After a few months in service with the “Rocket”, Stephenson used the experiences to develop an improved successor. Since the placement of the cylinders of the predecessor was unfavorable for the running characteristics, the driving axle was moved to the rear and the cylinders were installed horizontally in front of the driving axle and inside the frame. It was probably the first locomotive with this arrangement, which later became the standard.

This arrangement not only improved the running characteristics, but also allowed the cylinders to be mounted inside the smokebox, thereby reducing losses from condensation. Also new was a steam dome, with which dryer steam could be extracted from the boiler. In addition, the front and rear buffers and couplers were roughly in the places where they are today.

On November 23, 1830, it was able to prove its performances by completing the 31 miles from Liverpool to Manchester in about an hour. The prototype was followed by six more by Stephenson and three made by Fenton, Murray and Jackson to the same design.

In the years that followed, many locomotives were built in several countries based on the “Planet” pattern, so that the 2-2-0 wheel arrangement was later named after it. The Liverpool & Manchester alone got 16 of them. The original “Planet” was first modernized in 1833 and retired in 1840. A replica that was built in 1992 was used regularly until 2017.

The second design by John Ramsbottom while he was in charge for the LNWR was a 2-2-2 wheel arrangement express locomotive with a wheel diameter of seven feet six inches. This could be described as a simplified and therefore cheaper variant of the locomotives of its predecessor Alexander Allan. Officially this class was named the Problem class after the first production locomotive, but it is also known as the Lady of the Lake class. This is due to the fact that the LNWR presented the engine with this name at the 1862 World Exhibition in London and the name quickly caught on in the public eye.

No. 1434 “Eunomia”, the last to be scrapped in October 1907, as seenafter Webb's conversion

Locomotive Magazine, January 1908

The locomotives, which were initially painted green, stood out with their slotted wheel housings and apparently had a short wheelbase due to the large driving wheel diameter. Despite the high line speeds, there was initially no covered driver's cab. They were the first locomotives to be fitted with tenders with a scoop device for catching water during the journey. The traditional 2,000-gallon water tenders initially used were replaced with scoop-type tenders that only held 1,500 gallons. Another innovation was an injector based on Henri Giffard's design, only the first ten examples had a conventional water pump.

Schematic of a tender with a scoop as first used by the Problem class

George Findlay, „The Working and Management of an English Railway”

The locomotives were mainly used on the Irish Mail Trains, which collected mail from Holyhead from overseas and Ireland and brought it to London at a high average speed and without many intermediate stops. It was on this connection that the number 229 “Watt” became part of the so-called “Trent Affair”. On January 7, 1862, during the American Civil War, due to a diplomatic disagreement, a telegram from the British ambassador in Washington had to be sent to London as quickly as possible. After arrival in Ireland and onward transport to Holyhead, two locomotives took over the transport of the mailbags one after the other, of which the “Watt” had taken over the first section to Stafford. Thanks to the water troughs, they just managed to make the journey from Holyhead to London in the promised five hours, delivering a record-breaking performance. The “Watt” completed its 130 miles in 144 minutes.

Other Problem Class services were express trains in the Manchester, Liverpool and Crewe area. One notable feature was an unsteady running around the vertical axis at high speeds, which probably had its origin in the relatively short wheelbase. Starting in 1873, Webb subjected the machines to some conversions, in which a driver's cab roof, different chimneys, a now black standard paint finish, a vapor barrier for the wheels of the locomotive and closed wheel housings were used. A more extensive reconstruction only took place between 1895 and 1897, when the first engines of the class had already been in service for 36 years. They received a larger boiler and thicker tires, which increased the wheel diameter by 1.5 inches. Locomotives converted in this way were often used as pilot for heavy express trains, often reaching speeds of more than 80 mph. They were replaced between 1904 and 1907 by the Precursor Class developed by Whale, which now made the double-heading superfluous.

In an attempt to combine large driving wheels with a low center of gravity, No. 3020 “Cornwall” of the LNWR was one of the most complicated, but unsuccessful designs. Designed by Francis Trevithick, son of the famous Richard Trevithick, it was a 4-2-2 with driving wheels of 8 ft 6 in (2,591 mm) built in 1847. To keep the boiler low, but out of the way of the driving axle, it was placed below this axle.

Original state from 1847 with a low boiler

Even though the driving axle could be held out of the boiler, the trailing axle went through a tube in the firebox, what created some problems when assembling the locomotive. Another problem was the long rigid wheelbase that effected the running characteristics. For these reasons, John Ramsbottom rebuilt it into a conventional 2-2-2 with boiler above the driving axle. 

Sectional frawing of the original state

Although it was only a single locomotive, the rebuilt “Cornwall” was used successfully in express service. With light trains, it delivered average speeds of 50 mph (80 km/h) and top speeds of up to 70 mph (113 km/h). In the 1870s, it got a semi-open cab.

