LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0

The London, Midland and Scottish Railway Stanier Class 5 4-6-0, universally called the Black Five, is a class of mixed-traffic steam locomotives introduced by William Stanier and built from 1934 to 1951. A total of 842 were produced, first numbered 4658 to 5499 and renumbered 44658 to 45499 by British Railways. Stanier, who had come to the LMS from the Great Western Railway, conceived them as an LMS counterpart to the GWR Halls, with two outside cylinders, 6 ft driving wheels and an internal boiler arrangement of similar size, but narrower so they could run over most British routes. Crews valued their versatility, and one was recorded at 96 mph in service. Construction was shared between Crewe, Derby, Vulcan Foundry and Armstrong Whitworth, whose 1936 order for 227 was the largest single locomotive order a British railway ever placed with an outside builder. Several survived until the end of steam on British Railways in 1968, and eighteen are preserved.