Ace Trains E/38-C LNER Stanier Class 8F 2-8-0 Unlined Satin Black No. 3146 Steam Locomotive

The London Midland and Scottish Railway's 8F class 2-8-0 heavy freight locomotive was a class of steam locomotive designed for hauling heavy freight. 852 were built between 1935 and 1946 as a freight version of William Stanier's successful Black Five mixed traffic loco. The 8F design incorporated the two-cylinder arrangement of the Black Fives.

On the outbreak of the Second World War, the design was chosen to become the country's standard freight design. Large numbers were built by the then four major railway companies being LMS, LNER, GWR, & SR, those built at Doncaster became LNER class O6 until sold to the LMS in 1946.

The War Department had 208 8Fs built by Beyer Peacock and North British Locomotive Company and requisitioned 51 from the LMS. Standard 8F production for the WD continued until 1943 when the cheaper Riddles designed WD Austerity 2-8-0 was introduced.

The class saw extensive service overseas during and after the Second World War. Those built for the war department saw wartime military service overseas in Egypt, Palestine, Iran and Italy. Many of these locomotives were later sold to the local railways in these countries, and some were also sold to Turkey and Iraq.

One loco has been repatriated from Turkey to the UK and is presently being restored.

The 8Fs were successful and durable locomotives with 666 locomotives surviving in BR service until the 1960's. Routine withdrawals not beginning until 1964 with 150 surviving to the last year of steam on BR in 1968.

Some locomotives carried a five pointed star painted on the cab-side indicating that the driving wheels had been specially balanced to render them suitable for handling fast brake fitted freight trains.

Fourteen locos are known to have survived, eight are preserved within the UK, five in Turkey, and one in Iraq.