The GER Class S44 was a class of forty

0-4-4T Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-4 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles. This type was only used ...

steam locomotives designed by James Holden for the Great Eastern Railway. They all passed to the London and North Eastern Railway at 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 ...

and received the classification G4.

History

These were the last 0-4-4T locomotives built for the Great Eastern Railway, a type which, as

side tank A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locomo ...

s, the GER had pioneered in Britain. The locomotives were all built at Stratford Works and had inside cylinders driving wheels. All were still in service at the 1923 grouping; the LNER adding 7000 to the numbers of nearly all the ex-Great Eastern locomotives, including the Class S44 locomotives. Withdrawals started in 1929 with No. 8133 and finished in 1939 with 8139.

References

External links

– Great Eastern Railway Society
The Holden G4 (GER Class S44) 0-4-4T Locomotives
– LNER Encyclopedia {{LNER Locomotives Great Eastern Railway locomotives, S44 0-4-4T locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1898 Scrapped locomotives Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Passenger locomotives