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The North British Atlantic, later known as NBR Class H, and then as LNER Class C11 was a class of 4-4-2 steam locomotive of the North British Railway. The class was designed by William P. Reid, Locomotive Superintendent of the NBR, and entered service under his direction. They were the heaviest, longest, and most powerful (by tractive effort) locomotives ever employed on the North British Railway.
The locomotives passed to the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923. They had a long service life, but most were withdrawn during 1936 and 1937, with none surviving into the nationalised British Railways system.
The NBR Class I, later known as LNER Class C10, was a temporary designation of some engines in this class (see below).
This section needs additional citations for verification .(October 2024) |
In the early twentieth century the North British Railway possessed an ageing locomotive fleet which had not kept pace with modern demands. On the Board of Directors Dr John Inglis argued strongly for investment in the construction of new locomotives. Ultimately it was the persuasive arguments of Inglis, and the design skills of Locomotive Superintendent William Paton Reid, which led to the development of the NBR's new flagship locomotive, the North British Atlantic. [1] The NBR Board met on 2 November 1905 and approved the construction of 14 heavy express passenger locomotives, with design work to commence immediately. The designs were drawn up by NBR Chief Draughtsman Walter Chalmers and were presented to the Board on 5 January 1906, tenders were invited on 13 January 1906, and the order placed before the end of the month.
Many railways were, in this era, constructing powerful express passenger locomotives of the 4-6-0 type, which benefit from 6 coupled driving wheels. The North British Railway's principal passenger engines had hitherto been of the 4-4-0 type, meaning that 4-coupled drive was more familiar. Additionally, the NBR had some very tight curves, for which the use of the "Atlantic" type engine with its 4-4-2 wheel arrangement was simply more practical and efficient. [2]
The 14 locomotives were constructed and supplied during 1906. Having established themselves as the most powerful passenger locomotives on the North British network, but being insufficient in number to operate all of the crack express services, a further 6 engines were ordered and constructed during 1911. The construction of these 6 additional engines received widespread publicity internationally. [3] Finally two more engines were ordered at the very end of 1920; these were constructed during 1921, and entered service that year.[ citation needed ]
The North British Railway was overly ambitious in its advertising of the new locomotives, and despite rapid construction, the engines were not ready in time for the new timetables which they had been designed to serve. It was also discovered that owing to their size, the locomotives would not fit on the turntables owned by the North British Railway. This led to considerable operating difficulty until the turntables at key towns and cities could be enlarged. There was also some opposition to the use of the engines, particularly from James Bell, the NBR Civil Engineer, who felt that the engines were so heavy and powerful that they would cause damage to the permanent way for which he was responsible. [1] : 16
Alleged poor initial performance by the locomotives seems to have had more to do with poor management than poor design. Contemporary records[ which? ] show poor communication between the locomotive department (supplying engines) and the traffic department (requesting locomotives and matching them to services), as well as possibly unwarranted criticism from James Bell and others. Having become established, the locomotives gave good service for many years, and were the company's flagship engines, or "pride of the fleet". [4]
Starting in 1915, all engines in the class were fitted with superheaters. The final two engines, built in 1921, were fitted with superheaters from the outset. [2]
The North British Railway did not historically give special designations to different locomotive classes, and in company records of the period 1906 and 1907, the atlantics are simply referenced as "Our new passenger locomotive". [1] : 30 In later documentation, in 1908, 1909, and 1910, the engines are referenced as "locomotives of the atlantic type" or "our atlantic type engines". By the start of World War One the company was using a system of class designations, under which the North British Atlantics became known as Class H. Once the programme to fit superheaters had commenced, the saturated locomotives (those without a superheater) were re-designated as Class I, each one reverting to Class H again once its superheater had been fitted.[ citation needed ]
in 1923 the North British Railway became part of the LNER, during the superheating programme. The LNER designation for Class H engines was Class C11. However, as six engines were not yet superheated, and therefore inherited by the LNER as Class I engines, these were given LNER designation of Class C10. They reverted to the C11 designation, one by one, as their superheaters were installed between 1923 and 1925. [2]
