Egypt Railways - Egyptian State Railways Steam Locomotive Diagram 085
A large contingent of 8F locomotives was sent overseas during WW2 and about the end of 1941, 42 WD locomotives of the LMS Class 8F type were put to work in Egypt. On arrival, they had the prefix "9" added to their WD numbers, but as the latter were not consecutive they were shortly afterwards given a completely new set of Middle East running numbers: 9301-9342. Locomotives with numbers falling within this block under the original ME numbering scheme retained them, and the remainder were then renumbered to fill in the blanks.
The actual number of these engines on loan to the ESR varied from time to time, as engines of this series were used by the Railway Operating Companies working the Western Desert Extension Railway and (for a time) the Dabaa - Mersa Matruh section of the ESR Western Desert line. After the offensive of 1942, when the diesel-electric locomotives took over the working of the WD operated lines, all the Class 8Fs were sent on loan to the ESR. They were all kept at el-Gabbari depot(Alexandria) and used for long distance heavy freight work and various military trains, with the exception of two which were usually allocated to the other Alexandria depot, el-Hadra, for working Western Desert line passenger trains.
ESR purchased seven of these engines in 1942 and renumbered them 850-856. These were followed by a further twenty, Nos. 857-876, in November 1943, and another thirteen, Nos. 877-889 in July 1944. The final war period purchase, of No. 890, took place in early 1945 and thus brought the ESR Class up to a total of 41 engines at that time, Nos. 850-890. All of them were of the wartime modified design and none of the original LMS engines were included. They had all been fitted with Westinghouse brake and carried cowcatchers. The former equipment was removed entirely from most locomotives (ESR Modifications Book entry for 12/8/1947 reading - "Westinghouse Brake fittings to be removed") but a number continued to carry the Westinghouse train pipe, air reservoirs and pump brackets.
With the exception of No. 890, they were all converted for oil burning, mostly during 1943. In ESR livery they were painted unlined black with vermilion buffer plates. The number was in yellow on the cab sides, and on the left of the buffer beams and tender side sheets; appearing in Arabic numerals on the right of the buffer beams and tender sides, as was usual practice with ESR locomotive stock. In 1946, the European figures were painted out and replaced by Arabic numerals. The LMS type of cast number plate bearing the original WD number remained undisturbed on the smokebox door although for how long is not known.
After being on loan to them for a while, nine WD locomotives (including four of those just mentioned) were bought by the ESR, in February 1949, from the Army, and became Nos. 841-9. The diagram states that they had been converted to oil burners in Palestine. In 1951, two further WD locomotives were transferred and renumbered 891 and 892. The next and final "transfer" to the Egyptian Republic Railways took place in 1954, after the Revolution which had overthrown the Egyptian monarchy and which culminated in the departure of British forces from the Suez Canal Zone and a renaming of the national rail system.
An immense quantity of stores was sold to the Egyptian Government and with it passed the ten remaining engines of this class to be renumbered 832-840 and 893, in order of their WD numbers. The ERR Diagram records, somewhat triumphantly, “893 taken from the British Army in October, 1954; 832-840 taken from the Suez Canal Stores in November, 1956". The class continued to do useful work with the ERR/ENR, and most were finally withdrawn in 1963 at the close of steam operation.
All but six, Nos. 844, 856, 860, 861, 869 and 870, which may have been sided earlier, were placed on the sales list but found no purchasers, other than, possibly, for their boilers. In 1977 numerous of the 8F tenders could still be seen in use for transporting mazout oil to depots and fuelling points. This Diagram retained its number throughout although initially, when WD engines, it bore the letter A, later altered to W. The diagram had a number of alterations, principally the range of engine numbers to which it applied as the fleet size grew.
Diagram W - another locomotive profile which arrived in Egypt for exactly the same reasons as the 8Fs. Several old RODs which were not content with serving in WWI were called upon again in WWII. They were the first locomotives to arrive in the Middle East arriving there in 1941. At that time 64 of them were loaned to the ESR, but over the years their distribution varied between the different Middle East railway systems according to the needs of the Military Authorities to meet their traffic requirements.
When working on the ESR, a 9700 Class engine was permitted to haul 1,085 tons (equal to 70 ten-ton wagons); and this type was extensively used for troop trains, despite the fact that comparatively few of them were fitted with vacuum brakes. Long after the locomotives of this class working in Egypt and Palestine were converted to oil burning, the occasional interchange of engines with Syria would bring a coal-fired engine into service in Egypt. When converted for oil burning, a mazout tank of 1,800 gallons capacity was fitted into the tender coal space, which normally held six tons of coal.
The original WD numbers were 700-791, and the prefix "9" was added on arrival in the Middle East. In November 1944, this was replaced by the prefix "70" as far as the official WD number was concerned, but the ESR continued to use the 97xx series numbers. The maximum number of them seen on any diagram was 59, but it is possible that no less than eighty-seven of the class were accumulated in Egypt before their run-down to final elimination in 1961 although not necessarily all active at one time. This was because, some ten years before the demise of the class occurred, five further locomotives, BR Nos. 63809, 63849, 63778, 63580 and 63627, were rebuilt at Gorton Works with oil burning equipment and sent to Egypt, in April 1952, as WD 040-44 in the new numbering series. They were given ESR Nos. 9794-98, and, for a reason that is not known, the blank numbers 9792-93 remained unused.
The Drawing Registers contain numerous references to the class mostly for modifications and the last entry was made in February, 1953. It is thought that final withdrawal took place in 1961; a diagram book revised in October, 1959, showed 5 still in stock.
This drawing was generously provided with the kind assistance of the Israel Railways Museum.
