| LNER D40 class ex-GNSR V and F classes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) D40 class is a type of 4-4-0 steam locomotive inherited from the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR). It consisted of GNSR class V (introduced in 1899 by William Pickersgill) and GNSR class F (introduced in 1920 by T. E. Heywood). The two classes were similar but the class F was superheated.
In February 1898, the Scottish locomotive builder Neilson, Reid and Company had completed an order for twelve 4-4-0 locomotives for the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR); these comprised GNSR class T. [1] In October that year, William Pickersgill, the GNSR Locomotive Superintendent, requested authority to purchase a further twelve. Neilsons offered to build between ten and twenty further locomotives of the class T design. The GNSR Board of Directors granted permission for ten locomotives of a slightly modified design incorporating a side-window cab, and Neilson, Reid & Co. were awarded the contract that November (Neilsons order no. E827) at a price of £2,975 each. [2] [3] Delivery commenced in October 1899, but by the time that the first five locomotives had been received by the GNSR (class V; numbers 113–115, 25, 26), they found that a downturn in traffic meant that not only were the remaining five not required, but that they would also be unable to pay for them. Accordingly, the GNSR requested that Neilsons should find an alternative buyer, and to obtain the best possible price. They were duly sold to the South Eastern and Chatham Railway for £3,300 each, where they became that company's class G. [2] [3] An offer from the SECR to purchase the first five as well, but at £3,325 each, was turned down by the GNSR. [4]
A further eight locomotives (in two batches of four) to the same design as the 1899 batch were built by the GNSR at their Inverurie Works, Aberdeenshire, in 1909–10 (nos. 27, 29, 31, 36) and 1913–15 (nos. 28, 33, 35, 34). Once again, Pickersgill's recommended quantities were reduced: he had requested ten in 1903, and eight in 1911. [5]
The class F locomotives were the only ones to be named by the GNSR, all other classes being numbered only. The class originally comprised eight locomotives, six built by the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow in 1920, the remaining two by GNSR at Inverurie Works in 1921.
| Year | Builder | GNSR No. | LNER No. | 1946 No. | BR No. | Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | Inverurie Works | 45 | 6845 | 2273 | 62273 | George Davidson |
| 1921 | Inverurie Works | 46 | 6846 | 2274 | 62274 | Benachie |
| 1920 | North British Loco | 47 | 6847 | 2275 | 62275 | Sir David Stewart |
| 1920 | North British Loco | 48 | 6848 | 2276 | 62276 | Andrew Bain |
| 1920 | North British Loco | 49 | 6849 | 2277 | 62277 | Gordon Highlander |
| 1920 | North British Loco | 50 | 6850 | 2278 | 62278 | Hatton Castle |
| 1920 | North British Loco | 52 | 6852 | 2279 | 62279 | Glen Grant |
| 1920 | North British Loco | 54 | 6854 | 2280 | — | Southesk |
The five locomotives ordered in 1898 that the GNSR was unable to pay for were offered for sale by Neilsons, with the authority of the GNSR. [3] On 11 October 1899, Neilsons contacted the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR), which had recently placed a locomotive order with them. [3] The SECR was an organisation which had been formed on 1 January 1899, and which was short of express passenger locomotives for the former London, Chatham and Dover Railway routes, which had a weight limit. The SECR quickly accepted the offer, paying £3200 each for them, whereas Neilsons would have charged the GNSR £2975 each; in December, the cost to the SECR was increased by a further £57 per engine and tender after Harry Wainwright, the SECR Locomotive Superintendent, requested modifications including the fitting of vacuum brake equipment. [3] The price difference was split between Neilsons and the GNSR, the latter receiving £1025. [3] On the SECR they were assigned Class G, and entered service during January and February 1900, numbered 676–680. [6] They passed to the Southern Railway (SR) at the 1923 Grouping, and, except for no. 678, were given SR numbers A676–A680. [7] They were withdrawn from service between 1924 and 1927. [8]
All 21 GNSR locomotives passed to the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923. The LNER classed them all as D40 irrespective of whether they were fitted with superheaters (class F) or not (class V). The LNER initially renumbered them by adding 6800 to their GNSR number. In 1946 they completely renumbered all their locomotives and the D40 class became 2260–2261, 2265–2272, 2262–2264 (former class V) and 2273–2280 (former class F).
The first locomotive was withdrawn in 1947.
Eighteen of the 21 locomotives passed into British Railways ownership in 1948 (eleven former class V, and seven former class F). BR renumbered them by adding 60000 to their 1946 LNER number.
The last locomotive of the D40 class was 62277 Gordon Highlander and it was withdrawn in 1958 from Kittybrewster Depot, Aberdeen.