It remained in regular express service until 1902. After that, it was not retired, but used as an inspection locomotive. For this task, it got a six-wheel carriage whose front part filled the task of a tender, while its rear part was a passenger compartment. When it reached its final retirement in the twenties, it was one of the first locomotives to be preserved on purpose. Today it can be found in the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre.

In a time when most steam locomotive classes were built in small numbers and with many differences between individual batches, a great achievement of John Ramsbottom was the creation of the DX Goods class for the London & North Western Railway. It was his first design for the LNWR and was meant as a simple, versatile goods locomotive that could be built in large numbers and also used in passenger traffic if needed.

Between 1858 and 1872, a total of 857 have been built at Crewe. With the 0-6-0 wheel arrangement, inside cylinders and outside coupling rods they had the basic layout that could be found on most British goods locomotives for decades to come. They were also the first locomotives to use screw reversing gear. As usual for the time, they had no cab when built.

In the 1870s, they were retrofitted with cabs. 86 additional locomotives were built for the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway between 1871 and 1874. Those built from 1872 had some improvements made by Webb and got a cab from the start. A tank variant was called “Special Tank” and built 278 times for the LNWR starting in 1870.

For use with passenger trains, 500 DX Goods were rebuilt to the “Special DX” starting in 1881. In this process they got vacuum brakes and the boiler pressure was raised to 150 psi. Four similar locomotives were built for the Belgian Malines-Terneuzen railway. Some DX Goods were withdrawn from 1902, but 88 came to the LMS in 1923. The last ones were withdrawn in 1930 and all have been scrapped.

Francis Webb developed the 17 inch coal engine in the early 1870s as his first design for the LNWR. It was created under the requirement that production and operation should be as cheap as possible. These three-axle machines were sometimes described as the simplest and cheapest in the country, but on the other hand they were generally extremely successful with typical British maintenance. A total of 499 were built in 19 years.

One locomotive demonstrated that it could be built, including building up steam, in 25.5 hours. They could pull coal trains of 541 tons at a speed of 25 mph. From 1905 onwards, 45 were rebuilt into saddle tank locomotives. During the First World War, many were used by the military abroad, some even in Palestine. The LMS took over almost half in 1923, the British Railways received 35 in 1948 and used the last until 1953.

In 1880, Francis Webb introduced a new class of goods locomotives for the LNWR. Based on his 1873 “17 inch coal engine”, it had larger cylinders, a slightly larger boiler with a higher pressure and larger driving wheels. The official name of the new class was “18 inch Goods Engine” due to the cylinder diameter, but it was also called “5 ft 0 in Express Goods” due to the size of wheel centers.

Within 22 years, 310 locomotives have been built. Due to their large LNWR crest on the splashers, they got the nicknames “Cauliflower Class” and “Crested Goods”. With the grouping in 1923, they were put into LMS power class 2F. At this time, only two had been withdrawn. British Railways still inherited 69 in 1948 and withdrew the last ones in 1955. A class that had been derived from this class was the 0-6-2T “18 inch Tank Class”.

The LNWR Precedent class consisted of 70 2-4-0 express locomotives with a driver diameter of 6 ft 6 in or 1,981 mm, built between 1874 and 1882. As usual, they had inside cylinders with a common steam chest. Francis Webb designed them so well that they could reach more than 50 mph with a total train weight of 200 tons on trial runs. In service, they could haul ten carriages with a speed of 45 mph. 

Between 1891 and 1901, 62 of the 70 locomotives were replaced by new locomotives of the “Improved Precedent” class which got the same numbers and names. The remaining eight were rebuilt into the same class, but retained the thinner frames and more parts. Of these rebuilt locomotives, four survived until the 1923 grouping and got the LMS numbers 5000 to 5003. They were withdrawn between 1929 and 1934.

As its name suggests, the LNWR Improved Precedent or Renewed Precedent class was an upgraded variant of Webb's Precedent class. In reality, only eight were rebuilt from Precedent class locomotives, while 158 more were built new. At the same time, the other 62 Precedent class locomotives and 96 Newton class locomotives were scrapped, while the new locomotives got their numbers and names. So, on paper, these locomotives were just “renewed” and no new builds, what led to financial advantages.

In service, they showed their potential and got the nickname “Jumbos”. In 1895 during the Race to the North, number 790 “Hardwicke” set a new record between Crewe and Carlisle with an average of 67.1 mph or 108 km/h. The first withdrawals started in 1905, but the LMS still got 76 in 1923 and put them into power class 1P. The last ones were withdrawn in 1934 and only No. 790 was preserved. It had been operational again from 1976, but today it's only on static display at the National Railway Museum Shildon.