The GER Class Y65 was a class of twelve steam locomotives designed by

S. D. Holden Stephen Dewar Holden (23 August 1870 – 7 February 1918) was a British engineer, the son of the engineer James Holden and succeeded his father as locomotive superintendent of the Great Eastern Railway in 1908, a post he held until his retirem ...

and built by the company'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 ...

in 1909–1910. They all 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 ...

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 received the classification F7.

History

These locomotives were fitted with cylinders and diameter driving wheels. They were intended to displace the elderly E22 class locomotives from their light branch line duties, but in the end, the E22s were the preferred locomotives for this work. They were all initially fitted with Westinghouse air brake equipment. Between 1915 and 1921 four (1303–1305, 1309) were fitted for push-pull working using the compressed air system; these required the fitting of an extra Westinghouse pump to the side of the locomotives. In 1924, 8307 was also push-pull fitted using the mechanical system for use on the Great Central section; no extra pump was needed, but it did gain a vacuum ejector. All had survived to pass to the LNER in 1923; the first retirement started in 1931 when four were withdrawn. Three (8301/08/10) were sent to Scotland in 1931–32 and as a result of the move they had their Westinghouse air brake replaced with a steam brake and vacuum ejector. The locomotives had large cabs, with large spectacle plate front and rear, which earned the nickname "Crystal Palace tanks"; those in Scotland were nicknamed "Tomato houses". Withdrawals continued from 1938; six locomotives were left in 1942 when they were renumbered 7593–7598 in order to clear the 8300-block for new B1 class locomotives. Two locomotives lasted long enough to be renumbered in the 1946 scheme; they became the property of

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, but both were withdrawn the same year without receiving their BR number.

References

* * * {{LNER Locomotives Y65 2-4-2T locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1909 Scrapped locomotives Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Passenger locomotives