The Joy of Jinties: The 3F 0-6-0Ts of the LMS and BR, 1924-1967 Pa...

The Joy of Jinties: The 3F 0-6-0Ts of the LMS and BR, 1924-1967 Part 4: 47580-47681

The well-known LMS 'Jinty' 0-6-0Ts originally known as the 'standard shunting tanks' came to number over 400, built over the years 1924-1931.
The origin of the name is subject to various theories but in effect is lost in antiquity. The Tri-ang model of a Jinty, the famous 47606, was one of the best-selling OO scale toy/models of all time and was often the first engine encountered by small boys who went on to enthuse over locomotives and railways for the rest of their lives.
The new Jinties flooded across the LMS and through to the middle 1960s could be found labouring daily the length of the land; pilots at the great stations, from Euston to New Street to Preston to Carlisle, and or pottering in remote sidings. There was an endless variety of trip workings and local freights, ambling the length of a branch or collecting and delivering wagons to a series of outlying yards.
A particular sphere of working the Jinties made their own was the transfer freight, a Victorian mode of working lasting effectively to the end of steam. Every city abounded in the work, from London to Glasgow, with Carlisle being a particularly glorious, example. They long survived the onset of diesel shunters and were only finally extinguished in 1967.
Lest the Jinty be remembered only as a ’shunter’ it can be noted that plenty of passenger work came their way at first. Easily the most remarkable was their employment on GN suburban workings including the main line, cheek by jowl with racing Gresley Pacifics.
A Jinty truly was a Joy.