GCR Class 8F

Last updated

GCR Class 8F
LNER Class B4
Ardsley Locomotive Depot geograph-2844359-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg
B4 4-6-0 No. 1486 at Ardsley Locomotive Depot
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
Designer John G. Robinson
Builder Beyer, Peacock and Company
Order numberBP: 9458
Serial number4816–4825
Build dateJune – July 1906
Total produced10
Specifications
Configuration:
   Whyte 4-6-0
   UIC 2'Cn2
Gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
Leading dia. 3 ft 6 in (1.067 m)
Driver dia.6 ft 7 in (2.007 m)
Wheelbase 51 ft 10 in (15.799 m)
Length61 ft 11.25 in (18.879 m)
Height13 ft 0 in (3.962 m)[ citation needed ]
Adhesive weight 54 long tons 18 cwt (123,000 lb or 55.8 t)
Loco weight70 long tons 14 cwt (158,400 lb or 71.8 t)
Tender weight48 long tons 6 cwt (108,200 lb or 49.1 t)
Fuel typeCoal
Fuel capacity6 long tons 0 cwt (13,400 lb or 6.1 t)
Water cap.4,000 imp gal (18,000 L; 4,800 US gal)
Boiler:
  Diameter4 ft 9.5 in (1,460 mm) to 5 ft (1,500 mm)
Boiler pressure180 lbf/in2 (1.24 MPa)
Heating surface
  • As built: 1,911 sq ft (177.5 m2)
  • Superheated: 1,482 sq ft (137.7 m2)
[1]
  Firebox133 sq ft (12.4 m2) [2]
Superheater:
  Heating area242 sq ft (22.5 m2) [1]
Cylinders Two, outside
Cylinder size
  • As built: 19 in × 26 in (480 mm × 660 mm)
  • B4/1 sub-class: 21 in × 26 in (530 mm × 660 mm)
[3]
Valve gear Stephenson
Valve typeSlide, some later 10-inch (254 mm) piston valves
Career
Operators
Class GCR: 8F
LNER: B4
NumbersGCR: 1095–1104
LNER: 6095–6104, later 1481–1489
NicknamesImmingham
Axle load classLNER: Route Availability: 5
WithdrawnFebruary 1944 (1), 1947-November 1950
DispositionAll scrapped

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'.

Contents

Design

The new design was very similar to 4-6-0 the two locomotives of the (GCR Class 8C, later LNER class B1) except that they had smaller driving wheels.

They were built with a saturated boiler, inside slide valves and Stephenson valve gear, two outside cylinders connected to 6-foot-7-inch (2.007 m) diameter driving wheels. [4]

LNER ownership

The ten locomotives were renumbered by the LNER by adding 5000 to their GCR numbers; and classified as B4.

Modifications

Between 1925 and 1928 the whole class received superheated boilers, but six received 10-inch piston valves and 21-inch cylinders giving rise to two LNER sub-classes B4/1 and B4/2. [5]

The LNER had designed a new type of superheated boiler (Diagram 16) based on the old design (Diagram 15). These were used on the B1 and B4 class locomotives; no more of this type of boiler was made after 1932, and so to keep the B1 and B4s in service during World War II, some Diagram 15 boilers were modified for use with these locomotives. [1]

Allocation and work

The class were originally used on fish trains between the port of Grimsby and London and Manchester although they were also found to be successful passenger locomotives. No. 1097 was also chosen to haul the special train at the inauguration ceremony for the new port of Immingham in 1906, and was named ‘Immingham’ thereafter, giving the name to the whole class. After grouping the class was transferred to Ardsley, South Yorkshire and did much useful work in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Withdrawal

No.6095 was withdrawn in 1939, but was reinstated three months later due to the outbreak of war and an expected shortage of locomotive power. After a collision at Woodhead in 1944, No.6095 was officially withdrawn. The remaining 9 were renumbered 1481-1489 in order of construction in 1946. They were withdrawn between 1947 and 1950. The last withdrawal, No.(6)1482(GCR No.1097) Immingham was in 1950, with Immingham being the last GCR 4-6-0 to be withdrawn.

Related Research Articles

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GER Class S69</span>

The Great Eastern Railway (GER) Class S69, also known as 1500 Class, and later classified B12 by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive designed to haul express passenger trains from London Liverpool Street station along the Great Eastern Main Line. Originally they were designed by S. D. Holden, but were much rebuilt, resulting in several subclasses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GCR Class 9F</span> British steam locomotive

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LNER Thompson Class B2</span>

The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Thompson Class B2 was a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive. It was introduced in 1945 as a two-cylinder rebuild of the three-cylinder LNER Class B17. Ten were rebuilt from Class B17 but no more were rebuilt because of the success of the LNER Thompson Class B1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NER Class Y</span>

The North Eastern Railway (NER) Class Y 4-6-2T tank locomotives were designed whilst Wilson Worsdell was Chief Mechanical Engineer, but none were built until 1910 by which time Vincent Raven had taken over.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GCR Class 1</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GCR Class 8</span> British 4-6-0 steam locomotive class

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GCR Class 8A</span>

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.

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 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GCR Class 11E</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GCR Class 9Q</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GCR Class 8C</span>

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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GCR Class 9P</span>

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 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NBR F class</span>

The NBR F Class was a class of 0-6-0 tank locomotives, designed by William P. Reid on the North British Railway. They were used for dockyard shunting duties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NER Class Z</span> Class of 50 British 4-4-2 locomotives, later LNER class C7

The NER Class Z was an Atlantic class of locomotives designed by Vincent Raven. It was introduced in 1911.

References