LNER Class A4 No. 4469 Sir Ralph Wedgwood was an A4 class

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

of 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 type ...

. Built at

Doncaster Works Doncaster Railway Works is a railway workshop located in Doncaster, England. Also referred to as The Plant''", it was established by the Great Northern Railway in 1853, replacing the previous works in Boston and Peterborough. Until 1867 it un ...

, it was originally named ''

Gadwall The gadwall (''Mareca strepera'') is a common and widespread dabbling duck in the family Anatidae. Taxonomy The gadwall was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. DNA studies have shown that ...

,'' being renamed

Sir Ralph Wedgwood Sir Ralph Lewis Wedgwood, 1st Baronet, (; 2 March 1874 – 5 September 1956) was the Chief Officer of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) for 16 years from its inauguration in 1923. He was chairman of the wartime Railway Executive Commit ...

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

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'' (formerly ''Garganey'', renamed March 1939). Following the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, No. 4469 initially retained its garter blue livery before being repainted into wartime black. The valances over the driving wheels were also removed for ease of access to the locomotive's valve gear.

Baedeker Raid

In late April 1942, No. 4469 received repairs at Doncaster Works and was temporarily allocated to Doncaster shed for running in on local services before returning to Gateshead. It was stabled at

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

North Shed on the night of 28/29 April 1942, the night of the Baedeker raid on York. During the attack,

York station York railway station is on the East Coast Main Line serving the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. It is north of and on the main line it is situated between to the south and to the north. , the station is operated by London North Ea ...

and North Shed were bombed; during the attack No. 4469 and another nearby engine, B16 class No. 925 were damaged after a bomb fell through the shed roof and exploded between the two engines. The locomotive was severely damaged as a result of the explosion, but was recovered and towed to Doncaster shortly afterward. Due to the degree of damage, it was considered impractical to rebuild No. 4469, and the locomotive was condemned and later scrapped. Tender No. 5672, attached to No. 4469 since new in 1938, was stored at Doncaster until 1945, when it was then rebuilt, given the new tender number 703 and attached to

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 loco ...

No. 3696 ''Highland Chieftain''. The chime whistle was also removed and fitted to Y8 class 0-4-0T No. 560 as a trial.

Replacement and commemoration

Following the scrapping of No. 4469, one of its damaged nameplates was rescued from scrap by a member of the Doncaster workshops staff for preservation at his home. It was later sold by his grandson in the early 2000s, with speculation that the

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant r ...

would seek to obtain it; the NRM subsequently were unable to purchase it and it became part of a private collection. A new set of nameplates were made two years later in 1944 and fitted to A4 No. 4466, formerly named ''Herring Gull'', and which carried these plates until withdrawn as British Railways No. 60006 on 3 September 1965 and scrapped on 31 October that year. A plaque was placed on the spot where No. 4469 was destroyed in 1942, now within the Great Hall of the National Railway Museum, by the Gresley Society on 29 April 1992 to mark the 50th anniversary of the raid.

References

{{reflist

External links

Photo and informationThe Gresley A4 Pacifics
LNER Encyclopedia
NRM archive image of 4469 heading for scrapping
4469 Sir Ralph Wedgewood Railway locomotives introduced in 1938 Scrapped locomotives Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain