LMS Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0

Elderly 0-6-0s formed the backbone of the low-powered locomotives within the LMS fleet.

So they were well-suited to their task and, following attention to draughting problems by both Derby and Swindon, quickly became a success.

The remaining 108 locomotives of the class, numbered 46420–46527 were built by British Railways, and from 46465 (Darlington, 1951) an increase in cylinder diameter of 1⁄2 inch (13 mm) yielded a tractive effort of 18,510 lb (8,400 kg), 1,100 lb (500 kg) greater than the original design.

The final 25 (46503 to 46527) were built at Swindon Works and, being allocated to the Western Region, consequently carried the GWR-type vacuum ejector and firehole doors.

Under the Hanks regime, some received lined green livery as they passed through works.

Three of them were purchased from British Railways while the other four preserved examples were rescued from Barry Scrapyard throughout the 1970s.

46521 saw use on the mainline in the 1990s but only saw a limited amount of use hauling excursion trains with one of its runs being on the GWML in December 1994.

46441 in recent years has been on static display inside the museum at the Ribble Steam Railway in Preston awaiting an overhaul.

[citation needed] Several 00 gauge ready-to-run models of the locomotive have been produced.

[10] In 2007 Bachmann Branchline introduced a more detailed model, available in several liveries including LMS unlined black, BR lined black and BR lined Brunswick Green, the latter livery of which was used for a model of now preserved 46521.