TCDD 45151 Class

The TCDD 45151 Class was a class of 2-8-0 steam locomotives of the Turkish Republic Railways, acquired from the British War Department to the LMS Stanier Class 8F design, with a maximum speed of 43 miles per hour like their British counterparts. On the outbreak of the Second World War British builders could no longer supply an order for 2-10-0s for the railway at the original price and conditions, and after Nazi Germany offered neutral Turkey Kriegslok locomotives, the diplomatically embarrassed British offered 25 of the 8F 2-8-0s that the War Department had adopted as its standard heavy freight locomotive. The engines selected were built by the North British Locomotive Company of Glasgow. They were shipped as kits of parts via the Cape of Good Hope and the Suez Canal, and seven were lost when the SS Jessmore sank and the MV Berhala was torpedoed in 1941. The remaining 18 were renumbered 45151 to 45168 in Turkey, and two more joined in 1943, taking the class to 20. Underpowered by Turkish standards, they were relegated to shunting and local freight, were nicknamed Churchills and lasted into the 1980s. Three have been preserved, and No. 45160 was repatriated to Great Britain in 1989 and operates on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.