Number 62277 was preserved and renumbered as 49 [9] as an example of the superheated version. GNSR No. 49, Gordon Highlander was also numbered as LNER No. 6849 at the Grouping, LNER No. 2277 in 1946 and BR No. 62277 on nationalisation. At withdrawal, it was the only survivor of the class still in service. Restored to GNSR green in 1958 [10] (though it never carried green livery in GNSR service since it originally appeared in Heywood's lined black), [11] it was given an occasional airing on specials before retirement to the Glasgow Transport Museum. It was moved to the Museum of Scottish Railways [12] at Bo'ness rather than the Riverside Museum.
On 13 June 1964, Gordon Highlander was used on the "Solway Ranger" railtour of Cumbria, on the section between Carlisle and Silloth. [13]
John George Robinson CBE, was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the Great Central Railway from 1900 to 1922.
William Pickersgill was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the Caledonian Railway from 1914 until Grouping in 1923. He was appointed locomotive superintendent of the Northern Division of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway but retired in 1925. He died in Bournemouth.
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class J39 was a class of medium powered 0-6-0 steam locomotive designed for mixed-traffic work throughout the former LNER system between London and the north of Scotland.
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.
The Metropolitan Railway K Class consisted of six 2-6-4T steam locomotives, numbered 111 to 116.
Harry Smith Wainwright was an English railway engineer, and was the Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway from 1899 to 1913. He is best known for a series of simple but competent locomotives produced under his direction at the company's Ashford railway works in the early years of the twentieth century. Many of these survived in service until the end of steam traction in Britain in 1968, and are regarded as some of the most elegant designs of the period.
The South Eastern Railway (SER) O Class was a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotive designed for goods work, and were the main goods engines of the SER, and later the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR) for a number of years. However, they were displaced by the more powerful C class locomotives following the amalgamation of the South Eastern Railway and London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) in 1899. This relegated the class to working on the numerous branch lines in Kent, on both passenger and goods work. They worked most notably on the Kent & East Sussex Railway and East Kent Railway, operating coal trains from the Kent coal fields to London, as well as shunting work at such locations as Shepherds Well, Hoo Junction and Ashford. The majority were withdrawn before the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, and those that remained were slowly withdrawn from nationalisation onwards.
The M&GN Class C was a class of 4-4-0 steam tender locomotives of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway.
Inverurie Locomotive Works was created in 1902 when the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR) moved their works from Kittybrewster, in Aberdeen about 15 miles (24 km) to Inverurie.
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.
The Midland Railway Johnson 0-6-0 were a class of locomotives serving Britain's Midland Railway system in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Between 1875 and 1908 the Midland Railway, under the control of locomotive superintendents Samuel Waite Johnson and Richard Deeley, ordered 935 goods tender engines of 0-6-0 type, both from the railway's own shops at Derby and various external suppliers. Although there were many variations between different batches both as delivered and as successively rebuilt, all 935 can be regarded as a single series, one of the largest classes of engine on Britain's railways. The locomotives served as late as 1964, but none of them now survive.
The LCDR R1 class was a class of 0-4-4T locomotives on the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR), which were based on an existing London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) design.
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.
The GER Class B74 was a class of five 0-4-0T steam locomotives designed by Alfred John Hill for the Great Eastern Railway. They all passed to the London and North Eastern Railway at the 1923 grouping and received the LNER classification Y4.
The SECR Q1 class was a class of 0-4-4T steam locomotives of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. The class was rebuilt from older Stirling Q class locomotives by Harry Wainwright between 1903 and 1917 by fitting the boiler that had been designed for the H class 0-4-4T in 1902–03.
The LCDR T class was a class of 0-6-0T steam locomotives of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. The class was designed by William Kirtley and introduced in 1879.
The locomotives of the Great North of Scotland Railway were used by the Great North of Scotland Railway to operate its lines in the far north-east of the country. The railway opened in 1854 with just five 2-4-0 steam locomotives, and from 1862 it used 4-4-0 exclusively as the wheel arrangement for its tender locomotives. When it expanded by amalgamation in 1866, it inherited some locomotives from these companies. It purchased most of its locomotives, although building a small number itself, two at its first works at Kittybrewster, and ten later at Inverurie Locomotive Works.
The Great Central Railway (GCR) Class 9A was a class of 0-6-2T steam locomotive built between 1889 and 1892. From 1923 the locomotives were redesignated Class N4.
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) D41 class was a type of 4-4-0 steam locomotive inherited from the Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR). The class consisted of two similar GNSR classes: 'S' and 'T'. The two classes were similar but with detail differences to the boiler.
The LCDR Aeolus class was a class of four 4-4-0 steam locomotives. They were supplied to the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) by R. & W. Hawthorn & Co. acting as agents for Robert Stephenson & Co. which built the locomotives, but had subcontracted some components to Hawthorn. They were delivered to the LCDR between September 1860 and April 1861. They were all renewed by William Martley as 2-4-0T at the LCDR's Longhedge works in 1872–73, using components from the original locomotives, including the boilers.