The NER Class X (LNER Class T1) was a class of 4-8-0T

tank locomotive A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locom ...

Wilson Worsdell Wilson Worsdell (7 September 1850 – 14 April 1920) was an English locomotive engineer who was locomotive superintendent of the North Eastern Railway from 1890 to 1910. He was the younger brother of T.W. Worsdell. Wilson was born at Monks C ...

for the North Eastern Railway. They were intended for use as powerful shunting engines to arrange and move coal wagons for loading into ships. In total 15 were built, 10 by the NER between 1909 and 1910, and a further five in 1925 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). They had three cylinders with divided drive: the inside cylinder driving the leading axle, the outside cylinders driving the centre.

Overview

The reversing gear was originally mechanical, but was replaced on all but two of the locomotives (nos. 1355/8) by steam-operated

reversing gear On a steam locomotive, the reversing gear is used to control the direction of travel of the locomotive. It also adjusts the cutoff of the steam locomotive. Reversing lever This is the most common form of reverser. It consists of a long lever moun ...

between 1932 and 1934. The steam reversing gear was removed again between 1941 and 1947. In 1929, No. 1656 was moved to the newly built Whitemoor Yard at

March, Cambridgeshire March is a Fenland market town and civil parish in the Isle of Ely area of Cambridgeshire, England. It was the county town of the Isle of Ely which was a separate administrative county from 1889 to 1965. The administrative centre of Fenland ...

. In 1932, this locomotive was replaced by Nos. 1355 and 1358. Whitemoor preferred the ex-GCR 0-8-4T ( LNER Class S1) for hump shunting, so in 1934 No 1358 was moved to

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

, and No. 1355 to

Mexborough Mexborough is a town in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. Situated between Manvers and Denaby Main, it lies on the River Don close to where it joins the River Dearne, and the A6023 road runs through the town. It is contiguous ...

. In 1936, No. 1355 moved to King's Cross to shunt the engine shed for seven weeks, before joining No. 1358 in Doncaster. These two locomotives were scrapped at Doncaster in 1937. The remaining T1s continued to work coal trains at various docks and marshalling yards throughout

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authorit ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, coal exports never returned to their pre-war levels. Hence, many of the T1s moved to other sheds for heavy shunting duties.

Numbering

On the North Eastern Railway the first ten locomotives were numbered 1350–9; these numbers were retained following the formation of the LNER on 1 January 1923. The five built in 1925 were given LNER numbers 1656–60. In 1946, the thirteen remaining locomotives were renumbered 9910–22; these all passed to

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 ...

in 1948, being renumbered 69910-69922 between 1948 and 1951.

Withdrawal

Two T1s were withdrawn in 1937, and the remainder were withdrawn between 1955 and 1961. No examples have been preserved.

Notes

Sources

* * * Ian Allan ABC of British Railways Locomotives, 1948 edition, part 4, page 56

External links

LNER Encyclopedia
{{LNER Locomotives X 4-8-0T locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1909 Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain 2′D n3t locomotives Shunting locomotives