A rare photograph of the unique 0-4-4T No 126 at Waterloo circa 1930. This engine, built as a standard M7 in 1911, was fitted 10 years later with a superheated boiler of the type carried by the rebuilt 700 Class 0-6-0s. In this form it was reclassified X14. Now looking nothing like an M7, it had a Urie chimney sitting on an extended smokebox and a higher more rounded cab. To compensate for the extra weight at the front end, a heavy balance casting beneath the cab and bunker was fitted to prevent any nose-heavy ‘hunting’. At nearly 65 tons in working order No 126 proved too heavy for suburban traffic however, and was dismantled in 1937, the parts being used on other engines.

© David P Williams Archive / Rail-Online