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 ...

Class 11F or Improved Director Class is a class of

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 po ...

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 ...

John G. Robinson John George Robinson CBE, (30 July 1856 – 7 December 1943) was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the Great Central Railway from 1900 to 1922. Early life Born at Newcastle upon Tyne, the second son of Matthew Robin ...

for passenger work. 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 ...

classified them as Class D11 from 1923. They were based on the earlier

GCR Class 11E The GCR Class 11E was a type of 4-4-0 steam locomotive used by the Great Central Railway for express passenger services. Ten were built in the railway's own workshops at Gorton, Manchester during 1913; they remained in service until the mid-195 ...

"Director" class (LNER D10). There were two subclasses: D11/1 were the original GCR engines and D11/2 were those built in 1924 by the LNER to a reduced loading gauge with smaller boiler mountings for hauling passenger trains in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Operational career

The 11F Class was initially used on passenger work on the GCR system, including fast expresses from Sheffield Victoria to

London Marylebone Marylebone station ( ) is a London station group, Central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the Marylebone area of the City of Westminster. On the National Rail network it is also known as London Marylebone an ...

. Later in their careers, they were used on short-distance passenger trains. On lines of the

Cheshire Lines Committee The Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) was formed in the 1860s and became the second-largest joint railway in Great Britain. The committee, which was often styled the Cheshire Lines Railway, operated of track in the then counties of Lancashire an ...

during the late 1940s and early 1950s, they hauled expresses between Manchester Central and

Liverpool Central Liverpool Central railway station in Liverpool, England, forms a central hub of the Merseyrail network, being on both the Northern Line and the Wirral Line. The station is located underground on two levels, below the site of a former mainline ...

; also semi-fast trains from Manchester Central via Northwich to Chester Northgate. Their 6 ft 9 inches driving wheels made them fast locos, but consequently unsuitable for hauling freight trains. The eleven original 11F locos were withdrawn during 1959 and 1960 as diesel multiple units took over operation of the shorter distance passenger trains.

Preservation

Barrow Hill - Butler Henderson - geograph

The sixth member of the class, No. 506 ''Butler-Henderson'', was withdrawn from use by British Railways during 1960. It has been preserved as part of the UK National Collection and currently wears restored GCR colours. No. 506 is the only surviving GCR passenger locomotive. The locomotive operated passenger trains on the preserved

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

during the late 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s but is now out of running order. The locomotive was placed on long-term loan for static display at

Barrow Hill Engine Shed Barrow Hill Roundhouse, until 1948 known as Staveley Engine Shed, is a former Midland Railway roundhouse in Barrow Hill, near Staveley and Chesterfield, Derbyshire (), now serving as a railway heritage centre. History Staveley Roundhouse was ...

, near

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

, in 2005, where she currently resides.

Stock list

Models

Bachmann Branchline produce model of the D11 in other Great Central liveries, LNER liveries and British Railway liveries, including a NRM exclusive model of 'Butler Henderson'.

References

External links

LNER encyclopedia

Railuk database D11/1

Railuk database D11/2

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gcr Class 11f 11F 4-4-0 locomotives 2′B h2 locomotives Armstrong Whitworth locomotives Kitson locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1919 Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Passenger locomotives