Description

HISTORY OF THE STRATHS

Also known as the Glen Class, this was a development of the HR Clyde Bogie 4-4-0s. The Crewe framing was continued with the cylinders contained within the outward and downward curve of the smokebox, while the Jones Fittings were again evident in the louvred chimney, the tall brass safety valves transversely arranged with the whistle beside them and just ahead, and the round cornered cab.

The tender was practically identical with that of the Clyde Bogies, though with a slightly increased coal capacity. Fore-end lubrication was by a Vacuum Oil Coy’s sight feed lubricator for steam chests and by Jones patent lubricators for the cylinders. A notable feature was that they were the first Scottish engines to have combination injectors these later becoming universal on all Scottish railways except the Glasgow & South Western.

While the Straths were tidily designed and typical of Jones’s work, they lacked the regular lines of his earlier express engines or, for that matter of his later Lochs. The Straths were intended for the main Iverness-Perth line and were put to work on the principal trains, only to be partially ousted by the appearance in 1896 of the Lochs with the increased power and other improvements. However the weight of the trains continued to increase, helped by the opening of the Aviemore Direct line in 1898, and this led to an increase in double-heading which kept Straths in evidence on the main south trains for some more years. Soon however some moved to the Inverness-Wick trains, particularly 96 and 98 which worked there for several years, while 100 surprisingly had a spell on the Skye Line.

All 12 were gone by 1930.