WD Austerity 2-10-0

The War Department Austerity 2-10-0 was a type of heavy freight steam locomotive introduced during the Second World War in 1943, based on Robert Riddles' Austerity 2-8-0 and designed to have interchangeable parts. It had the same power output as the 2-8-0 but a lighter axle load, making it suitable for secondary lines. It had a parallel boiler and a round-topped firebox, with a wide firebox placed above the driving wheels, which was unusual in Britain, and these were the first 2-10-0 locomotives used in Great Britain and the first major class of ten-coupled engines there. Two batches were built by the North British Locomotive Company, 100 in 1943 and 1944 and 50 in 1945. Twenty of the first batch went to the Middle East, and most of the rest served with the British Army in France after D-Day. After the war the 150 locomotives were distributed, the majority going to the Netherlands as the NS 5000 class, with twenty-five bought by British Railways, sixteen of the Middle East engines going to Greece and four remaining in Syria. Eight survive, among them LMR 600 Gordon. Riddles later used the 2-10-0 wheel arrangement for the BR Standard Class 9F.