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) Class A8 was a type of

4-6-2 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 locomotiv ...

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 locomot ...

, designed by both

Vincent Raven Sir Vincent Litchfield Raven, KBE (3 December 1859 – 14 February 1934) was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the North Eastern Railway from 1910 to 1922. Biography Vincent Raven was born the son of a clergy ...

and

Nigel Gresley Sir Herbert Nigel Gresley (19 June 1876 – 5 April 1941) was a British railway engineer. He was one of Britain's most famous steam locomotive engineers, who rose to become Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London and North Eastern Rai ...

. They were rebuilt from the LNER Class H1s, a 4-4-4 T class.

Overview

In 1931, H1 No. 2162 was rebuilt as a 4-6-2T and given the A8 classification. After a series of trials throughout the North East Area, all of the remaining H1s were rebuilt as A8 4-6-2Ts between 1933 and 1936. During the process of rebuilding, the boiler was modified to include a Robinson-type superheater rather than the original Schmidt superheater. In 1935, further modifications resulted in the A8 boiler being interchangeable with the A6, A7, A8, H1, and T1 classes.

Service

The rebuilt A8s could easily work the heavy suburban traffic and long distance coastal trains on which they were put to work. They were also welcome replacements for the ageing G5 0-4-4Ts which had been working these services. Allocations of the 45 locomotives were split between the North East / Newcastle area, the Yorkshire Coast Whitby and Scarborough, Hull, and Leeds (Neville Hill).

Technical details

*Weight: *Boiler pressure: , superheated *Cylinders: three, *Driving wheels: *Tractive effort: *Number sequence in (1957/57) was from 69850 to 69894 (previously 9850 to 9894).

Withdrawal

Diesel railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...

s were rapidly introduced during the 1950s, and the A8s quickly became surplus to requirements. Withdrawals started in 1957, and the A8 was extinct by the end of 1960.

References

External links

The Raven/Gresley A8 Pacific Tank Locomotives
''LNER Encyclopedia'' A8 4-6-2T locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1931 Scrapped locomotives Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain 2′C1′ h3t locomotives Rebuilt locomotives Passenger locomotives {{UK-steam-loco-stub