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) D40 class is a type 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 ...
inherited from the
Great North of Scotland Railway
The Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR) was one of the two smallest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping, operating in the north-east of the country. Formed in 1845, it carried its first passengers the fr ...
(GNSR). It consisted of GNSR class V (introduced in 1899 by
William Pickersgill
William Pickersgill (1861 – 2 May 1928) was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the Caledonian Railway from 1914 until Grouping in 1923. He was appointed locomotive superintendent of the Northern Division of t ...
) and GNSR class F (introduced in 1920 by
T. E. Heywood
Thomas Edward Hett Heywood (29 November 1877 – 26 November 1953) was a British engineer. During his career, he worked for the Taff Vale Railway, the Burma Railway Company, the Great North of Scotland Railway and the London and North Eastern ...
). The two classes were similar but the class F was superheated.
Construction history
Class V
In February 1898, the Scottish locomotive builder
Neilson, Reid and Company
Neilson and Company was a locomotive manufacturer in Glasgow, Scotland.
The company was started in 1836 at McAlpine Street by Walter Neilson and James Mitchell to manufacture marine and stationary engines. In 1837 the firm moved to Hyde Par ...
had completed an order for twelve
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 ...
locomotives for the
Great North of Scotland Railway
The Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR) was one of the two smallest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping, operating in the north-east of the country. Formed in 1845, it carried its first passengers the fr ...
(GNSR); these comprised
GNSR class T. In October that year,
William Pickersgill
William Pickersgill (1861 – 2 May 1928) was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the Caledonian Railway from 1914 until Grouping in 1923. He was appointed locomotive superintendent of the Northern Division of t ...
, the GNSR Locomotive Superintendent, requested authority to purchase a further twelve. Neilsons offered to build between ten and twenty further locomotives of the class T design. The GNSR Board of Directors granted permission for ten locomotives of a slightly modified design incorporating a side-window cab, and Neilson, Reid & Co. were awarded the contract that November (Neilsons order no. E827) at a price of £2,975 each.
Delivery commenced in October 1899, but by the time that the first five locomotives had been received by the GNSR (class V; numbers 113–115, 25, 26), they found that a downturn in traffic meant that not only were the remaining five not required, but that they would also be unable to pay for them. Accordingly, the GNSR requested that Neilsons should find an alternative buyer, and to obtain the best possible price. They were duly sold to the
South Eastern and Chatham Railway
The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee (SE&CRCJMC),Awdry (1990), page 199 known as the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR), was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Easter ...
for £3,300 each, where they became that company's
class G.
An offer from the SECR to purchase the first five as well, but at £3,325 each, was turned down by the GNSR.
A further eight locomotives (in two batches of four) to the same design as the 1899 batch were built by the GNSR at their
Inverurie Works,
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...
, in 1909–10 (nos. 27, 29, 31, 36) and 1913–15 (nos. 28, 33, 35, 34). Once again, Pickersgill's recommended quantities were reduced: he had requested ten in 1903, and eight in 1911.
Class F
The class F locomotives were the only ones to be named by the GNSR, all other classes being numbered only. The class originally comprised eight locomotives, six built by the
North British Locomotive Company in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
in 1920, the remaining two by GNSR at
Inverurie Works in 1921.
South Eastern and Chatham Railway and Southern Railway
The five locomotives ordered in 1898 that the GNSR was unable to pay for were offered for sale by Neilsons, with the authority of the GNSR.
On 11 October 1899, Neilsons contacted the
South Eastern and Chatham Railway
The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee (SE&CRCJMC),Awdry (1990), page 199 known as the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR), was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Easter ...
(SECR), which had recently placed a locomotive order with them.
The SECR was an organisation which had been formed on 1 January 1899, and which was short of express passenger locomotives for the former
London, Chatham and Dover Railway
The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR or LC&DR) was a railway company in south-eastern England created on 1 August 1859, when the East Kent Railway was given parliamentary approval to change its name. Its lines ran through London and nor ...
routes, which had a weight limit. The SECR quickly accepted the offer, paying £3200 each for them, whereas Neilsons would have charged the GNSR £2975 each; in December, the cost to the SECR was increased by a further £57 per engine and tender after
Harry Wainwright
Harry Smith Wainwright (16 November 1864 – 19 September 1925) was an English railway engineer, and was the Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway from 1899 to 1913. He is best known for a s ...
, the SECR Locomotive Superintendent, requested modifications including the fitting of vacuum brake equipment.
The price difference was split between Neilsons and the GNSR, the latter receiving £1025.
On the SECR they were assigned Class G, and entered service during January and February 1900, numbered 676–680. They passed to the
Southern Railway (SR) at the
1923 Grouping
The Railways Act 1921 (c. 55), also known as the Grouping Act, was an Act of Parliament enacted by the British government and intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, by "grouping" them into four la ...
, and, except for no. 678, were given SR numbers A676–A680. They were withdrawn from service between 1924 and 1927.
London and North Eastern Railway
All 21 GNSR locomotives passed to 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 ...
in 1923. The LNER classed them all as D40 irrespective of whether they were fitted with
superheater
A superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into superheated steam or dry steam. Superheated steam is used in steam turbines for electricity generation, steam engines, and in processes such as steam reforming. There ar ...
s (class F) or not (class V). The LNER initially renumbered them by adding 6800 to their GNSR number. In 1946 they completely renumbered all their locomotives and the D40 class became 2260–2261, 2265–2272, 2262–2264 (former class V) and 2273–2280 (former class F).
The first locomotive was withdrawn in 1947.
British Railways
Eighteen of the 21 locomotives 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 (eleven former class V, and seven former class F). BR renumbered them by adding 60000 to their 1946 LNER number.
The last locomotive of the D40 class was 62277 Gordon Highlander and it was withdrawn in 1958 from Kittybrewster Depot, Aberdeen.
Preservation
![Gordon Highlander steam locomotive](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Gordon_Highlander_steam_locomotive.jpg)
Number 62277 was preserved and renumbered as 49 as an example of the superheated version. GNSR No. 49, ''Gordon Highlander'' was also numbered as LNER No. 6849 at the Grouping, LNER No. 2277 in 1946 and BR No. 62277 on nationalisation. At withdrawal, it was the only survivor of the class still in service. Restored to GNSR green in 1958,
though it never carried green livery in GNSR service since it originally appeared in Heywood's lined black,
it was given an occasional airing on specials before retirement to the
Glasgow Transport Museum
The Riverside Museum (formerly known as the Glasgow Museum of Transport) is a museum in Glasgow, housed in a building at Pointhouse Quay in the Glasgow Harbour regeneration district of Glasgow, Scotland. The building opened in June 2011, winnin ...
. It has been moved to the
Scottish Railway Museum
The Museum of Scottish Railways is a railway museum operated by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society. It is based on the Society's large collection of railway artefacts from across Scotland. The museum is located at the SRPS's headquarters ...
at Bo'ness rather than the new waterfront Glasgow Transport Museum.
On 13 June 1964 ''Gordon Highlander'' was used on the "Solway Ranger"
railtour
A railtour is a special train which is run in order to allow people to experience rail travel which is not normally available using timetabled passenger services. The 'unusual' aspect may be the route of the train, the destination, the occasion, s ...
of Cumbria, on the section between and .
References
Sources
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External links
LNER database Class D40
{{LNER Locomotives
4-4-0 locomotives
Great North of Scotland Railway
D40
Neilson locomotives
NBL locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1899
Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain
Passenger locomotives