Locomotives of the North British Railway

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The North British Railway was opened in 1846 as the line from Edinburgh to Berwick-upon-Tweed, and its workshops were initially situated in St. Margarets, Edinburgh. Gradually other railways were acquired, including in 1865 the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, whose works at Cowlairs, Glasgow were better than that at St. Margarets, which were reduced to repairs only and all production moved to Cowlairs.

Contents

As is customary, engine classes are organized according to the man who was locomotive superintendent when the class was introduced, and to whom the design is often attributed. The NBR was rather unfortunate in its choice of locomotive superintendents, the first five of whom were sacked or forced to resign either for alleged incompetence or financial scandals.

The NBR's locomotive classification system (introduced in 1913) is not very helpful because the same letter has been applied to several different classes. The North British Railway Study Group has developed its own classification system and a list can be found here. [1]

These are not complete lists, as most engines acquired second-hand and from absorbed companies are not included.

Robert Thornton (1846–51)

Numbers Wheel arrangement Number
built
BuilderDateNotes
1–16 0-4-2 16 R & W Hawthorn 1846Original NBR locomotive order (on formation). 10 locomotives for passenger services. One rebuilt in 1857 as 2-2-2
17–26 0-4-2 10 R & W Hawthorn 1846Original NBR locomotive order (on formation). 6 locomotives for freight services. One rebuilt in 1859 as 2-2-2, 2 in 1867-8 as 0-6-0T
27–32 0-6-0 6 R & W Hawthorn 1846Original NBR locomotive order (on formation). 6 locomotives for heavy coal freight services.
33–38 2-2-2 6 R & W Hawthorn 1847Two rebuilt 1868–69 as 2-4-0
39–46 2-4-0 8 R & W Hawthorn 1847Two rebuilt 1868-70 as 0-6-0
47–54 0-6-0 8 R & W Hawthorn 1848
55 4-2-0 1 E. B. Wilson & Co. 1849 Crampton locomotive. Later rebuilt as 2-2-2
57 2-2-2 1 R & W Hawthorn 1849
56, 58–63 2-4-0 7 R & W Hawthorn 1851
64–71 0-6-0 8 R & W Hawthorn 1850

William Smith (1851–54)

No new locomotives were built during his term of office.

Edmund George Petrie (1854)

No new locomotives were built during his term of office.

William Hurst (1855–66)

Hurst came from the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, to which he returned after being sacked from the NBR.

There were many variations within the classes listed here, both as built and after subsequent rebuilding.

1st builtWheel
arrangement
Number
built
BuilderDateNotes
72 0-4-2 4 W. Fairbairn 1855Originally intended for Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway
90 2-4-0 24 Neilson (18)
Dübs (6)
1861–68
109 0-4-0 3NBR St. Margarets1865–66
76 0-6-0 4NBR St. Margarets1860–61
80 0-6-0 58Hawthorn of Leith (6)
R. Stephenson (16)
Dübs & Co. (36)
1861–67
31 2-2-2WT 2NBR St. Margarets18561877 sold to Wigtownshire Railway
20 0-4-2WT 14NBR St. Margarets1857–64
282 0-6-0ST 3 Dübs 1866–67

Thomas Wheatley (1867–74)

1st built1913 ClassWheel
arrangement
Number
built
BuilderDateLNER ClassNotes
141 2-4-0 2 NBR Cowlairs 1869
418 P 2-4-0 8 NBR Cowlairs 1873 E7
40 2-4-0 2 NBR Cowlairs 1873
224 4-4-0 2 NBR Cowlairs 1871
420 4-4-0 4 NBR Cowlairs 1873
17 0-6-0 1NBR St. Margarets1868Built from parts of earlier locos
251 E 0-6-0 38 NBR Cowlairs 1867–74 J84 20 rebuilt as saddle-tanks from 1889–94
396 E 0-6-0 26 Neilson & Co. (12),
Dübs & Co. (14)
1867–69 J31
56 0-6-0 8NBR St. Margarets1868–69"Longback" class.
115 E 0-6-0 62 NBR Cowlairs 1869–75 J31
226 E 0-6-0ST 2 NBR Cowlairs 1870 J86
220 0-6-0ST 1 NBR Cowlairs 1870
130 E 0-6-0ST 9 NBR Cowlairs 1870–73 J85
229 E 0-6-0ST 15 NBR Cowlairs 1871–73 J81
32 0-6-0ST 6 NBR Cowlairs 1874
394 0-4-0 2 Neilson & Co. 1867Second hand
357 0-4-0 2 NBR Cowlairs 1868 Y10
18 0-4-0ST 2 NBR Cowlairs 1872

Dugald Drummond (1874–82)

1st built1913 ClassWheel
arrangement
Number
built
BuilderDateLNER ClassNotes
474 2-2-2 2 Neilson 1876Sometimes designated "Berwick" class, after the name of locomotive 475. Two built, for Edinburgh-Glasgow express services.
476 M 4-4-0 12Neilson (8)
NBR Cowlairs (4)
1877–79 D27/D28 "Abbotsford" class.
494 P 4-4-0T 3Neilson1879 D50
72 R 4-4-0T 30NBR Cowlairs1880–84 D51
157 P 0-4-2T 6NBR Cowlairs1877 G8 All rebuilt as 0-4-4T in 1881
100 C 0-6-0 32NBR Cowlairs (12)
Neilson (20)
1876–77 J32
34 D 0-6-0 13NBR Cowlairs1879 J34 "Wee Drummond" class.
497 D 0-6-0 88NBR Cowlairs (83)
Dübs (5)
1879–83 J34 "Wee Drummond" class.
165 R 0-6-0T 25NBR Cowlairs1875–78 J82
546 G 0-4-0ST 2Neilson1882 Y9

