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GNR Class N2 LNER Class N2 [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Great Northern Railway (GNR) Class N2 is an 0-6-2T side tank steam locomotive designed by Nigel Gresley and introduced in 1920. Further batches were built by the London and North Eastern Railway from 1925. They had superheaters and piston valves driven by Stephenson valve gear.
Some locomotives were fitted with condensing apparatus for working on the Metropolitan Railway Widened Lines between King's Cross and Moorgate.
The N2s were designed for suburban passenger operations, and worked most of the duties out of King's Cross and Moorgate, often hauling one or two quad-art sets of articulated suburban coaches. These ran to places such as New Barnet and Gordon Hill on the Hertford loop. They also hauled some empty coaching stock trains between King's Cross and Ferme Park carriage sidings.
They were also a common sight in and around Glasgow and Edinburgh operating suburban services, mainly on what is today known as the North Clyde Line.
British Railways numbers were: 69490-69596.
The first withdrawal was in 1955, and another the following year, but official withdrawals didn't start until 1957. Many of their later duties included standing-in for diesel failures and station pilots. The last thirteen N2s were withdrawn in 1962.
Year | Quantity in service at start of year | Quantity withdrawn | Locomotive numbers | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1955 | 107 | 1 | 69514 | |
1956 | 106 | 1 | 69562 | |
1957 | 105 | 10 | 69500–01/03/19/57–59/66/90/95 | |
1958 | 95 | 14 | 69493–97/99 69502/27/44/50–51/54/65/73 | |
1959 | 81 | 34 | 69490–92 69508/10/15/17/22/24–26/28/30/32/34/36–37/39/41–42/45/47–48/53/55–56/67/69–70/76–78/84/91 | |
1960 | 47 | 15 | 69505/07/09/11/40/52/60/63/81–82/87–89/94/96 | |
1961 | 32 | 19 | 69498 69506/13/16/18/21/31/33/43/49/61/64/71–72/74/80/85–86/92 | |
1962 | 13 | 13 | 69504/12/20/23/29/35/46/68/75/79/83/93 | 69523 preserved |
One, No. 1744/4744 (BR No. 69523) survived into preservation, and after initially running at the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway and Great Central Railway (heritage railway), now resides at the North Norfolk Railway. It is owned by the Gresley Society, and has appeared in LNER Black, BR Black, and GNR Apple Green while in preservation. The loco's most recent overhaul was completed in 2009, with the engine being given its GNR Apple Green livery at the same time, and is usually based at the NNR when not visiting other railways. The engine re-visited King's Cross on Tuesday 5 April 2016 for the unveiling of a statue of Sir Nigel Gresley, the engine in question was moved to and from Bounds Green behind a diesel since the locomotive was unable to move under its own power at the time. It is the only Gresley-desinged Tank Engine in preservation.
