North Eastern Railway Class T3, classified Q7 by 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 ...

is a class of

0-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and no trailing wheels. Locomotives of this type are also referre ...

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 for heavy freight. Five were built by the NER in 1919 and a further 10 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) in 1924.

Performance

The first of the T3s, No.901 was outshopped from Darlington Works in November 1919. A month later the NER organised a test train, over the Newcastle to

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line, including a brake van and the company's dynamometer car to record the locomotive's performance. No.901 had in tow but handled the load with ease, registering both high power and steady acceleration. There were no problems starting on a 1 in 298 (0.335 %) grade and on the return, with a reduced load of , the engine was untroubled by gradients as severe as 1 in 107 (0.93 %).

LNER

Despite their prowess, the original quintet of T3s was not augmented by the North Eastern Railway, a move that would have pleased footplate crews who disliked having to

lubricate Lubrication is the process or technique of using a lubricant to reduce friction and wear and tear in a contact between two surfaces. The study of lubrication is a discipline in the field of tribology. Lubrication mechanisms such as fluid-lubrica ...

and maintain the centre cylinder and valve gear. Instead the enlargement of the class came under LNER. it authorised the construction of ten additional T3s and these emerged from Darlington Works during 1924. Of the new engines two were allocated to

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and a further four went to

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

. The remaining four gravitated to their natural habitat, Tyne Dock depot near

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

. It was there eventually that all 15 T3s/Q7s congregated. Here they performed the role they were designed for. This was to haul rakes of

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

hoppers Hopper or hoppers may refer to: Places *Hopper, Illinois * Hopper, West Virginia * Hopper, a mountain and valley in the Hunza–Nagar District of Pakistan * Hopper (crater), a crater on Mercury People with the name * Hopper (surname) * Grace H ...

to the

steelworks A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

Consett Consett is a town in County Durham, England, about south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 27,394 in 2001 and an estimate of 25,812 in 2019. History Consett sits high on the edge of the Pennines. Its' name originates in the ...

above

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. On the steepest section, as severe as 1 in 35 (2.86 %) in places, one 0-8-0 pulled while another pushed.

British Railways

All 15 passed into

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 rai ...

ownership in 1948 and they were numbered 63460-63474. They remained master of their task till the arrival of BR Standard Class 9F

2-10-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-10-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, ten powered and coupled driving wheels on five axles, and no trailing wheels. This arrangement was of ...

s in the 1950s. With the loss of their bread and butter work British Railways retired all 15 of the Q7s in November and December 1962.

Preservation

One, NER 901 (BR 63460) has survived and is currently on display at

Darlington Railway Centre and Museum Head of Steam, formerly known as the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum, is a railway museum located on the 1825 route of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which was the world's first steam-powered passenger railway. It is based inside the ...

. It is the newest exhibit at the museum.

External links

The Raven Q7 (NER Class T3) 0-8-0 Locomotives
''LNER Encyclopedia'' {{LNER Locomotives T3 0-8-0 locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1919 Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Freight locomotives