The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Thompson Class B2 was a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive. It was introduced in 1945 as a two-cylinder rebuild (with diagram 100A boiler) of the three-cylinder

LNER Class B17 The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class B17, also known as "Sandringham" or "Footballer" class was a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive designed by Nigel Gresley for hauling passenger services on the Great Eastern Main Line. In total 73 w ...

. Ten were rebuilt from Class B17 but no more were rebuilt because of the success of the

LNER Thompson Class B1 The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Thompson Class B1 is a class of steam locomotive designed by Edward Thompson for medium mixed traffic work. Overview It was the LNER's equivalent to the highly successful GWR Hall Class and t ...

Numbering

The LNER renumbered its locomotive stock during the period that these locomotives were being rebuilt, so some were renumbered at the time that they were rebuilt, some before rebuilding, and some after rebuilding. The renumbering plan for class B2 was the same as for class B17: in each case the first two digits were altered from 28 to 16. Thus 2803 became 1603 at rebuilding in October 1946; 2807 had already become 1607 (December 1946) prior to rebuilding in May 1947; and 2814 (rebuilt November 1946) became 1614 in December 1946. Between 1948 and 1950, British Railways increased these numbers by 60000; no. 61644 was so renumbered at the time of its rebuilding in March 1949.

Names

The rebuilt locomotives kept their names: * 2803 ((6)1603) ''

Framlingham Framlingham is a market town and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Of Anglo-Saxon origin, it appears in the 1086 Domesday Book. The parish had a population of 3,342 at the 2011 Census and an estimated 4,016 in 2019. Nearby villages include Ea ...

'' * 2807 ((6)1607) ''

Blickling Blickling is a village and civil parish in the Broadland district of Norfolk, England, about north-west of Aylsham. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 136 and covers , falling to 113 at the 2011 Census. Since the 17th century t ...

'' * 2814 ((6)1614) ''

Castle Hedingham Castle Hedingham is a village in northern Essex, England, located four miles west of Halstead and 3 miles southeast of Great Yeldham in the Colne Valley on the ancient road from Colchester, Essex, to Cambridge. It developed around Hedingham ...

'' * 2815 ((6)1615) '' Culford Hall'' * 2816 ((6)1616) ''

Fallodon Fallodon is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Newton-by-the-Sea, in the county of Northumberland, England. It is the territorial designation of Viscount Grey of Fallodon and Baronet Grey of Fallodon. It is pronounced with ...

'' * 2817 ((6)1617) ''

Ford Castle Ford Castle is a Grade I listed building situated at a shallow crossing point on the River Till, Ford, Northumberland, England. The castle dates from about 1278. The owner Sir William Heron was granted a licence to crenellate the castle in 133 ...

'' * 2832 ((6)1632) ''

Belvoir Castle Belvoir Castle ( ) is a faux historic castle and stately home in Leicestershire, England, situated west of the town of Grantham and northeast of Melton Mowbray. The Castle was first built immediately after the Norman Conquest of 1066 an ...

'' * 2839 ((6)1639) ''

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

'' * 2844 ((6)1644) ''

Earlham Hall Earlham Hall is a country house in Norfolk, England. It is located just to the west of the city of Norwich, on Earlham Road, on the outskirts of the village of Earlham. For generations it was the home of the Gurney family. The Gurneys were kn ...

'' * 2871 ((6)1671) '' Manchester City''

Renaming

Two of the locomotives were renamed. No. 1671, based at Cambridge, was the official Royal engine, used to haul specials to and from , which was the nearest station to

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places * Sandringham, New South Wales, Australia * Sandringham, Queensland, Australia * Sandringham, Victoria, Australia **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station **Electoral district of Sandringham * Sand ...

; for this purpose it was renamed ''Royal Sovereign'' in April 1946. When this locomotive was unavailable, no. 61617 ''Ford Castle'' was the designated reserve, and it was the latter which was one of the locomotives used to haul the funeral train of King George VI on 11 February 1952. This locomotive was used from Wolferton as far as ; the train was hauled from there to King's Cross by

BR Standard Class 7 70000 Britannia British Railways (BR) Standard Class 7 (also known as Britannia class), number 70000 ''Britannia'' is a preserved steam locomotive, owned by the Royal Scot Locomotive and General Trust. British Railways ''Britannia'' was built at Crewe, compl ...

. The second renaming occurred after the withdrawal of 61671 in September 1958: in October, the name ''Royal Sovereign'' was transferred to no. 61632, which then became the official Royal engine. All members of the class were scrapped.

Notes

References

External links