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The
Great Eastern Railway
The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern Ra ...
(GER) Class S69, also known as 1500 Class, and later classified B12 by the
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 th ...
(LNER) is a class of
4-6-0
A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the ...
steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...
designed to haul express passenger trains from London
Liverpool Street station
Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the ...
along the
Great Eastern Main Line
The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and the ...
. Originally they were designed by
S. D. Holden
Stephen Dewar Holden (23 August 1870 – 7 February 1918) was a British engineer, the son of the engineer James Holden and succeeded his father as locomotive superintendent of the Great Eastern Railway in 1908, a post he held until his retireme ...
, but were much rebuilt, resulting in several subclasses.
Seventy-one S69 locomotives were built between 1911 and 1921 and numbered 1500–1570. Fifty-one of these were built at the GER's
Stratford Works and the remaining 20 by
William Beardmore and Company
William Beardmore and Company was a British engineering and shipbuilding conglomerate based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area. It was active from 1886 to the mid-1930s and at its peak employed about 40,000 people. It was founded and ...
. A further 10 locomotives were built by
Beyer, Peacock and Company
Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Openshaw, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson, it traded from 1854 until 1966. The company exported locomotives, ...
for the LNER in 1928 and numbered 8571–8580.
From 1948 the
British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British ...
numbers were 61500–61580 (with gaps).
Background
At the time of their introduction, the
"Claud Hamilton" 4-4-0s were becoming outclassed on the heaviest express. Although an enlarged
4-4-0
4-4-0 is a locomotive type with a classification that uses the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement and represents the arrangement: four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four ...
design was mooted, it was realised that any such design would have too high an
axle load
An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearin ...
for the tracks of the
Great Eastern Railway
The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern Ra ...
, which had a relatively low restriction. Another design constraint was the short turntables used at the time. This meant that a
4-6-0
A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the ...
design was decided upon, although the design was relatively short compared to similar designs introduced at the same time.
Construction
The first locomotive, numbered 1500, was delivered to
Ipswich shed in November 1911, and construction continued at Stratford Works up to number 1538 which was delivered, again to Ipswich shed, in June 1915. There was then a brief pause due to wartime restrictions and the next two locomotives, 1539 and 1540, were not delivered until June 1917. A further batch of 20, numbers 1541 to 1560, were constructed by Beardsmore's having works numbers 135 to 154 although running numbers were not in the same order as the works numbers. These were delivered from June 1920 to April 1921 during which time construction continued at Stratford Works with numbers 8561 to 1570 also being delivered in 1920.
After the grouping the LNER ordered a further batch of 10 locomotives from Beyer Peacock of Manchester, and these were delivered with running numbers 8561 to 8570 to Gorton shed. This final batch brought the number of locomotives constructed to 71.
LNER
Seventy were still in service 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 ...
, the LNER adding 7000 to the numbers of nearly all the ex-Great Eastern locomotives, including the Class S69 locomotives. A further ten were ordered in 1928 to ease a power shortage caused by the stalled development on a
new class of 4-6-0 locomotives, and the cancellation of the planned suburban
2-6-4T
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a locomotive has two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called Adriatic.
Overview
With only a few known except ...
tank locomotive due to the adverse press publicity caused by the
Sevenoaks derailment of 1927.
All the B12 locomotives were fitted with vacuum ejectors between 1924 and 1929 (the 1928 batch had them from new). Fifty-five locomotives were fitted with
ACFI feedwater heater
A feedwater heater is a power plant component used to pre-heat water delivered to a steam generating boiler. Preheating the feedwater reduces the irreversibilities involved in steam generation and therefore improves the thermodynamic efficiency ...
s between 1927 and 1934, but these were removed between 1934 and 1942. The first substantive change was the fitting of
Lenz Lenz may refer to:
Places
* Lenasia, Gauteng Province, South Africa, a township often called Lenz
* Lantsch/Lenz, Canton of Grisons, Switzerland, a municipality
* Lenz, Hood River County, Oregon, an unincorporated community
* Lenz, Klamath County, ...
poppet valve
A poppet valve (also called mushroom valve) is a valve typically used to control the timing and quantity of gas or vapor flow into an engine.
It consists of a hole or open-ended chamber, usually round or oval in cross-section, and a plug, usua ...
s to the 1928 batch (from new), and six of the ex-GE locomotives (8516/19/25/32/33/40). These locomotives were then classified as class B12/2. The poppet valves were not a great success and they all reverted to or were converted to
piston valve engines between 1931 and 1934.
As newer power became available, the locomotives’ low axleload made them ideal candidates for transfers elsewhere. consequently, between 1931 and 1942, twenty-five locomotives were transferred to Scotland for use on the former
Great North of Scotland Railway lines.
