Looking through a number of 1964 Model Railway News magazines, I came across drawings of Sharp, Stewart & Co. 2-4-0, built in 1870 for the Furness Railway Co. and numbered 58 on their roster.

Originally conceived as a mineral railway, the Furness Railway later played a major role in the development of the town of Barrow-in-Furness, and in the development of the Lake District Tourist industry. It was formed in 1846 and survived as an independent, viable concern until the Grouping of 1923. [4]

The Furness Railway contracted out the building of its locomotives until Pettigrew became Chief Locomotive Engineer in 1897. He put his first locomotive on the line in 1898.

2-4-0 Locomotive No. 58 had inside cylinders (16 in by 20 in), 5 ft 6 in diameter coupled wheels. It operated with a boiler pressure of 120 lb and weighed 30 tons 5 cwt. Its tender was 4-wheeled with a 1,200 gallon water capacity.

The locomotive, as designed, had no brake blocks, the only brake being a clasp type on the tender.

This relatively small locomotive was one of a series of 19 locos built to the same design. The class fulfilled the needs of the Furness Railway as passenger locomotives. The class was given the designation ‘E1’ by Bob Rush in his books about the Furness Railway. Rush’s classification was his own not that of the Furness Railway, but has become accepted generally. [2]

A photograph of one of this class can be found by clicking on the link immediately below. No. 44 was built in 1882 by Sharp Stewart & Co., Works No.3086. It was rebuilt in 1898, presumably in the Furness Railway works. Renumbered 44A in 1920, it became LMS No. 10002 – but was withdrawn in April 1925. [5]

https://transportsofdelight.smugmug.com/RAILWAYS/LOCOMOTIVES-OF-THE-LMS-CONSTITUENT-COMPANIES/LOCOMOTIVES-OF-THE-FURNESS-RAILWAY/i-742Bfsn/A

Later, seven of the class were converted to J1-class 2-4-2 tank engines in 1891. [3]

References

1. T.A. Lindsay; Furness Railway Locomotive No. 58; in Model Railway News, Volume 40, No. 480, December 1964, p608-609. (Permission to copy granted for any non-commercial purpose.)
2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locomotives_of_the_Furness_Railway, accessed on 28th March 2024. (e.g. R.W. Rush; The Furness Railway, Oakwood Press No. 35)
3. https://www.steamlocomotive.com/locobase.php?country=Great_Britain&wheel=2-4-0&railroad=furness, accessed on 28th March 2024.
4. http://www.furnessrailwaytrust.org.uk, accessed on 29th March 2024.
5. https://transportsofdelight.smugmug.com/RAILWAYS/LOCOMOTIVES-OF-THE-LMS-CONSTITUENT-COMPANIES/LOCOMOTIVES-OF-THE-FURNESS-RAILWAY/i-742Bfsn/A accessed on 28th March 2024.