Drummond LSWR M7 0-4-4T

The LSWR M7 class is a class of 0-4-4 passenger tank locomotive built between 1897 and 1911. The class was designed by Dugald Drummond for use on the intensive London network of the London and South Western Railway (LSWR), and performed well in such tasks. Because of their utility, 105 were built and the class went through several modifications over five production batches. For this reason there were detail variations such as frame length. Many of the class were fitted with push-pull operation gear that enabled efficient use on branch line duties without the need to change to the other end of its train at the end of a journey.
Under LSWR and Southern Railway ownership they had been successful suburban passenger engines, although with the increased availability of newer, standard designs, many of the class were diagrammed to take on a new role as reliable branch line engines, especially in Southern England.[2]
Members of the class lasted in service until 1964, and two examples have survived into preservation: number 245 in the National Railway Museum, and 53 (as BR 30053) on the Swanage Railway





30321 Waterloo 1962



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Drummond M7 Pre 1968 - Railway-Photography
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railway photographs from the last 100 years
24 Exmouth c1948


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Drummond M7 Pre 1968 - Railway-Photography
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railway photographs from the last 100 years

111 Drummond M7 +734 Clausentum 0-4-0ST



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Drummond M7 Pre 1968 - Railway-Photography
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railway photographs from the last 100 years

30036

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Drummond M7 Pre 1968 - Railway-Photography
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railway photographs from the last 100 years


30052 + 34009 Lyme Regis Bournemouth





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Drummond M7 Pre 1968 - Railway-Photography
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railway photographs from the last 100 years


30111





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Drummond M7 Pre 1968 - Railway-Photography
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railway photographs from the last 100 years
30248


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Drummond M7 Pre 1968 - Railway-Photography
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railway photographs from the last 100 years

30261 + 35016 Elders Fyffes Waterloo 4/7/59



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30261 + 35016 Elders Fyffes Waterloo 4/7/59
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30261 + 35016 Elders Fyffes Waterloo 4/7/59
30375 (with small snowplough fitted) Eastleigh works yard


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Drummond M7 Pre 1968 - Railway-Photography
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railway photographs from the last 100 years
30375 Eastleigh 20th May 1957


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Drummond M7 Pre 1968 - Railway-Photography
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railway photographs from the last 100 years
30673 Eastleigh Shed 12th March 1951

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Drummond M7 Pre 1968 - Railway-Photography
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railway photographs from the last 100 years

Neil

 

The last fifty locomotives built from 1903 had frames 15” longer than the earlier batches; this produced a longer front overhang, under which a compressed air reservoir for push-pull operation could be accommodated.See photo of 30111 above at ? Portsmouth Harbour, in which the reservoir can be clearly seen. In the early 1960s, to cover withdrawals of push-pull locos, BR carried out an additional four M7 conversions and this process involved frames being exchanged during overhaul so that one of the earlier short-frame locos acquired long frames, and vice versa.

 

I have a query about no. 127, which was one of the long-frame series, built in 1911. At some time in BR days as 30127 it must have acquired short frames, being photographed in this condition at Bournemouth shed in February 1958. I've a copy of the RCTS volume 2 of Locomotives of the LSWR by Bradley in which the M7 frame swaps in the 1960s are listed (see my post above) but there's no mention of a similar event involving no. 127. Perhaps it was involved in an accident to the front end and the frame was shortened. Does anyone know more?