Steam Memories

"For some years after the amalgamation of 1847 the London and North Western Railway was organized in two separate divisions, each with its own locomotive superintendent, and works. The practice of the Southern Division, at Wolverton, under J. E. McConnell, was the very opposite of that of Trevithick and Allan, at Crewe. The latter used the very smallest engines that would do the job, whereas McConnell 'built big', and put machines on the road that were generally ahead of their time. Technically his various 2-2-2 express locomotives were characterized by large boilers, and great freedom in running; but externally they created interest by having all the bearings inside. It was a time when Mrs Amelia Bloomer was advocating certain rather startling changes in female attire that shocked Victorian society, and McConnell's new engines, with all their wheels exposed, were immediately nicknamed the 'Bloomers'. There were three varieties: the original 'large' class of 1851, which is illustrated; a smaller variety, introduced in 1854, and three engines of 1861, which were known as the 'Extra Large Bloomers'. No less striking was the livery of the Southern Division -- in its vivid scarlet. One has only to compare the Crampton engine London and one of ihe Bloomers, with the Allan 2-4-0 and the Lady of the Lake to appreciate the astonishing contrast between the contemporar styles of Wolverton and Crewe Works."

My thanks to 

Nock, O. S. The Pocket Encylopaedia of British Steam Locomotives. Illustrations by Clifford and Wendy Meadway. Poole: Blandford Press, 1964.