for much larger drivewheels within a comparatively compact locomotive, and 4-2-0 Cramptons were popular in France on high-quality track. In Britain, the large drivewheels were unkind to early, primitive track laid down by early rail adopters, and the high-powered 6-2-0 Liverpool, with more of its weight centred over six leading wheels, had the additional problem of reduced adhesion because of the lowered proportion of its weight on the drivewheels.
External links
- No 245 LIVERPOOL – THE CRAMPTON by Harry Jack and Nick Baines. Photos by Nick Baines (ncbaines.co.uk) (.pdf) -- Journal of the L&NWR Society Volume 6 Number 1 (June 2009)
- Drawings of the Liverpool, discussion (sevenandaquarter.org)
- Bury, Curtis, and Kennedy (Wikipedia)