Starting in 1932, a programme began of rebuilding the B12 locomotives with larger diameter boilers. The Diagram 99A boilers utilised were diameter, compared with the diameter originals. These rebuilt locomotives were classified as class B12/3, and as they had a higher axleload, none of the Scottish-allocated locomotives were included. The last to be rebuilt was 8549 in 1944, leaving 8534 as the last English B12/1; but it was withdrawn the following year without being rebuilt.
As the Scottish locomotives also required new boilers, a new design was started in 1941, based on the old design but with a
round-topped firebox and other detail changes. Thirty of these Diagram 25A boilers were manufactured at Doncaster and Stratford between 1942 and 1946. Nine were sent to
Inverurie Works for fitting to B12 locomotives, the remainder went to Stratford for fitting to
class J20 locomotives. The B12 locomotives fitted with the Diagram 25A boiler (1500/04/05/07/08/11/24/26) were classified as class B12/4.
In the 1942 LNER renumbering scheme, the class was allocated the range 7415–7494, but only eleven (7426/37/49/67/70/72/76/79/82/88/91) were renumbered before the scheme was abandoned due to the war. In the 1946 scheme, the class was allocated the 1500–1580 block(their 1924 numbers with 7000 removed from them), with gaps for the two withdrawn locomotives.
British Railways
At nationalisation in 1948, seventy-two locomotives passed to British Railways, who renumbered them 61500–61580. Withdrawals continued, and all were gone by the end of 1961. One engine, LNER No. 8572, has been preserved.
Tables
Accidents and incidents
*On 12 July 1913, locomotive No. 1506 was hauling an express passenger train which collided with a light engine at ,
Essex
Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...
due to a signalman's error. Three people were killed and fourteen were injured. The brand new locomotive, only 4 months old, was so severely damaged that only its boiler and tender were salvaged. The remaining parts were cut up at Stratford Works in September of that year. A replacement locomotive was constructed, but this was allocated running number 1535 and number 1506 was not re-used.
*On 17 January 1931, locomotive No. 8578 was hauling a newspaper train that departed from station, Essex against signals. It was in collision with a light engine at
Great Holland
The Ship Inn in Great Holland
Great Holland is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Frinton and Walton, in the Tendring district, in the county of Essex, England. It is to the north-east of Holland-on-Sea, and west of Frinton ...
. Two people were killed and two were seriously injured. After this accident the engine was given a general overhaul and received tender No. 20, which has originally built for the
GER Decapod when it was converted to an 0-8-0 tender engine.
*On 10 February 1941, locomotive No. 8556 was hauling a passenger train that overran signals and was in a rear-end collision between and ,
Essex
Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...
. Seven people were killed and seventeen were seriously injured.
*On 2 January 1947, locomotive No. 1565 was hauling a passenger train that was run into by an express passenger train at ,
Essex
Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...
. The express had overrun signals. Seven people were killed, 45 were hospitalised.
World War II Career
An unknown number of B12s were used towards the end of WWII to haul ambulance trains for the US Army. These trains, equipped for working on the Continent or at home, were fitted with the Westinghouse brake. B12s were selected because they had the Westinghouse brake, and were generally acceptable because their low-axle loading gave them a very high route-availability. They operated widely over the network and were fitted with a "vacuum/air proportioning valve" to allow the driver of a local pilot engine (used where double heading was necessary because of gradients) to control the brake throughout the train.
Preservation
One B12/3, LNER number 8572 (BR 61572), has survived to preservation on the
North Norfolk Railway, the only British inside cylinder
4-6-0
A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the ...
to be preserved.
Models
A model of the B12 was brought out in OO gauge by
Tri-ang Railways (now
Hornby
Hornby may refer to:
Places In England
* Hornby, Lancashire
* Hornby, Hambleton, village in North Yorkshire
* Hornby, Richmondshire, village in North Yorkshire Elsewhere
* Hornby, Ontario, community in the town of Halton Hills, Ontario, Cana ...
) in 1963. Models produced since 1970 feature a steam "chuff" effect, where in the tender as the wheels turn, a piece of sandpaper is scraped by a piece of metal fixed to one axle. In 2016, Hornby launched a brand new tooling of the B12 in a super detail form with LNER apple green and BR lined black with early and late crest liveries.
References
Notes
Bibliography
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External links
The S.D. Holden B12 (GER Class S69 / "1500"s) 4-6-0s— LNER Encyclopedia
{{Authority control
S69
4-6-0 locomotives
William Beardmore and Company locomotives
Beyer, Peacock locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1911
Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain
Passenger locomotives