Matthew Holmes (1882–1903)

1st built1913 ClassWheel
arrangement
Number
built
BuilderDateLNER ClassNotes
574 M 4-4-0 6 NBR Cowlairs 1884 D31
633 M 4-4-0 24 NBR Cowlairs 1890–95 D31
729 M 4-4-0 18 NBR Cowlairs 1898–99 D31
592 N 4-4-0 12 NBR Cowlairs 1886–87 D25
693 N 4-4-0 24 NBR Cowlairs 1894–96 D35 "West Highland Bogie" class.
One superheated in 1919, became NBR L class / LNER Class D36.
317 K 4-4-0 12 NBR Cowlairs 1903 D26
586 P 0-4-4T 12 NBR Cowlairs 1886–88 G7
566 D 0-6-0 36 NBR Cowlairs 1883–87 J33
604 C 0-6-0 168 Neilson (15),
Sharp Stewart (15),
NBR Cowlairs (138)
1888–1900 J36 673 Maude preserved
795 D 0-6-0T 40 Neilson (20),
Sharp Stewart (20)
1900–01 J83
32 G 0-4-0ST 36 NBR Cowlairs 1887–99 Y9 same as Drummond 546 class. Of this batch, NBR 42 was preserved.

William Paton Reid (1903–19)

NBL (the North British Locomotive Company) was a private locomotive manufacturer, distinct from the North British Railway.

1st built1913 ClassWheel
arrangement
Number
built
BuilderDateLNER ClassNotes
868 H 4-4-2 22 NBL (16)
R. Stephenson (6)
1906–21 C11 Commonly known as the "North British Atlantics". Final two built with superheaters. Superheaters added to all others 1915–25. (Those which remained saturated were briefly designated class I or LNER class C10, but all were superheated by 1925 and became class C11.) The largest and most powerful locomotives ever built by the NBR.
1 M 4-4-2T 30 Yorkshire Engine Co. 1911–13 C15
438 L 4-4-2T 21NBL1915–21 C16 Superheated
895 J 4-4-0 16NBL (6)
NBR Cowlairs (10)
1909–11 D29 "Scott" class. Superheaters added 1925–35
400 J 4-4-0 27NBR Cowlairs1912–20 D30 "Scott" class. Superheated.
882 K 4-4-0 12NBR Cowlairs1906–07 D32 Superheaters added 1923–26
331 K 4-4-0 12NBR Cowlairs1909–10 D33 Superheaters added 1925–36
149 K 4-4-0 32NBR Cowlairs1913–20 D34 "Glen" class. Superheated. 256/9256/2469/62469 Glen Douglas preserved.
239 M 0-4-4T 12NBL1909 G9
848 B 0-6-0 76NBL (40)
NBR Cowlairs (36)
1906–13 J35
8 S 0-6-0 104NBR Cowlairs (35)
NBL (69)
1914–21 J37 Superheated
836 F 0-6-0T 35NBR Cowlairs1905–19 J88
858 A 0-6-2T 6NBL1909–20 N14
7 A 0-6-2T 69NBL1910–24 N15 +30 built by LNER

Walter Chalmers (1919–22)

All previous incumbents were known as Locomotive Superintendent. Chalmers held the same position, but with the title changed to Chief Mechanical Engineer.

There were no new locomotive designs during the incumbency of Walter Chalmers as Chief Mechanical Engineer. Two new NBR H class locomotives were built under his supervision. Although these were not his design, he had drawn the designs under the direction of W P Reid, having been Chief Draughtsman (the deputy to the Locomotive Superintendent) of the NBR whilst Reid was Locomotive Superintendent.

Locomotive nicknames

As with most companies, certain classes of locomotive from the North British Railway were commonly known by distinctive names or nicknames, rather than their official class designations. The following is a guide to these nicknames, with links to articles about the respective locomotive types.

Common nicknameNBR designationLNER designationWheel
arrangement
Design dateNotes
Longback-- 0-6-0 1868Withdrawn before any standard class designation system was introduced.
Berwick-- 2-2-2 1876Withdrawn before any standard class designation system was introduced.
Eighteen Incher C classJ32 class 0-6-0 1876673 Maude preserved.
Abbotsford M classD27 & D28 class 4-4-0 1877
Wee Drummond D classJ34 class 0-6-0 1879
Pug G classY9 class 0-4-0ST 188242 preserved.
West Highland Bogie N classD35 class 4-4-0 1894
North British Atlantic H classC11 class 4-4-2 1906
Scott J classD29 class 4-4-0 1909
Superheated Scott or Super ScottJ classD30 class 4-4-0 1912
Glen K classD34 class 4-4-0 1913256 Glen Douglas preserved.

Preserved locomotives

ImageNBR No.NBR ClassTypeManufacturerSerial No.DateNotes
NBR locos (Geograph 2011620).jpg
42 G Class 0-4-0ST Cowlairs railway works 1887On static display at the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway
Bo'ness. - geograph.org.uk - 70687.jpg
673 C Class 0-6-0 Neilson and Company 43921891On static display at the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway
Riverside 20171207 133348 (47658408022).jpg
256 K Class 4-4-0 Cowlairs railway works 1913On static display at the Riverside Museum

References

  1. "NBRSG : NBR locomotives list". www.nbrstudygroup.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014.