The N2 was the basis of the Hornby Dublo 0-6-2T tank engine, which was initially offered in the liveries of all the 'Big Four' companies – GWR green, LMS black, LNER black and SR olive green. Announced in the October 1938 issue of the Meccano Magazine, it retailed at 12s 6d with a clockwork mechanism, or 17s 6d for the three-rail electric version. As with other Hornby Dublo locomotives of the period, the bodyshell (or "housing" in Hornby terminology), chassis and wheels were made of diecast Zamak 5 zinc alloy. The clockwork version was last advertised in August 1940, and the electric in November 1941; after the war, the three-rail version was advertised again from June 1948, but the clockwork was not reintroduced. The 'Big Four' liveries continued, but the LNER version later changed from black to green, until April 1953 when all four were replaced by a single version in British Railways lined black. A two-rail electric version (also in BR black) was added to the range in July 1960. the three-rail version was not advertised after September 1963, with the two-rail continuing until December 1964. The final retail price for both electric versions was £2-16-9d. Meccano Ltd, the owners of the Hornby Dublo range, collapsed in 1964 and was acquired by Lines Bros, the owners of the rival Tri-ang Railways range. The remaining stock of Hornby Dublo products was then sold in packaging branded Tri-ang Hornby, but there was no new production. The former Hornby Dublo tooling was sold to G & R Wrenn, at the time another Lines Bros subsidiary; Wrenn put the 0-6-2T model back into production, in two-rail form only, during 1969. Initially in BR black, a LNER green version was added in 1970. They were packaged in boxes initially branded Tri-ang Wrenn, and later (following the sale of Wrenn by Lines Bros) Wrenn Railways. [4] [5]
Great Model Railways (GMR) announced two models of the N2 in their 1980 catalogue: one was to be in LNER lined apple green, numbered 9522 (9522 was the only N2 to be painted in LNER green livery, which it carried from 1946 to 1949 [6] ); the other in British Railways mixed-traffic lined black, numbered 69531. Both were to retail at £17.95, but neither was put into production by GMR, which went into receivership that year. The tooling was bought by Mainline Railways, which listed them in their 1982 catalogue together with a third version, in LNER lined black and numbered 4744 (this was allocated a GMR catalogue number, although it was not advertised by GMR), and they all retailed at £25.00. All three were listed in the final Mainline catalogue of 1984, by which time the retail price had increased to £33.37 for the LNER lined black version. [7] [8]
Hornby currently owns the toolings for the N2, and released a model of engine 69563 as part of the R2981 London Olympics 1948 set including two British Railways (ex-LNER) 60-foot (18 m) teak coaches, 3rd class composite 1435 and 3rd Brake 24387.
Hornby also produced models of the N2 up until 2005 using the original Mainline tooling in GNR Apple Green as locomotive No. 1763, among others. These models were painted in a slightly darker shade of green than that used on the Mainline model of 9522 in 1983.
Hornby produces the LNER number 4765 in black livery using existing tooling, as R3465. [9]
The Thomas & Friends character Ryan is based on a GNR N2/1, specifically 1744. [10]
The LNER Class A4 is a class of streamlined 4-6-2 steam locomotive designed by Nigel Gresley for the London and North Eastern Railway in 1935. Their streamlined design gave them high-speed capability as well as making them instantly recognisable, and one of the class, 4468 Mallard, holds the record as the world's fastest steam locomotive. Thirty-five of the class were built to haul express passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line route from London Kings Cross via York to Newcastle, and later via Newcastle to Edinburgh, Scotland. They remained in service on the East Coast Main Line until the early 1960s when they were replaced by Deltic diesel locomotives; they themselves proving to be worthy successors to the A4s. Several A4s saw out their remaining days until 1966 in Scotland, particularly on the Aberdeen – Glasgow express trains, for which they were used to improve the timing from 3.5 to 3 hours.
Hornby Railways is a British-owned model railways manufacturing company. Its roots date back to 1901 in Liverpool, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy. The first clockwork train was produced in 1920. In 1938, Hornby launched its first OO gauge train. In 1964, Hornby and Meccano were bought by their competitor, Tri-ang, and sold when Tri-ang went into receivership. Hornby Railways became independent again in the 1980s, and became listed on the London Stock Exchange, but due to financial troubles reported in June 2017, became majority owned by British turnaround specialist Phoenix Asset Management.
LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard is a 4-6-2 ("Pacific") steam locomotive built in 1938 for operation on the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works to a design of Nigel Gresley. Its streamlined, wind tunnel tested design allowed it to haul long distance express passenger services at high speeds. On 3 July 1938, Mallard broke the world speed record for steam locomotives at 126 mph (203 km/h), which still stands today.
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.
LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman is a 4-6-2 "Pacific" steam locomotive built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works to a design of Nigel Gresley. It was employed on long-distance express passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line by LNER and its successors, British Railways' Eastern and North Eastern Regions, notably on The Flying Scotsman service between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley after which it was named.
The Flying Scotsman is an express passenger train service that operates between Edinburgh and London, the capitals respectively of Scotland and England, via the East Coast Main Line. The service began in 1862 as the Special Scotch Express until it was officially adopted in 1924. It is currently operated by the London North Eastern Railway.
