LNER Pacifics
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LNER Pacifics
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) operated various classes steam locomotives with a 4-6-2 (or pacific) wheel arrangement. The LNER operated more pacifics than any other of the Big Four British railway companies, and they were mostly used for express passenger work along the East Coast Main Line, though later in their lives many were displaced to other lines. Overview In 1923, the LNER inherited four pacifics, to two classes each consisting of two locomotives, one class from either of two of its constituents, the Great Northern Railway (GNR) and the North Eastern Railway (NER). The Great Northern Pacifics, were of GNR Class A1, designed by Nigel Gresley and numbered 1470/1. The NER had completed two Pacifics, Nos 2400/1, designed by Vincent Raven. The LNER adopted the GNR classification system by wheel arrangement, with the A-prefix indicating the most prestigious wheel arrangement. The GNR Class A1s remained Class A1 and the NER Pacifics were reclassifi ...
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London And North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At that time, it was divided into the new British Railways' Eastern Region, North Eastern Region, and partially the Scottish Region. History The company was the second largest created by the Railways Act 1921. The principal constituents of the LNER were: * Great Eastern Railway * Great Central Railway * Great Northern Railway * Great North of Scotland Railway * Hull and Barnsley Railway * North British Railway * North Eastern Railway The total route mileage was . The North Eastern Railway had the largest route mileage of , whilst the Hull and Barnsley Railway was . It covered the area north and east of London. It included the East Coast Main Line from London to Edinburgh via York and Newcastle upon Tyne and the routes from Edinburgh to ...
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LNER Class A2
The first London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class A2 was a class of 4-6-2 steam locomotive designed by Vincent Raven for the North Eastern Railway (as NER class 4.6.2). Two were built by the NER in 1922 before the grouping and another three by the LNER in 1924. Their LNER numbers were 2400–2404. All five locomotives were named by the LNER. Origins The NER was the largest and most prosperous of the railway companies that would make up the LNER from 1923 and provided the general manager of the new railway company. However the chief mechanical engineer of the NER, Sir Vincent Raven was at retirement age and the new post was eventually offered to Nigel Gresley of the Great Northern Railway. He had introduced a powerful new A1 Class Pacific in April 1922, and Raven was anxious to show that the NER could keep up with the race for increased power. Raven's rival design was authorised at the same time as the introduction of the A1 class publicised in the railway press in Ju ...
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LNER Thompson Class A2/1
:''Disambiguation: LNER Thompson Class A2'' The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Thompson Class A2/1 was a class of 4-6-2 steam locomotives built at Darlington locomotive works during 1944. They were originally ordered as Class V2 locomotives, as designed by Sir Nigel Gresley, but were revised during construction into a 4-6-2 'Pacific' arrangement under the instruction of Edward Thompson. Background At the time Edward Thompson succeeded Sir Nigel Gresley as Chief Mechanical Engineer of the LNER in April 1941, Darlington works was busy building Class V2 mixed traffic locomotives. Although the V2 class were competent and powerful locomotives, Thompson did not like this design as it required more servicing than his own mixed traffic B1 class 4-6-0. He also envisaged a time when the V2s would be replaced by his own design of 'Pacific' locomotives, but would not receive authority to build a new class during the war. He therefore decided to build the final four V2 already ...
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LNER Class V2
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 (later 800 and 60800) ''Green Arrow'', which is the sole survivor of the class. Construction The V2s were the only major class of 2-6-2 tender locomotives used in Britain. Whilst 2-6-2T tank locomotives were common in the UK, the only other 2-6-2 tender locomotives were the unsuccessful experimental Midland Railway Paget locomotive of 1908, and the two examples of Gresley's LNER Class V4 of 1941. The wheel arrangement allowed the fitting of a large firebox uninhibited by the rear driving wheel, and the front pony truck improved stability at high speeds. The V2 was derived from the Class A1/A3 pacifics with smaller driving wheels (of compared to ) and a shortened boiler. It retained Gresley's favoured 3-cylin ...
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LNER Thompson Class A2/2
The London and North Eastern Railway Class A2/2 was a class of six 4-6-2 steam locomotives rebuilt by Edward Thompson in 1943 and 1944 from his predecessor's P2 Class of 2-8-2 express passenger locomotives. The rebuilds were not particularly successful and all were withdrawn and scrapped between 1959 and 1961. Background On taking up office as chief mechanical engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway in April 1941, Edward Thompson proposed an unstreamlined mixed traffic version of Nigel Gresley's A4 Class Pacifics with driving wheels, but new construction would not have been authorised at this time. He therefore rebuilt the six of his predecessor's 2-8-2 P2 Class express passenger locomotives as Pacific locomotives to try out his own thoughts on their design. The P2 Class 2-8-2s had been built between 1934 and 1936 for service between Edinburgh and Aberdeen and had proved to be powerful and capable locomotives. However, the long fixed wheelbase was not ideally suit ...
