The GER Class 209 (

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 ...

Class Y5) was a class of

0-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven. The wheels on the earliest four-coupled locomotives were ...

saddle tank

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 ...

s 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 R ...

. These locomotives were similar to the NBR G Class but had flat-topped, instead of round-topped, tanks. A total of eight were built – four by Neilson and Company in 1874 and four more by the GER's

Stratford Works Stratford Works was the locomotive-building works of the Great Eastern Railway situated at Stratford, London, England. The original site of the works was located in the 'V' between the Great Eastern Main Line and the Stratford to Lea Bridge rou ...

between 1897 and 1903.

Overview

Neilson locomotives

In order to shunt locations with tight curves and weight restrictions, two 0-4-0T locomotives were purchased from Neilson and Company to one of that company's standard designs by the GER, and this was followed by an order for a further two locomotives in 1876. In 1894–1895 these four locos were rebuilt under James Holden, the work including new boilers, steam brakes, and covered cabs. Two of these locomotives worked at Globe Road & Devonshire Street goods yards between 1874 and 1914.

Stratford locomotives

In 1897 two new locomotives were built at

, identical to the rebuilt 209 Class, but with slightly higher bunkers, and a further two locomotives to this new design were built, also at Stratford, in 1903.

LNER ownership

Four locomotives had been withdrawn or sold before 1923. The remaining four passed into

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 ...

ownership at the

grouping Grouping may refer to: * Muenchian grouping * Principles of grouping * Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system * Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm See also ...

in 1923. Their LNER class was Y5.

Withdrawal

Two locomotives, 226 and 227 were scrapped in 1911. By 1914, number 228 was placed on the duplicate list, becoming 0228; its old number being re-used by a new Class B74 (LNER Class Y4) locomotive. Number 210 was also scrapped in 1914, and 229 was sold in 1918. Number 7209 was withdrawn in 1926. Numbers 07228 and 7230 became departmental locomotives at Stratford, with the former being withdrawn in 1927, after having been used as a stationary boiler. Number 7231 had been adapted as a tram locomotive and used at Colchester, before being withdrawn in 1931.

BR ownership

The last member of the class left in service, 7230, was renumbered 8081 in 1944; and just survived 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 but was scrapped early that year before it could receive its BR number.

Table of orders and numbers

;Key * wdn. = withdrawal date, scrapping date unknown * scr. = scrapping date

Preservation

GER loco 229 at North Woolwich Old Station Museum view 1 - 2006-01-21

One locomotive, GER no. 229, was exhibited at the former

North Woolwich Old Station Museum The North Woolwich Old Station Museum was a small railway museum in North Woolwich, in Newham, East London. Located in the former Great Eastern Railway terminal station building at North Woolwich railway station, the museum opened in 1984. It ...

, which closed in 2008. This is the one which was sold in 1918. It is now (2012) at a site near Lydney, Gloucestershire, awaiting restoration to working order.

Modelling

A 4 mm scale kit is available from High Level Kits.High Level Kits
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References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

— Great Eastern Railway Society
The Y5 (GER 209) Neilson & Co 0-4-0 Shunters
— LNER Encyclopedia {{LNER Locomotives Great Eastern Railway locomotives, 209 0-4-0ST locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1874 Neilson locomotives Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Shunting locomotives