| GCR Class 1 LNER Class B2 (later B19) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Nameless No. 1492 (ex 427 City of London) at Sheffield Victoria, 17 July 1947 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The GCR Class 1 was a class of steam locomotives designed by John G. Robinson for the Great Central Railway, and introduced to service between December 1912 and 1913. In the 1923 grouping, they all passed to the London and North Eastern Railway which placed them in class B2. Their classification was changed to B19 in 1945, and all had been retired by the end of 1947.
Although commonly believed that they were intended as express passenger locomotives, the Great Central actually classified and used them as mixed traffic locomotives. The minutes of the Locomotive Committee show that they were ordered as a superheated version of the 8F (Immingham) class mixed traffic locomotives. They were described as mixed traffic locomotives in the contemporary Great Central publication Per Rail, which promoted the company's goods services. When new, three of the class – 423, 425 and 428 – were painted in GCR's standard green passenger livery, while the other three – 424, 426 and 427 – were painted in the lined black goods livery; all were green by the end of 1922. [2] Their initial allocations included the 'Pipe trains', the vacuum-brake fitted express goods services between Manchester and London, among the most important services on the Great Central. There is no evidence that they were intended to challenge the contemporary 11E (Director) class 4-4-0s for the generally light express passenger services of the pre-1914 years on the London Extension.
It has been claimed that the GCR Class 1 had problems in service which led to their alleged demotion from express passenger use, but there appears to be no evidence to support these claims. The design of the fire grate and ash pan was very similar to, for example, the later Gresley K3 2-6-0s, and their fireboxes were deep and relatively large for their 26.5 square feet (2.46 m2) grate area. Overheating troubles with axleboxes have been alleged, related to the large force from the inside cylinders. Robinson in fact took care to make the coupled boxes as large as possible, 9 by 9 inches (229 mm × 229 mm) on the two leading axles and 8 by 12 inches (203 mm × 305 mm) on the trailing set. A more likely source of initial trouble was the marine-type big ends fitted to the first five, since the sixth reverted to strap and cotter type.
| Built | GCR No. | LNER No. | LNER 1946 No. | Name | Withdrawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 1912 | 423 | 5423 | 1490 | Sir Sam Fay | April 1947 |
| January 1913 | 424 | 5424 | — | City of Lincoln | November 1945 |
| February 1913 | 425 | 5425 | 1491 | City of Manchester | July 1947 |
| March 1913 | 426 | 5426 | — | City of Chester | December 1944 |
| March 1913 | 427 | 5427 | 1492 | City of London [lower-alpha 1] | November 1947 |
| December 1913 | 428 | 5428 | 1493 | City of Liverpool | April 1947 |
John George Robinson CBE, was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the Great Central Railway from 1900 to 1922.
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) produced several classes of locomotive, mostly to the designs of Nigel Gresley, characterised by a three-cylinder layout with a parallel boiler and round-topped firebox. It produced the most famous locomotive of its day, 4468 'Mallard', the holder of the world steam locomotive speed record. It also built the world-famous 4472 'Flying Scotsman'. However, its locomotive inheritance was much greater than just the 'A4 Class', it also produced highly successful mixed-traffic and freight designs.
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Thompson Class B1 is a class of steam locomotive designed by Edward Thompson for medium mixed traffic work.
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The Great Central Railway Class 11F or Improved Director Class is a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotive designed by John G. Robinson for passenger work. The LNER classified them as Class D11 from 1923. They were based on the earlier GCR Class 11E "Director" class.
The Great Central Railway (GCR) Class 9F was a class of 0-6-2T steam locomotive built between 1891 and 1901. From 1923 the locomotives were redesignated Class N5.
The GER Class T26 was a class of 2-4-0 steam tender locomotives designed by James Holden for the Great Eastern Railway. At the 1923 grouping they passed to the London and North Eastern Railway, who classified them E4. Eighteen survived into British Railways ownership in 1948, and the last was withdrawn in 1959, making them the last 2-4-0 tender locomotives at work in Britain. Their BR numbers were 62780–62797.
Alexander Henderson, 1st Baron Faringdon, known as Sir Alexander Henderson, 1st Baronet, from 1902 to 1916, was a British financier and Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament.
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Although overshadowed by the later and more famous steam locomotives that John G. Robinson would go on to design, the Great Central Railway Class 11B 4-4-0 Express Passenger engines were a successful class which totalled 40. Built from 1901 to 1903, in later rebuilt form as 11D, some 11Bs would last in service until 1950. Railwaymen continued to refer to the class as "11B" even after all were rebuilt to 11D. Being contemporary with and to some extent the 4-4-0 version of Robinson's much more numerous 0-6-0 goods class 9J, which were known as "Pom-Poms", the 11Bs acquired the nickname "Pom-Pom Bogies". The London & North Eastern Railway classified the 11Bs, along with their 11C and 11D rebuilds, as Class D9.
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The Great Central Railway Class 1A, classified B8 by the LNER, was a class of 4-6-0 mixed-traffic locomotives designed by John G. Robinson for fast goods, relief passenger and excursion services. They were known as the ‘Glenalmond Class’ and were a smaller wheeled version of Robinson's earlier Sir Sam Fay express passenger class, which they closely resembled.
The GCR Class 8C was a class of a pair of 4-6-0 locomotives built for the Great Central Railway in 1903–1904 by Beyer, Peacock and Company. They passed to the London and North Eastern Railway at the 1923 grouping and received the classification B1 They were reclassified B18 in 1943 and both were retired in 1947.
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The GCR Class 8F was a class of ten 4-6-0 locomotives built for the Great Central Railway in 1906 by Beyer, Peacock and Company to the design of John G. Robinson for working fast goods and fish trains. They passed to the London and North Eastern Railway at the 1923 grouping and received the classification 'B4'.
The Great Central Railway Class 8N - London North Eastern Railway Class B6 - was a class of three 4-6-0 steam locomotives, designed by John G. Robinson in 1918. They were a mixed traffic class. All three examples were withdrawn in November and December 1947.
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