Number (NBR) | Number (LNER) | Name | Builder | Works number | Entered Service | Withdrawn | Notes |
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868 | 9868 | Aberdonian | NB Locomotive Co | 17369 | 1906 | 1933 | First of class in service. |
869 | 9869 | Dundonian (until 1912) Bonnie Dundee (after 1912) | NB Locomotive Co | 17370 | 1906 | 1935 | |
870 | 9870 | Bon Accord | NB Locomotive Co | 17371 | 1906 | 1937 | |
871 | 9871 | Thane of Fife | NB Locomotive Co | 17372 | 1906 | 1935 | |
872 | 9872 | Auld Reekie | NB Locomotive Co | 17373 | 1906 | 1935 | |
873 | 9873 | St Mungo | NB Locomotive Co | 17374 | 1906 | 1934 | |
874 | 9874 | Dunedin | NB Locomotive Co | 17375 | 1906 | 1933 | First of class withdrawn. |
875 | 9875 | Midlothian | NB Locomotive Co | 17376 | 1906 | 1937 | Preserved 1938. Scrapped 1939. |
876 | 9876 | Waverley | NB Locomotive Co | 17377 | 1906 | 1937 | |
877 | 9877 | Liddesdale | NB Locomotive Co | 17378 | 1906 | 1936 | |
878 | 9878 | Hazeldean | NB Locomotive Co | 17379 | 1906 | 1936 | |
879 | 9879 | Abbotsford | NB Locomotive Co | 17380 | 1906 | 1936 | |
880 | 9880 | Tweeddale | NB Locomotive Co | 17381 | 1906 | 1936 | |
881 | 9881 | Borderer | NB Locomotive Co | 17382 | 1906 | 1936 | |
901 | 9901 | St Johnstoun | R Stephenson & Co | 3428 | 1911 | 1937 | |
902 | 9902 | Highland Chief | R Stephenson & Co | 3429 | 1911 | 1936 | |
903 | 9903 | Cock o' the North (until 1934) Aberdonian (from 1934) | R Stephenson & Co | 3430 | 1911 | 1937 | Hauled funeral train for Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig. [5] |
904 | 9904 | Holyrood | R Stephenson & Co | 3431 | 1911 | 1936 | |
905 | 9905 | Buccleuch | R Stephenson & Co | 3432 | 1911 | 1937 | |
906 | 9906 | Teribus | R Stephenson & Co | 3433 | 1911 | 1937 | |
509 | 9509 | Duke of Rothesay | NB Locomotive Co | 22689 | 1921 | 1937 | |
510 | 9510 | The Lord Provost | NB Locomotive Co | 22690 | 1921 | 1936 | |
The North British Atlantics enjoyed a good safety record throughout their career. Early concerns about their weight (as expressed by James Bell) and their centre of gravity (leading William Jackson, NBR General Manager, to order an expensive "swing test" of an engine in January 1907[ clarification needed ]) proved unfounded. Nonetheless, engines of the class were involved in a number of incidents and accidents, of which the following are the most notable.
This section relies largely or entirely upon a single source .(October 2024) |
Locomotives of this class were withdrawn from service in the 1930s. Two in 1933, one in 1934, three in 1935, then eight in 1936, and eight in 1937. The final locomotive withdrawn was Midlothian in December 1937. In a remarkable piece of railway history, an order was issued that Midlothian should be preserved for the nation, as an example of such an important class of locomotive, but the order was not received until after the engine had been scrapped at Cowlairs. So that the national collection was not denied a Class H engine, Midlothian (whose component parts were mostly still in existence, and frame still fully intact) was painstakingly rebuilt, and returned to service for transfer to the LNER Railway Museum at York (which later formed part of the basis of the National Railway Museum). Several parts of the locomotive had been disposed of, including one main connecting rod, and these were built new for the restored engine. Unfortunately, just a few months later the Second World War commenced, and there was a massive demand for metal to produce aircraft for the war effort. The newly rebuilt Midlothian was withdrawn from the museum stock, and scrapped for a second time, to provide aircraft-building materials. [1] : 19
The NBR H class is available as a commercially produced O gauge model by specialist NBR model company 62C Models. Several live-steam models of North British Atlantics have been built in 5 in (127 mm) gauge. The 7+1⁄4 in (184 mm) gauge locomotive Trojan (built 1928/29) is a historically important miniature railway locomotive[ according to whom? ] whose design was based upon that of the North British Atlantic. Trojan was the oldest locomotive of the world's oldest miniature railway, the Saltwood Miniature Railway, until its closure in 1987. The locomotive still operates and is privately owned.[ as of? ]
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class V2 2-6-2 steam locomotives were designed by Sir Nigel Gresley for express mixed traffic work, and built at the LNER shops at Doncaster and Darlington between 1936 and 1944. The best known is the first of the class, 4771 Green Arrow, which is the sole survivor of the class.
London and North Eastern Railway's (LNER) Peppercorn Class A1 is a class of 4-6-2 "Pacific" steam locomotives largely built between 1948 and 1949 at Doncaster and Darlington Works to a design of Arthur Peppercorn. Forty-nine were built for hauling express passenger services on the East Coast Main Line owned by LNER's successor, British Railways' North Eastern Region. None of the original 49 Peppercorn A1s survived into preservation, with the last being scrapped in 1966. The 50th Peppercorn A1, 60163 Tornado, was completed in 2008 as an evolved member of its class.
