GCR Class 8G was a class of 10 two-cylinder

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

4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abse ...

wheel arrangement built in 1906 for the Great Central Railway.

GCR era

The locomotive was designed in 1906 and drew heavily from the

GCR Class 8F The GCR Class 8F was a class of ten 4-6-0 locomotives built for the Great Central Railway in 1906 by Beyer, Peacock and Company to the design of John G. Robinson for working fast goods and fish trains. They passed to the London and North East ...

- the biggest difference being that the driving wheels were 1 ft 3 in smaller. Production of the 10 locomotives commenced as soon as the last Class 8F was built. The Class 8Gs used a boiler that had the same diameter as that fitted to both the Class 8F and the Class 8C, but it had a shorter firebox similar to that fitted to the original Class 8s.

Post-merger

Following the merger of the GCR into the

London & North Eastern Railway London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

, the class became known as the LNER Class B9. Immediately after the merger, the LNER began converting the class to use superheated boilers - a project that finished in 1929 with all 10 having been converted. These boilers were identical to those used on the LNER Class Q4, and Gresley's anti-vacuum valves were also fitted at the same time. Saturated engines were classified as the Class B9/1, and superheated engines as the Class B9/2. Despite the last B9/1 being converted to a superheated boiler in 1929, the B9/2 class was not renamed to B9 until 1937. An experimental locomotive conversion was made in 1924 - when No. 6109 was fitted with a superheater, it also gained larger 21" diameter cylinders and piston valves. Despite a large improvement in performance, no further conversions were made, possibly due to both the cost of modification, and the fact that the

LNER Class J11 The GCR Class 9J (LNER Class J11) was a class of 174 0-6-0 steam locomotives designed by John G. Robinson for freight work on the Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and ...

were equally adept at performing the same roles as the Class B9s.

Usage

Prior to the creation of the LNER, the Class 8G locomotives were allocated to

Gorton Gorton is an area of Manchester in North West England, southeast of the city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 36,055. Neighbouring areas include Levenshulme and Openshaw. A major landmark is Gorton Monastery, a 19th-century Hi ...

and Lincoln. They worked the main goods (Gorton-based locomotives) and fast goods (Lincoln-based locomotives) lines into and out of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. After the grouping, in 1926 all Lincoln locomotives had been moved to Gorton, but 4 moved to Trafford Park in 1927. As LNER locomotives, the Class B9s were still used primarily as goods locomotives, but they did occasionally see use on stopping passenger services and race day specials to both Aintree and Haydock Park. Following the end of the Second World War, the locomotives were allocated to Trafford Park,

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, being used for freight services and, in emergencies, passenger services between Liverpool and Manchester.

Withdrawal

In 1939, No. 6111 was the first to be withdrawn, but was quickly returned to service after the outbreak of

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 ...

. After the war, withdrawals began again in 1947, and the last locomotive to be withdrawn, ironically that very same No. 6111, was withdrawn in May 1949. No examples survived into preservation.

References

External links

* 08G 4-6-0 locomotives 2′C n2 locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1906 Scrapped locomotives Beyer, Peacock locomotives Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Freight locomotives Great Central Railway 4-6-0s {{England-steam-loco-stub