Of all the engines covered so far in this series, the history of the 8F 2-8-0s is by far the most complex.Although introduced by W A Stanier in 1935, only 331 of the 852 locomotives built were ordered by the LMS.The remaining locos were built by private firms for the War Departmaent, to be used overseas, and the rest by works on the SR, GWR and LNER, to orders from the wartime Railway Executive Committee.This history is discuussed in detail in the Origins chapter and then the book moves on to look at Construction and modification, The Engines in Service and Livery.
Softcover, 136 pages, 77 b/w illustrations,15 drawings.