The London and North Eastern Railway 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 NBR K Class is a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotive of the North British Railway. The first batch was designed by Matthew Holmes in 1902 and had 6-foot-6-inch (1.981 m) driving wheels for express passenger work. Three more batches were designed by William P. Reid with 6-foot-0-inch (1.829 m) driving wheels for mixed traffic work. This included perishable goods, such as fish from Mallaig and Aberdeen. They had inside cylinders and Stephenson valve gear. The D34 locomotives, commonly known as Glen Class, were built with superheaters. The LNER later fitted superheaters to all D26, D32, and D33 engines as well. All engines of the K class are sometimes known as Glen Class, although the designation is strictly reserved to the fourth (D34) batch.
The North Eastern Railway (NER) Class P3, classified J27 by the LNER, is a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotive. The P3 Class was designed by Wilson Worsdell and was a relatively minor modification of the existing North Eastern Railway Class P2. The most significant change was a deeper firebox with shallower sloping fire grate. This was achieved by raising the boiler slightly, and by reducing the clearance between the firebox and the rear axle. The P3 Class were a freight engine by nature and used for hauling long trains of freight.
Dugald Drummond was a Scottish steam locomotive engineer. He had a career with the North British Railway, LB&SCR, Caledonian Railway and London and South Western Railway. He was the older brother of the engineer Peter Drummond, who often followed Dugald's ideas in his own work.
The Race to the North was the name given by the press to occasions in two summers of the late 19th century when British passenger trains belonging to different companies would literally race each other from London to Edinburgh over the two principal rail trunk routes connecting the English capital city to Scotland – the West Coast Main Line which runs from London Euston via Crewe and Carlisle and the East Coast Main Line route from London King's Cross via York and Newcastle. The "races" were never official and publicly the companies denied that what happened was racing at all. Results were not announced officially and the outcomes have since been hotly debated. In the 20th century there were also occasions of competition for speed on the two routes.
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.
The GER Classes S46, D56 and H88 were three classes of similar 4-4-0 steam locomotive designed by James Holden and A. J. Hill (H88) for the Great Eastern Railway.
William Paton Reid, CBE was apprenticed to the Cowlairs railway works of the North British Railway in 1879 and was Locomotive Superintendent from 1903 to 1919. He was appointed a CBE in 1920. He was born, and died, in Glasgow, Scotland.
The NBR Class M was a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotive of the North British Railway. The class was created during the tenures of William P. Reid and Walter Chalmers by rebuilding three earlier types, the "574", "633", and "729", which had all been designed by Matthew Holmes, and shared many features in common. A total of 48 were produced.
The NBR J Class , commonly known as the Scott class, were a class of 4-4-0 steam tender locomotives designed by William P. Reid for the North British Railway. They passed to the London and North Eastern Railway at the grouping in 1923. Forty-three were built, of which thirty-five survived into British Railways ownership in 1948.
The NBR 224 and 420 Classes consisted of six steam locomotives of the 4-4-0 wheel arrangement built by the North British Railway (NBR) in 1871 and 1873. No. 224 had three claims to fame: it was the first inside-cylinder 4-4-0 engine to run in Great Britain; it was the locomotive involved in the Tay Bridge disaster; and after rebuilding in 1885, it was the only compound-expansion locomotive on the NBR, and one of just three tandem compounds in Britain.
The NBR S Class was a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotive designed by William Paton Reid for freight work on the North British Railway. The engines were initially designated as B class, being a development of the standard B class locomotives designed by Reid some eight years previously, and represented the culmination of a long evolution on the NBR of powerful 0-6-0 freight engines. The new locomotives were introduced in 1914 and had superheaters, inside cylinders and piston valves operated by Stephenson valve gear.
The Caledonian Railway 721 Class was a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives designed by John F. McIntosh for the Caledonian Railway (CR) and introduced in 1896. Taking their name from the estate in Perthshire owned by the Caledonian’s then deputy chairman, J.C.Bunten, all survived to be absorbed by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in 1923 and a few survived into British Railways (BR) ownership in 1948.
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.
The NBR Class N was a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotive of the North British Railway. The class was designed by Matthew Holmes and later rebuilt by Holmes's successor, Reid. A total of 12 were produced.
The NBR Class D was a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotive of the North British Railway, often known as the Wee Drummonds. The class was designed by Dugald Drummond. A total of 101 were produced.
The NER Class V was a class of twenty steam locomotives of the 4-4-2 wheel arrangement. They were designed by Wilson Worsdell for the North Eastern Railway (NER) as express passenger locomotives.
The NER Class Z was an 4-4-2 "Atlantic" class of locomotives designed by Vincent Raven. It was introduced in 1911.