Egypt Railways - Egyptian State Railways Steam Locomotive Diagram 085
A large contingent of 8F locomotives was sent overseas during WW2 and about the end of 1941, 42 WD locomotives of the LMS Class 8F type were put to work in Egypt. On arrival, they had the prefix "9" added to their WD numbers, but as the latter were not consecutive they were shortly afterwards given a completely new set of Middle East running numbers: 9301-9342. Locomotives with numbers falling within this block under the original ME numbering scheme retained them, and the remainder were then renumbered to fill in the blanks.
The actual number of these engines on loan to the ESR varied from time to time, as engines of this series were used by the Railway Operating Companies working the Western Desert Extension Railway and (for a time) the Dabaa - Mersa Matruh section of the ESR Western Desert line. After the offensive of 1942, when the diesel-electric locomotives took over the working of the WD operated lines, all the Class 8Fs were sent on loan to the ESR. They were all kept at el-Gabbari depot(Alexandria) and used for long distance heavy freight work and various military trains, with the exception of two which were usually allocated to the other Alexandria depot, el-Hadra, for working Western Desert line passenger trains.
ESR purchased seven of these engines in 1942 and renumbered them 850-856. These were followed by a further twenty, Nos. 857-876, in November 1943, and another thirteen, Nos. 877-889 in July 1944. The final war period purchase, of No. 890, took place in early 1945 and thus brought the ESR Class up to a total of 41 engines at that time, Nos. 850-890. All of them were of the wartime modified design and none of the original LMS engines were included. They had all been fitted with Westinghouse brake and carried cowcatchers. The former equipment was removed entirely from most locomotives (ESR Modifications Book entry for 12/8/1947 reading - "Westinghouse Brake fittings to be removed") but a number continued to carry the Westinghouse train pipe, air reservoirs and pump brackets.
With the exception of No. 890, they were all converted for oil burning, mostly during 1943. In ESR livery they were painted unlined black with vermilion buffer plates. The number was in yellow on the cab sides, and on the left of the buffer beams and tender side sheets; appearing in Arabic numerals on the right of the buffer beams and tender sides, as was usual practice with ESR locomotive stock. In 1946, the European figures were painted out and replaced by Arabic numerals. The LMS type of cast number plate bearing the original WD number remained undisturbed on the smokebox door although for how long is not known.
After being on loan to them for a while, nine WD locomotives (including four of those just mentioned) were bought by the ESR, in February 1949, from the Army, and became Nos. 841-9. The diagram states that they had been converted to oil burners in Palestine. In 1951, two further WD locomotives were transferred and renumbered 891 and 892. The next and final "transfer" to the Egyptian Republic Railways took place in 1954, after the Revolution which had overthrown the Egyptian monarchy and which culminated in the departure of British forces from the Suez Canal Zone and a renaming of the national rail system.
An immense quantity of stores was sold to the Egyptian Government and with it passed the ten remaining engines of this class to be renumbered 832-840 and 893, in order of their WD numbers. The ERR Diagram records, somewhat triumphantly, “893 taken from the British Army in October, 1954; 832-840 taken from the Suez Canal Stores in November, 1956". The class continued to do useful work with the ERR/ENR, and most were finally withdrawn in 1963 at the close of steam operation.
All but six, Nos. 844, 856, 860, 861, 869 and 870, which may have been sided earlier, were placed on the sales list but found no purchasers, other than, possibly, for their boilers. In 1977 numerous of the 8F tenders could still be seen in use for transporting mazout oil to depots and fuelling points. This Diagram retained its number throughout although initially, when WD engines, it bore the letter A, later altered to W. The diagram had a number of alterations, principally the range of engine numbers to which it applied as the fleet size grew.
Diagram W - another locomotive profile which arrived in Egypt for exactly the same reasons as the 8Fs. Several old RODs which were not content with serving in WWI were called upon again in WWII. They were the first locomotives to arrive in the Middle East arriving there in 1941. At that time 64 of them were loaned to the ESR, but over the years their distribution varied between the different Middle East railway systems according to the needs of the Military Authorities to meet their traffic requirements.
When working on the ESR, a 9700 Class engine was permitted to haul 1,085 tons (equal to 70 ten-ton wagons); and this type was extensively used for troop trains, despite the fact that comparatively few of them were fitted with vacuum brakes. Long after the locomotives of this class working in Egypt and Palestine were converted to oil burning, the occasional interchange of engines with Syria would bring a coal-fired engine into service in Egypt. When converted for oil burning, a mazout tank of 1,800 gallons capacity was fitted into the tender coal space, which normally held six tons of coal.
The original WD numbers were 700-791, and the prefix "9" was added on arrival in the Middle East. In November 1944, this was replaced by the prefix "70" as far as the official WD number was concerned, but the ESR continued to use the 97xx series numbers. The maximum number of them seen on any diagram was 59, but it is possible that no less than eighty-seven of the class were accumulated in Egypt before their run-down to final elimination in 1961 although not necessarily all active at one time. This was because, some ten years before the demise of the class occurred, five further locomotives, BR Nos. 63809, 63849, 63778, 63580 and 63627, were rebuilt at Gorton Works with oil burning equipment and sent to Egypt, in April 1952, as WD 040-44 in the new numbering series. They were given ESR Nos. 9794-98, and, for a reason that is not known, the blank numbers 9792-93 remained unused.
The Drawing Registers contain numerous references to the class mostly for modifications and the last entry was made in February, 1953. It is thought that final withdrawal took place in 1961; a diagram book revised in October, 1959, showed 5 still in stock.
This drawing was generously provided with the kind assistance of the Israel Railways Museum.