| GCR Class 1B LNER Class L1 (later L3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 No. 5274 at Northwich Locomotive Depot 21 September 1947 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The GCR Class 1B was a class of 2-6-4T (tank) locomotives on the Great Central Railway. They were notable as the first locomotives of the 2-6-4T (or Adriatic) wheel arrangement to be used by a British standard-gauge railway; there had been two narrow-gauge examples on the Leek & Manifold Valley Light Railway since 1904. [1] [2] [3]
In 1906, the Great Central Railway (GCR) had inherited nine 0-6-4T locomotives from the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway (LD&EC), of class D (LNER class M1). These had been designed to the specifications of Robert A. Thom, the locomotive superintendent of the LD&EC, for hauling coal trains from northern Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire to the docks at Grimsby. They were built by Kitson & Co in 1904 and 1906, and performed well. [4] [5]
When further locomotives were required for similar duties, opportunity was taken to produce an updated design. The 1B class locomotives were designed by the GCR's locomotive superintendent John G. Robinson, with assistance from Thom, [1] who, after a period as assistant works manager at the GCR's Gorton locomotive works, [6] was now Robinson's assistant. [7] The chief design improvement was the fitment of a larger boiler incorporating a superheater; [1] it was similar to those fitted to the GCR Class 11E 4-4-0, and a number of other existing GCR components were also incorporated. [8] The LD&EC Class D bogie was retained, but the increased weight made it necessary to add a carrying axle at the front; thus, from an 0-6-4T, the 2-6-4T was derived. [1]
Unlike the LD&EC engines, the 1B class was built at Gorton, where twenty were built between 1914 and 1917. [9] They were described by an engineering journal as 'one of the handsomest tank engines to have made their appearance anywhere in recent years', although not everybody agreed. [8] Unfortunately, by the time that the first few were in service, the coal traffic for which they had been designed was dwindling; and so they found themselves on work for which they were not ideally suited. [10]
Their GCR numbers were 272–276, 336–345, and 366–370, which under the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) were increased by 5000 between 1924 and 1926. [11] Classified 1B by the GCR, the LNER assigned class L1, which was altered to L3 in May 1945, because the Thompson Class L1 were about to appear. [12] All were renumbered to 9050–9069 by the LNER during 1946; [13] and, of the 19 which passed to British Railways, eleven were renumbered into the 69050–69069 block between 1948 and 1950. [14] Withdrawal occurred between 1947 and 1955 [14] and none have been preserved.
John George Robinson CBE, was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the Great Central Railway from 1900 to 1922.
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 London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Thompson Class L1 was a class of 2-6-4T steam locomotives designed by Edward Thompson. The prototype no. 9000 was built in 1945, but the remaining 99 were built under British Railways jurisdiction in the period 1948–1950.
The Railway Operating Division (ROD) ROD 2-8-0 is a type of 2-8-0 steam locomotive which was the standard heavy freight locomotive operated in Europe by the ROD during the First World War.
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.
The NER Class X was a class of 4-8-0T tank locomotive designed by Wilson Worsdell for the North Eastern Railway. They were intended for use as powerful shunting engines to arrange and move coal wagons for loading into ships. In total 15 were built, 10 by the NER between 1909 and 1910, and a further five in 1925 by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). They had three cylinders with divided drive: the inside cylinder driving the leading axle, the outside cylinders driving the centre.
The Great Central Railway Class 8, known as the London and North Eastern Railway Class B5 following the 1923 Grouping, was a class of fourteen 4-6-0 steam locomotives designed to haul fast goods trains, in particular fish trains.
The Great Central Railway (GCR) Class 8A was a class of 0-8-0 steam locomotive built between 1902 and 1911 for handling heavy coal trains over the Pennines. They all passed to the LNER in 1923, who redesignated them Class Q4. They were withdrawn from service between 1934 and 1951.
Robert Absalom Thom was the final Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent of the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway, and became a key figure in the locomotive departments of the company's successors, the Great Central Railway and the London & North Eastern Railway. Thom was born at Aberdeen on 14 June 1873. He attended Robert Gordon's College in Aberdeen, where he received a technical education.
The LD&ECR Class D was a class of nine 0-6-4T steam locomotives supplied to the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway in 1904 and 1906 by Kitson & Co. of Leeds. They later became the property of the Great Central Railway and finally the London and North Eastern Railway, upon which they were known as Class M1.
GCR Classes 8D and 8E were two pairs of three-cylinder compound steam locomotives of the 4-4-2 wheel arrangement built in 1905 and 1906 for the Great Central Railway.
The GCR Class 11E was a type of 4-4-0 steam locomotive used by the Great Central Railway for express passenger services. Ten were built in the railway's own workshops at Gorton, Manchester during 1913; they remained in service until the mid-1950s.
The GCR Class 9Q, classified B7 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 on the Great Central Railway. They were a smaller wheeled version of Robinson's earlier Class 9P "Lord Faringdon" express passenger class.
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 Great Central Railway (GCR) Class 9A was a class of 0-6-2T steam locomotive built between 1889 and 1892. From 1923 the locomotives were redesignated Class N4.
GCR Class 8G was a class of 10 two-cylinder steam locomotives of the 4-6-0 wheel arrangement built in 1906 for the Great Central Railway.
The LD&ECR Class B was a class of 0-6-0T steam locomotives of the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway.
The LD&ECR class C was a class of 0-4-4T steam locomotives of the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway.
The NBR 141 Class consisted of two steam 2-4-0 locomotives built by the North British Railway (NBR) in 1869. They were the direct antecedents of the NBR 224 Class 4-4-0.
GCR Class 9P was a design of four-cylinder steam locomotive of the 4-6-0 wheel arrangement built for hauling express passenger trains on the Great Central Railway in England. A total of six were built: one in 1917, and five in 1920. They were sometimes known as the Lord Faringdon class, from the name of the first one built.