Introduction LMS 10000 was officially presented to the press at Derby Works in December 1947, and the locomotive was also presented at
Euston station on 18 December 1947, making a demonstration return journey to
Watford. 10000 was outshopped only three weeks before nationalisation, and when 10001 appeared in July 1948, it had
British Railways livery. Ivatt 'filed' all correspondence from British Railways instructing the removal of the LMS letters, which were finally removed only upon his retirement, in 1951. On 14 and 15 January 1948, No. 10000 underwent tests on the line between
St Pancras and
Manchester, the schedule being set to timings based on a standard 4-6-0 (5X) passenger express locomotive. The attached load was a 393-ton tare, 12 carriage train including a
dynamometer car; No. 10000 performed the services within the accepted schedule.
Operations After initial tests, from February 1948, locomotive No. 10000 was placed on a twice-daily London-Derby return passenger service, hauling trains of 300 to 450 gross tons. No. 10001 also began service on the London-Derby route when completed, with a Derby-Manchester service also begun. In late 1948, both units were withdrawn for modifications based on service experience. They then returned to their midland service, before being transferred to operate express
Euston-
Carlisle-
Glasgow passenger trains. The locomotives were operated in multiple: on 1 June 1949, they operated the 16 carriage "Royal Scot" express of 545 gross tons non-stop from Euston to Glasgow, making a return run on 2 June. At the gradients leading to
Shap and
Beattock, the engines operated at full power, hauling the trains at in each case. After June 1949, the units operated for over two months in multiple formation - working London-Carlisle and later London-Glasgow services. In multiple, the locomotives showed potential for high speed services, on one occasion operating a standard Euston-Carlisle train at an average speed of just over , including delays; this was 74 minutes quicker than usually scheduled. From mid 1949, the locomotives began operating singly, with No. 10000 worked Euston-
Blackpool services, and No.10001 was trialled operating London-Glasgow services. Other services operated included London to
Crewe and to
Liverpool. On the "Red Rose" express, No. 10001 recorded on a down gradient with a gross train load of 490 tons. The units were also used on freight services, including express London (Camden) to Crewe, and Crewe-
Willesden; the locomotives met the scheduled average speed of on the Camden-Crewe trains with a 500-ton train. One notable freight working was the haulage of a 60 wagon, 1,100 ton gross coal train, between
Rugby and Willesden, achieving on a 1 in 133 gradient to Tring Summit. Other operations included a trial on the
Settle & Carlisle line, and workings to
Perth, and on one occasion to
Aberdeen. Due to boiler problems sometimes leaving them unable to provide carriage heating, they often worked freights in winter and the
Royal Scot in summer. In March 1953, they were both transferred to the
Southern Region to allow direct comparison to be made between them and the SR's
10201, 10202, and 10203 and remained there until spring 1955, notably working the
Bournemouth Belle and occasionally through to
Weymouth and
Exeter, but also visiting
Brighton Works. At a low point of their career in terms of reliability, they (and the SR locomotives) were sent to Derby where they were overhauled and received green livery and then ran side by side on
London Midland Region duties, including the
Royal Scot again in 1957–58.
Classification At a meeting between the LMS and English Electric on 20 May 1946, it was agreed that a single locomotive would be equivalent to a
Class 5 mixed traffic engine, and that two coupled together would be capable of handling the same loads as a Class 7 locomotive. The original power classification was 5P/5F. Upon transfer to the Southern Region (SR) in 1953, they were given the classification 6P/5F, but No. 10000 was later marked 6P/5FA. At this time, SR practice was to show the loading classification on locomotives, whereas other regions applied the statistical classification. They reverted to 5P/5F at some point after their return to the London Midland Region in 1955; only No. 10000 was marked 5P/5F; No. 10001 was marked 5P/5FA. Their final power classification, allotted in 1957, was simply 5. In 1957, the two locomotives were placed in the Type 3 power group. The classification system introduced in February 1960 for internal use by the Eastern and North Eastern Regions gave these locomotives the code D16/1; in 1962, this was amended to 16/8. Some sources place them in BR TOPS Class 34, but this is not confirmed by any official BR sources and the TOPS scheme was not introduced until several years after both examples had been scrapped. Other sources show Class 34 to have been initially allocated to the push-pull fitted members of what eventually became
Class 33.
Withdrawal The last allocation of both locos was at
Willesden. The locomotives were laid up at Derby in 1963 with Bulleid's diesels; No. 10001 was made functional using parts of both, and continued operating until 1966, fitted with a yellow warning panel. No. 10000 was withdrawn in 1963 and scrapped at Cashmores, Great Bridge, in January 1968; between withdrawal and scrapping, 10000 spent some time in storage at Derby, and was one of the locos on display at the Derby Works Open Day and Flower Show in August 1964. No. 10001's later workings were said to be mainly on North London freights to Greenwich, but was also photographed on Wolverhampton expresses and WCML freights during this period. Together, the two units clocked more than . 10001 was withdrawn in 1966 and scrapped at Cox & Danks, North Acton, in February 1968. ==Legacy==