Midland Railway 700 Class
The Midland Railway 700 Class was a large class of double framed 0-6-0 freight steam locomotives designed by Matthew Kirtley for the Midland Railway. They were in the power classification 1F. Early withdrawals Six locomotives - nos. 271/9, 1007/31/52/3 - were withdrawn from service between 1903 and 1905. Fifty more were sold in 1906 to the Italian State Railway, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (FS), where they formed FS Class 380; they had been ordered by one of the constituents of the FS, the Rete Mediterranea. They were meant to fill a gap of usable locomotives after the nationalization of the Italian railways. They were intended to remain in service for a few years; however, some of them remained active into the 1920s. Numbering After the Midland Railway's 1907 renumbering scheme, the numbers were: 2592–2671, 2674–2711 and 2713–2867 Numbers 2672/3 were members of the 480 Class; no. 2712 was a member of the 240 Class, which had been given a number in the wrong series as the result of a clerk's error. Accidents and incidents On 3 December 1892, locomotive No. 871 was hauling a freight train that crashed at Wymondham Junction, Leicestershire, severely damaging the signal box. Military service 78