The Highland Railway Loch class locomotives were large 4-4-0s normally used north of Inverness. They were introduced in 1896, to the design of David Jones. Fifteen were built by Dübs and Company in Glasgow, all going into traffic between July and September 1896. Three more were built in 1917 by Dübs' successor, the North British Locomotive Company (NBL).

Design

They had the typical Jones appearance with outside cylinders, domed cab roof, louvred chimney, but, as with the Jones Goods class 4-6-0, the Allan style front framing was dispensed with. Allan valve gear was still used.

Despite an interval of over twenty years between the first and second batches, there were few changes in design for the second batch. The boiler tubes were of steel instead of copper; a Westinghouse brake pump was fitted in front of the right-hand side of the cab; and there was an increase in tender water capacity from to .

Numbering

1. Built by Dübs in 1896

   Built by NBL in 1917

These were needed primarily for the increased traffic on the Kyle line where they were the heaviest locomotives permitted. This period was when the initial traffic of the United States effort in World War I was flowing, and much was brought to the west coast of Scotland in an effort to reduce the effect of the U-boat menace. The trains ran from Kyle to Invergordon so it was a wholly HR traffic.

Transfer to LMS

They passed to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923. The LMS classified them '2P'. Withdrawal occurred from 1930 onwards.

Transfer to BR

Only two survived into British Railways (BR) ownership in 1948. Neither received their allocated BR number before being withdrawn in 1948 ('Loch Insh') and 1950 ('Loch Tay').

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