FS Class 737

The Ferrovie dello Stato (Italian State Railways, FS) Class 737 (Italian: Gruppo 737) consisted of 15 ex-British War Department locomotives of the Stanier Class 8F type purchased in 1946.

History

The first eight engines, (eventually FS Numbers 737.001 – 737.008) were built to WD orders between 1940 and 1942. The remaining seven (eventually FS Numbers 737.009 – 737.015) had been requisitioned by the War Department in 1941 from the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) - these had been built in 1936 by the Vulcan Foundry. All were then shipped to the Middle East, with several more classmates, where they served in Persia and were numbered in the Persian series. In 1944, 50 of the Persian engines were transferred to Kingdom of Egypt/Mandate Palestine, where they were again renumbered into the Middle East Forces (MEF) 93xx series. Later WD numbers were original numbers plus +70000, and in 1946 FS bought fifteen of these.

As they were non-standard compared to Italian locomotive practice, their career was relatively short, working on the line between Bologna and Ancona until 1947, then being kept at Bari; they were all withdrawn from service by 1953.[1]

Numbering

Numbers were as follows:

FS No.	LMS No.	WD No.	Persia No.	MEF No.	Later WD No.	Date built	Builder	Maker's No.	Withdrawn
737.001	-	334	41.119	9380	70334	1940	North British	24634	1956
737.002	-	375	41.164	9372	70375	1941	North British	24675	1956
737.003	-	408	41.104	9381	70408	1941	Beyer Peacock	6988	1956
737.004	-	437	41.177	9374	70437	1941	Beyer Peacock	7017	1956
737.005	-	441	41.166	9362	70441	1941	Beyer Peacock	7021	1956
737.006	-	514	41.210	9368	70514	1941	North British	24722	1956
737.007	-	520	41.238	9363	70520	1941	North British	24728	1956
737.008	-	548	41.223	-	70548	1942	North British	24741	1956
737.009	8032	585	41.162	9378	70585	1936	Vulcan Foundry	4709	1956
737.010	8091	589	41.185	9351	70589	1936	Vulcan Foundry	4768	1956
737.011	8038	594	41.182	9370	70594	1936	Vulcan Foundry	4715	1956
737.012	8040	595	41.192	9355	70595	1936	Vulcan Foundry	4717	1956
737.013	8044	598	41.196	9371	70598	1936	Vulcan Foundry	4721	1956
737.014	8072	609	41.198	9373	70609	1936	Vulcan Foundry	4749	1956
737.015	8059	613	41.195	9352	70613	1936	Vulcan Foundry	4736	1956

See also

• Palestine Railways
• Trans-Iranian Railway

References

1. Kalla-Bishop, P.M. (1986). Italian state railways steam locomotives : together with low-voltage direct current and three-phase motive power. Abingdon: Tourret. pp. 68–9. ISBN 978-0905878034.

Sources

• Rowledge, J.W.P. (1975). Engines of the LMS built 1923–51. Oxford: Oxford Publishing Company. ISBN 0-902888-59-5.
• Tourret, R. (1995). Allied Military Locomotives of the Second World War. Abingdon, Oxon: Tourret Publishing. ISBN 0-905878-06-X.
• Turchi, Gian Guido (November 1982). "Locomotive a vapore FS 737". I Treni Oggi (in Italian) (24): 10–14.