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HOR R3204 LSWR 0-4-4T M7 Class - NRM LSWR Livery The Class M7 0-4-4T was the first locomotive designed by Dugald Drummond when he became Locomotive Superintendent of the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1895. Designed for intensive work on the London passenger network, 105 were built between 1897 and 1911 at the LSWR Nine Elms Works and Eastleigh Works in 1911. Over the 14 year construction period there were several modifications. Some were built with a short overhang at the front, with sandboxes being combined with the front splashers, as well as injectors, lever reverse and conical smokebox doors, while others had the sandboxes fitted inside the smokebox together with a longer front overhang. From 1911 duplex pumps were fitted. From 1912 Pull-Push equipment was fitted to over a third of the Class, using a primitive cable and pulley device, however when this proved unsafe it was replaced by a compressed air system. All except one of the Class passed to British Railways in 1948 where they were used on branchline suburban passenger services. The entire Class was withdrawn between 1957 - 1965 with two of the Class being preserved. Locomotive No. 245, modelled here, was outshopped from Nine Elms on the 30th April 1897 at a cost of £1,846.00 and was renumbered as 30245 when it passed to BR. The locomotive remained in service until it was withdrawn from Shed 70A Nine Elms on the 30th November 1962. It is now part of the National Railway Museum Collection at York and is shown here in its original LSWR green with brown, black and white lining.
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