The
Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...
9K and 9L classes were two related classes of
4-4-2T
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, represents a configuration of a four-wheeled leading bogie, four powered and coupled driving wheels, and two trailing wheels supporting part of the we ...
Atlantic
steam locomotives. They were both intended for suburban passenger services. After the
1923 Grouping
The Railways Act 1921 (c. 55), also known as the Grouping Act, was an Act of Parliament enacted by the British government and intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, by "grouping" them into four la ...
, they served the
LNER LNER may refer to:
* London and North Eastern Railway, a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1923 until 1947
* London North Eastern Railway, a train operating company in the United Kingdom since 2018
* Liquid neutral earthing resistor, a typ ...
as classes C13 and C14.
Their designer was
John G. Robinson. The design was based on the earlier
Pollitt Class 9G 2-4-2T locomotives,
but with a lengthened boiler and a leading
bogie to carry it.
This extension of running gear also resembled an early Robinson design for the Irish
Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway
The Waterford, Limerick and Western Railway (WL&WR), formerly the Waterford and Limerick Railway up to 1896, was at the time it was amalgamated with the Great Southern and Western Railway in 1901 the fourth largest railway in Ireland, with a mai ...
.
All passed into
British Railways service and the first was not withdrawn until 1952. Most were withdrawn between 1955 and 1959. The last examples of each class, 9K 67417 and 9L 67450, were scrapped in 1960.
None were preserved.
GCR 9K / LNER C13
Forty locomotives were built to the 9K class, in four batches between 1903 and 1905.
The GCR installed
water trough
A water trough (British terminology), or track pan (American terminology) is a device to enable a steam locomotive to replenish its water supply while in motion. It consists of a long trough filled with water, lying between the rails. When a ste ...
s around the same time as this class was built. They were fitted with water scoops, but these were little used by the 1930s and so were removed.
In 1933, six locomotives were fitted for
push-pull working, according to the GCR mechanical system. These were converted to the LNER vacuum system and in 1941, two others were converted.
Superheating
One example, No. 18 was experimentally
superheated
A superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into superheated steam or dry steam. Superheated steam is used in steam turbines for electricity generation, steam engines, and in processes such as steam reforming. There are ...
in 1915. From 1926 to 1935 the entire class was superheated.
During this time, the original
saturated
Saturation, saturated, unsaturation or unsaturated may refer to:
Chemistry
* Saturation, a property of organic compounds referring to carbon-carbon bonds
** Saturated and unsaturated compounds
**Degree of unsaturation
** Saturated fat or fatty ac ...
locomotives were classified as C13/1 and the superheated rebuilds as C13/2. Some locomotives were rebuilt further as C13/3, with shortened chimneys and
domes to fit within the LNER
loading gauge.
[The GCR was known for its unusually large loading gauge, by British standards at least.] By 1938, all locomotives had been rebuilt to the C13/3 standard and so the distinguishing sub-classes were abandoned.
Service
The 9K class was built for the London suburban services, running from the GCR's
Marylebone
Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary.
An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it me ...
terminus.
Within a few years, the timing of these suburban trains was facing competition from electric services. Competing with these required faster acceleration and the more powerful
4-6-2T
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomot ...
Class 9N was introduced.
From 1922 they were dispersed away from London through the GCR network, to South Yorkshire between Manchester, Sheffield and
Mexborough
Mexborough is a town in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. Situated between Manvers and Denaby Main, it lies on the River Don close to where it joins the River Dearne, and the A6023 road runs through the town. It is contiguo ...
. Most notably, many of them went to
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
where they were based successfully until the 1950s. The South Yorkshire engines gradually moved to Gorton locomotive shed, from where they were used on Manchester suburban services, and destinations as far as
Hayfield and
Macclesfield, later joined by the 9Ls, until they were both replaced by
DMUs after
post-1955 dieselisation
Dieselisation (US: dieselization) is the process of equipping vehicles with a diesel engine or diesel engines. It can involve replacing an internal combustion engine powered by petrol (gasoline) fuel with an engine powered by diesel fuel, as o ...
.
All passed into
British Railways service and survived until at least 1952. but were withdrawn between 1955 and 1959. The last No 67417 was scrapped in 1960.
None were preserved.
The class was successful throughout its working life and is considered to be one of Robinson's best designs.
GCR 9L / LNER C14
A further twelve locomotives were built by
Beyer, Peacock & Co. in 1907.
These were of basically the same design, but had enlarged water and coal capacity. They were designated 9L by the GCR and later C14 by the LNER.
The side tanks were enlarged for an extra 375 gallons, by widening their side plates. Overall width across the tanks increased from 8' 6" to 8' 9". This gives rise to a visible recognition feature in photographs: the 9K have tank and cab sides in a flat plane, the 9L tank sides project slightly.
Coal capacity was also increased by raising the rear wall of the bunker with a semicircular extension.
The boilers were the same as for the 9K. All were built with saturated boilers and, as for the 9Ks, were rebuilt with superheating as their boilers were replaced. The first to be superheated was Nº 1122 in 1914, although this was not a new boiler and only lasted until 1923 when it was replaced by a saturated boiler. All were converted under LNER ownership, from 1926 to 1935.
Water pick-up gear and shortened chimneys to fit the LNER loading gauge were removed and changed as for the 9K class.
Service
The 9L class was built for the London suburban services from
Marylebone
Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary.
An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it me ...
and they were based at
Neasden shed.
With the introduction of the
Class 9Ns, the 9Ls were moved to stopping services on the
Great Central Main Line and by 1922 they were based around
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...
, with one of the twelve stabled at
Woodford Woodford may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Woodford, New South Wales
*Woodford, Queensland, a town in the Moreton Bay Region
*Woodford, Victoria
Canada
* Woodford, Ontario
England
*Woodford, Cornwall
* Woodford, Gloucestershire
*Woodford, Greate ...
and some occasional allocations to
Hitchin and
Hatfield.
From 1934, they were dispersed, some to East Anglia and others to the West Riding and Manchester. After
Nationalisation, they were once again working suburban passenger services with the 9Ks, out of Manchester.
Nearly all were scrapped in 1957, following the introduction of DMUs for the suburban services. The last Nº 67450 survived until 1960.
None were preserved.
Accidents and incidents
*On 8 June 1939, locomotive No. 5020 was hauling a passenger train which departed from station,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
against a danger signal. It was in collision with another passenger train and was derailed. Several people were injured.
References
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:GCR Class 09K
09K
4-4-2T locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1903
Scrapped locomotives
Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain
Vulcan Foundry locomotives
Beyer, Peacock locomotives
Passenger locomotives