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LNER Class P2
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. Six locomotives of the class were built; introduced between 1934 and 1936. In 1936, the Class P2 were given streamlined fronts, similar to that of the Class A4. Between 1943 and 1944 the class were rebuilt under Gresley's successor Edward Thompson into the LNER Thompson Class A2/2 4-6-2 type. History Design The locomotives were designed by Nigel Gresley to haul express trains over the difficult Edinburgh to Aberdeen section of the London and North Eastern Railway. In the design Gresley was influenced by recent French practice, in particular passenger locomotives of the Paris à Orléans railway. The first locomotive of the class, No. 2001 ''Cock o' the North'', was introduced in 1934. It was b ...
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LNER Thompson Class A1/1
The LNER Class A1/1 consisted of a single 4-6-2 "Pacific" express passenger locomotive rebuilt in 1945 from an A1 class locomotive, by Edward Thompson. It was intended as the prototype of a new design of pacific locomotives improving the A4 design of Thompson's predecessor Sir Nigel Gresley. No further examples were built due to Thompson's retirement in 1946. Background When Edward Thompson was appointed Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway in April 1941, he envisaged a new standardisation programme involving ten locomotive designs including two Pacific types. These were an express passenger type (designated A1) with driving wheels and a ‘heavy passenger and freight’ type (designated A2) with driving wheels. He was not able to proceed with his plan due to the Second World War but did try out some of his ideas by rebuilding Nigel Gresley’s P2 class 2-8-2 as A2/2 pacifics and building the last four V2 class already on order as A2/1 pa ...
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LNER Peppercorn Class A1
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Peppercorn Class A1 is a type of express passenger steam locomotive. Forty-nine original Peppercorn Class A1s were built to the design of Arthur Peppercorn (who was the last Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the LNER) during the early British Railways era, but all were scrapped with the discontinuation of steam, with none of the original production run surviving into preservation. In 2008, a brand new 50th Peppercorn A1 locomotive, 60163 ''Tornado'', was completed. Background Most of the former LNER Class A1 locomotives designed by Sir Nigel Gresley had been rebuilt as LNER Class A3 locomotives prior to this class being conceived. The few straggling LNER Class A1 locomotives that remained unrebuilt during the tenure of Peppercorn's predecessor, Edward Thompson, were redesignated by him as Class A10s in preparation for the construction of his new Class A1 locomotives. Thompson rebuilt the pioneer LNER Pacific ''Great Northern' ...
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Edward Thompson (engineer)
Edward Thompson (25 June 1881 – 15 July 1954) was an English railway engineer, and was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway between 1941 and 1946. Edward Thompson was born at Marlborough, Wiltshire on 25 June 1881. He was the son of an assistant master at Marlborough College. He was educated at Marlborough before taking the Mechanical Science Tripos at Pembroke College, Cambridge, earning a third class degree. Thompson's academic background contrasts with that of his predecessor Nigel Gresley, who had also attended Marlborough, but then gained practical experience as a pupil at Horwich Works. Career NER, GNR, LNER After graduation Thompson worked in both industry and the railways for a while. By 1910 he was assistant divisional locomotive superintendent on the North Eastern Railway (NER), in which capacity he gave evidence at the inquiry into the fatal accident between two goods trains at Darlington on 15 November 1910. In 1912 he was a ...
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Baedeker Raids
The Baedeker Blitz or Baedeker raids were a series of aerial attacks in April and May 1942 by the German ''Luftwaffe'' on English cities during the Second World War. The name derives from Baedeker, a series of German tourist guide books, including detailed maps, which were used to select targets for bombing. The raids were planned in response to a devastating increase in the effectiveness of the Royal Air Force's (RAF) bombing offensive on civilian targets after the Area Bombing Directive (General Directive No.5 (S.46368/111. D.C.A.S), starting with the bombing of Lübeck in March 1942. The aim was to begin a tit-for-tat exchange with the hope of forcing the RAF to reduce their attacks. To increase the effect on civilian morale, targets were chosen for their cultural and historical significance, rather than for any military value. The majority of the raids took place in late April 1942 through May 1942, but towns and cities continued to be targeted for their cultural value ove ...
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LNER Class A4 4469 Sir Ralph Wedgwood
LNER Class A4 No. 4469 Sir Ralph Wedgwood was an A4 class locomotive of the LNER. Built at Doncaster Works, it was originally named ''Gadwall,'' being renamed Sir Ralph Wedgwood in March 1939 in recognition of Wedgwood's sixteen years of service as Chief Officer of the LNER between 1923 and 1939. Construction and entry to service No. 4469 was built at the Doncaster Works as builders number 1871 in 1938. It received the name ''Gadwall'', and was allocated to Gateshead shed on completion. It was paired with non-corridor tender No. 5672 built new in 1938; as one of the A4 class locomotives built for general express duties it was painted in garter blue. In March 1939, No. 4469 was officially renamed ''Sir Ralph Wedgwood'' shortly before the retirement of its namesake. This was one of three locomotives to be named after LNER officials in that year, the others being No. 4499 ''Sir Murrough Wilson'' (originally ''Pochard'', renamed April 1939) and 4500 ''Sir Ronald Matthews'' (form ...
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LNER Class A4
The 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 world record as the 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. Overview Gresley introduced the Class A4 locomotives in 1935 to haul ...
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