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Royal Scot Class is a class of 4-6-0 express passenger locomotive introduced in 1927. Originally having parallel boilers, all members were later rebuilt with tapered type 2A boilers, and were in effect two classes.
60008 Dwight D Eisenhower is an LNER Class A4 steam locomotive named after Dwight D. Eisenhower, the United States General of the Army.
4464Bittern is a London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class A4 steam locomotive. Built for the LNER and completed on 18 December 1937 at Doncaster Works as works number 1866, it received number 4464. After that it was renumbered 19 on 16 August 1946 under the LNER 1946 renumbering scheme, and finally 60019 by British Railways on 10 October 1948, after nationalisation. Of the 35 strong class, it is one of six to survive into preservation but it is one of only two currently scheduled to be certified for mainline use.
60007 Sir Nigel Gresley is an LNER Class A4 4-6-2 ("Pacific") steam locomotive built to a design of Sir Nigel Gresley in 1937 at Doncaster Works for operation on the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). The locomotive holds the post-war speed record for steam locomotives on British Railways. The locomotive was withdrawn from service in 1966 and purchased for preservation the same year; it is one of six A4s to be preserved.
The London and North Eastern Railway LNER Gresley Classes A1 and A3 locomotives represented two distinct stages in the history of the British 4-6-2 "Pacific" steam locomotives designed by Nigel Gresley. They were designed for main line passenger services and later express passenger services, initially on the Great Northern Railway (GNR), a constituent company of the London and North Eastern Railway after the amalgamation of 1923, for which they became a standard design. The change in class designation to A3 reflected the fitting to the same chassis of a higher pressure boiler with a greater superheating surface and a small reduction in cylinder diameter, leading to an increase in locomotive weight. Eventually all of the A1 locomotives were rebuilt, most to A3 specifications, but no. 4470 was completely rebuilt as Class A1/1.
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 London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class B17, also known as "Sandringham" or "Footballer" class was a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive designed by Nigel Gresley for hauling passenger services on the Great Eastern Main Line. In total 73 were built.
The London and North Eastern Railway Class U1 was a solitary 2-8-0+0-8-2 Garratt locomotive designed for banking coal trains over the Worsborough Bank, a steeply graded line in South Yorkshire and part of the Woodhead Route. It was both the longest and the most powerful steam locomotive ever to run in Britain. It was built in 1925 with the motion at each end being based on an existing 2-8-0 design. The original number was 2395, and it was renumbered 9999 in March 1946, and then 69999 after nationalisation in 1948, although it retained its cab-side plate bearing its original number throughout its life. The locomotive ran for some time as an oil burner, and was tried out on the Lickey Incline in 1949–1950 and again, after the electrification of its home line, in 1955. These trials were unsuccessful, and so the locomotive was withdrawn in 1955 and scrapped.
G&R Wrenn was a toy company specialising in the manufacture of model railways. It was founded in 1950 by George & Richard Wrenn.
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 between 1948–1950. The prototype was well received, however the production batch were not, and all were withdrawn and scrapped between 1960 and 1962.
The London and North Eastern Railway Class P2 was a class of 2-8-2 steam locomotives designed by Sir Nigel Gresley for working heavy express trains over the harsh Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line. As they were to serve on Scottish expresses, they were given famous names from Scottish lore.
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.
The Great Northern Railway (GNR) Class O1 was a class of two-cylinder 2-8-0 steam locomotive designed by Nigel Gresley for heavy freight work and built by the GNR between 1913 and 1919.
The Great Northern Railway Class A1 1470 Great Northern was the first of 52 A1 class locomotives. It has also represented three distinct stages in the history of the British 4-6-2 "Pacific" steam locomotives designed by Nigel Gresley for the Great Northern Railway (GNR), a constituent company of the London and North Eastern Railway before the amalgamation of 1923, for which they became a standard design. Eventually Great Northern was completely rebuilt as Class A1/1.