NSR New L Class

The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) New L Class was a class of 0-6-2T steam locomotive designed by John H. Adams, third son of William Adams. They were designed as a development as the previous L Class, adding a boiler common to the M Class and differed from the L Class with, amongst other things higher bunker sides and new cab roofs, and the abandonment of the cast safety valve cover. 28 were built between 1908 and 1923, with the final four constructed under the auspices of the newly formed LMS with the whole class withdrawn by the end of 1937. There is one survivor.

The class were built at the NSR's Stoke works in four batches with a number of differences in weight, grate area and heating surfaces. Those built in 1913 had saturated Belpaire boilers identical to those on the H1 Class of 0-6-0s. The final batch had slightly fewer boiler tubes and did not have condensers nor lagging on the side tanks. in 1921 numbers 18 and 93 were experimentally converted to oil burning.

Although built primarily as a goods tank engine, it proved its worth on passenger trains as well and became an ideal mixed traffic tank locomotive. After grouping they travelled much further than any other NSR class, and thus became one of the most well known from the NSR.

All entered the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) stock upon formation in 1923, although with the LMS policy of standardisation, many NSR classes were prime targets for early scrapping due to the small size of the classes. As a result, all were withdrawn by the end of 1937. One was sold to the Longmoor Military Railway whilst four more were sold to Manchester Collieries Ltd. The rest were scrapped.

the Livery of the 'New L' Class was the NSR's Madder lake with straw lining, and NORTH STAFFORD lettering on the side tanks along with the company crest. the number appeared on the bunker. In LMS days some members of the class merely had the North Staffordshire lettering removed and the first few through the works received their new LMS number in NSR style. However, soon enough they received the standard plain black freight livery with large numerals on the side tanks.

No.2, one of the locomotives sold to the Manchester Collieries Ltd. was restored to NSR livery to celebrate the City of Stoke-on-Trent in 1960 and put on show at Crewe works staged by British Railways. It then returned to colliery work but was then saved for preservation by being placed in the Staffordshire County Council museum at Shugborough Hall. In 1984 it was moved to Chatterley Whitfield Mining museum, and at some point it moved into the National collection and was on display at NRM Shildon. In April 2016 it was delisted from the collection and donated to the Foxfield Railway Stoke on Trent for display and eventual overhaul.