 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
| GCR Class 8B LNER Class C4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Two LNER Class C4 (ex GCR Class 8B) on Retford shed in April 1947 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The GCR Class 8B was a class of 27 two-cylinder steam locomotives of the 4-4-2 wheel arrangement built between 1903 and 1906 for the Great Central Railway. They were nicknamed "Jersey Lillies" after the famous music star Lillie Langtry. [1]
Facing a potential rise in passenger traffic, the Great Central Railway placed an order for two pairs of different locomotives from the North British Locomotive Company of Glasgow in 1903 - one pair being the 4-6-0 GCR Class 8C, the other pair being this 4-4-2 locomotive. The two locomotives shared as many common components as possible to allow easy conversion of the 8Bs to the 4-6-0 configuration - and both designs borrowed heavily from John G. Robinson's earlier GCR Class 8.
However, due to a much smaller than anticipated traffic increase, no further Class 8Cs were built, and instead a further 25 Class 8Bs were ordered and built between 1904 and 1906 - built with larger fireboxes as there was no longer a need to convert the locomotives to a 4-6-0 configuration. In 1909 and 1910, the original locomotives also received this larger firebox.
Despite Robinson commencing the conversion to superheaters in 1912, the conversion was not actually completed until 1936. At the same time, any locomotive requiring cylinder replacement saw both larger cylinders and piston valves being fitted - 20 of the class would eventually receive this modification. From 1921, the Ramsbottom safety valves were phased out and removed, to be replaced by Ross pop safety valves. Another modification was the fitting of ash ejectors. However, these were removed in the 1930s.
Following a high-speed incident that caused severe damage to its frame and cylinders, No. 1090 was rebuilt with 3 simple expansion cylinders in 1908, as a comparison to the GCR Classes 8D and 8E. These cylinders had their Stephenson valve gear replaced with Walschaerts valve gear, which was the only application of this valve gear, excluding railcars, on a GCR locomotive. Instead of all three cylinders being fitted with Walschaerts on one axle, the two outside cylinders drove the second axle, and the inside cylinder drove the first axle. The experiment was reverted in 1922 when No. 1090 was rebuilt, with the original 2 cylinders and Stephenson valve gear being refitted.
Following the merger of the GCR into the London & North Eastern Railway, the class became known as the LNER Class C4. In 1925, several C4s were fitted with the LNER's trademark "Flowerpot" chimney, with one locomotive, No. 6085, also modified to fit the LNER composite gauge - a modification that the remainder of the class underwent between 1936 and 1939. In 1929, a further LNER classification change was made - the non-superheated locomotives were designated Class C4/1, those fitted with superheaters but still utilized slide valves Class C4/2, and those with both superheaters and piston valves became Class C4/3. By 1932, the re-gauged No. 6085 had been given the designation Class C4/4 - which became more populated as Class C4/3s were cut down. By 1939, all Class C4/1s and Class C4/3s had been redesignated as either Class C4/2s or Class C4/4s - by this time all locomotives were both superheated and had also been cut down to the LNER composite gauge.
During the 1930s, the C4s were struggling with an increase in passenger traffic. Replaced by the LNER B17/4s, some of the class moved away from the Great Central Main Line to the Great Eastern Main Line and to former GNR lines, where they hauled stopping passenger trains and secondary duties.
Following an accident at Banbury in 1939, the first locomotive, No. 6090 (the same engine as No. 1090, which had already been modified after a previous accident), was withdrawn from service. Two more members were withdrawn during World War II, these being Nos. 5266 and 6087 in October 1943 and November 1944 respectively. The rest of the class began being withdrawn from 1947, although 20 locomotives made it into British Railways hands following the nationalisation of the British railways. However, none received their BR numbers. The last locomotive, No. 2918, was withdrawn from Lincoln (Shed 40A) on 2 December 1950, and none survived into preservation. [2]
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-2 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The 4-6-2 locomotive became almost globally known as a Pacific type after a locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia was shipped across the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand.
The Caprotti valve gear is a type of steam engine valve gear invented in the early 1920s by Italian architect and engineer Arturo Caprotti. It uses camshafts and poppet valves rather than the piston valves used in other valve gear. While basing his design on automotive valves, Caprotti made several significant departures from this design to adapt the valves for steam. Having agreed a joint-venture with Worcester-based engineering company Heenan & Froude from 1938, Heenan & Froude fully acquired Caprotti post-World War II in 1947.
The North Eastern Railway Class S3, classified B16 by the LNER, was a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive designed for mixed traffic work. It was designed by Vincent Raven and introduced in 1920. The earlier members of this class were fitted with Westinghouse Brakes - all of this equipment was removed during the 1930s.
The Great Central Railway Class 9N, classified A5 by the LNER, was a class of 4-6-2 tank locomotives designed by John G. Robinson for suburban passenger services. They were fitted with superheaters, piston valves and Stephenson valve gear.
The GER Class L77, LNER Class N7, is a class of 0-6-2T steam locomotives. They were designed by Alfred John Hill of the Great Eastern Railway and introduced in 1915. The design was perpetuated by Nigel Gresley of the LNER after the 1923 grouping. 134 were built and one example is preserved.
The Great Northern Railway (GNR) Class C1 is a type of 4-4-2 steam locomotive. One, ex GNR 251, survives in preservation. Much like their small boiler cousins, they were capable of reaching speeds of up to 90 mph (145 km/h). They were also known as Large Atlantics.
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, 2-6-2+2-6-2 is an articulated locomotive using a pair of 2-6-2 power units back to back, with the boiler and cab suspended between them. The 2-6-2 wheel arrangement has a single pair of leading wheels in a leading truck, followed by three coupled pairs of driving wheels and a pair of trailing wheels in a trailing truck.
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.
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.
The South African Railways Class 16A 4-6-2 of 1915 was a steam locomotive.
The South African Railways Class 14B 4-8-2 of 1915 was a steam locomotive.
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 Great Central Railway 9K and 9L classes were two related classes of 4-4-2T Atlantic steam locomotives. They were both intended for suburban passenger services. After the 1923 Grouping, they served the LNER as classes C13 and C14.
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. Following the introduction of Thompson's B1s, they were reclassified B18 in 1943 and both were retired in 1947.
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 Indian locomotive class SG is a class of Indian steam locomotives used for goods trains. Its class designation, SG, stands for Standard Goods. It was, by number of locomotives built, one of the largest steam locomotive classes built in the United Kingdom. It was one of the BESA locomotives developed by the British Engineering Standards Committee, later called the British Engineering Standards Association (BESA).
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.
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 NER Class Z was an Atlantic class of locomotives designed by Vincent Raven. It was introduced in 1911.
Tp109 was the designation for the Russian CzWP/K series freight steam locomotive used on the Polish State Railways (PKP). These locomotives were produced between 1909 and 1911 for the Warsaw–Vienna railway at the Kolomna works, in a total of 12 units, of which 6 later served on the PKP.
