GNR Class C1 (large boiler)
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The Great Northern Railway (GNR) Class C1 is a type of 4-4-2
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 ...
. One, ex GNR 251, later LNER 2800, survives in preservation. Much like their small boiler cousins, they were capable of reaching speeds of up to 90 mph (145 km/h). They were also known as ''Large Atlantics''.


Development

The C1 Class, as it was known under both GNR & LNER classifications, was designed by
Henry Ivatt Henry Alfred Ivatt (16 September 1851, Wentworth, Cambridgeshire – 25 October 1923) was an English railway engineer, and was the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Northern Railway from 1896 to 1911. Career London and North Western ...
as an enlarged version of what became the LNER C2 Class. The principle of the design was to produce a powerful, free-steaming engine to haul the fastest and heaviest express trains on the Great Northern. They could thus be seen as the start of the East Coast 'Big Engine' policy. None were ever named.


First engine and improvements

The first engine, No. 251, was introduced in 1902, with eighty more being built at Doncaster Works between 1904 and 1908. Although they suffered from a number of teething troubles, the Atlantics were generally very successful. They were originally fitted with
slide valve The slide valve is a rectilinear valve used to control the admission of steam into and emission of exhaust from the cylinder of a steam engine. Use In the 19th century, most steam locomotives used slide valves to control the flow of steam into ...
s, but later gained
piston valve A "piston valve" is a device used to control the motion of a fluid along a tube or pipe by means of the linear motion of a piston within a chamber or cylinder. Examples of piston valves are: * The valves used in many brass instruments * The va ...
s, which produced a notable improvement in performance. The Atlantics remained in front-line service for many years, sometimes being called upon to haul trains of over . They were known for reaching speeds of up to 90 miles per hour.


Variants

On the GNR, the classification C1 was used for all of their 4-4-2 tender locomotives, but there was considerable variation within the 116 locomotives making up this group. The LNER divided them into two classes: C2 for the 22 locomotives built in 1898–1903 with boilers of diameter; and C1 for the remaining 94, which mostly had boilers of diameter – but there were several locomotives within the latter group that differed significantly from the others. The "standard" variety of large-boiler C1 was represented by nos. 251, 272–291, 293–301, 1400–20 and 1422–51 built at Doncaster between 1902 and 1908. These had boilers producing saturated steam at a pressure of and two outside cylinders, having a diameter of and a stroke of using
simple expansion A compound engine is an engine that has more than one stage for recovering energy from the same working fluid, with the exhaust from the first stage passing through the second stage, and in some cases then on to another subsequent stage or even st ...
driving the rear coupled wheels and fed through slide valves. No. 292, built at Doncaster in 1904 (but not entering service until 1905), was a four-cylinder
compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struct ...
. The high-pressure cylinders, having a diameter of and a stroke of , were outside the frames, driving the rear coupled wheels; and the low-pressure cylinders, were inside, driving the front coupled axle. The valves were arranged so that the locomotive could work either as a compound or as a four-cylinder simple. The boiler pressure was , but whilst the boiler was under repair, the locomotive used a boiler from 1910 to 1912. This locomotive was withdrawn in 1927 and scrapped in 1928. No. 1300, another four-cylinder compound, was an experimental locomotive which differed greatly from all of the others. It was built by
Vulcan Foundry The Vulcan Foundry Limited was an English locomotive builder sited at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire (now Merseyside). History The Vulcan Foundry opened in 1832, as Charles Tayleur and Company to produce girders for bridges, switches, crossi ...
in 1905, largely to their own design although to Ivatt's specifications. The boiler had a narrow firebox, a diameter of and a pressure of . As with No. 292, the high-pressure cylinders were outside, driving the rear coupled wheels, whilst the low-pressure cylinders were inside, driving the front coupled axle; but their dimensions were and respectively. The engine worked as a two-cylinder simple on starting, changing over to compound expansion automatically. A superheater was fitted in 1914, and the engine was rebuilt as a two-cylinder simple in 1917; the new cylinders were outside, of the type used on class H3, driving the leading coupled wheels. It was withdrawn in 1924. No. 1421, built at Doncaster in 1907 was again a four-cylinder compound, but differed from No. 292 in a number of ways; in particular, the inside cylinder diameter was increased to . It was superheated in 1914 and rebuilt in 1920 as a two-cylinder simple with piston valves. It was then generally similar to the standard engines after they had been superheated, and it ran until 1947. The last ten, Nos. 1452–61 built at Doncaster in 1910, had boilers producing superheated steam at , and the cylinders were fed through piston valves. No. 279 was rebuilt in 1915 with four cylinders utilising simple expansion and driving the rear coupled axle. It was rebuilt back to a two-cylinder simple in 1938, but using cylinders of the type used on class K2 having the piston valves above the cylinders; in this form it ran until 1948. No. 1419 (renumbered 4419 in May 1924) was equipped with a
booster engine A booster engine for steam locomotives is a small two-cylinder steam engine back-gear-connected to the trailing truck axle on the locomotive or the lead truck on the tender. A rocking idler gear permits it to be put into operation by the drive ...
on the trailing axle in July 1923; to accommodate this, the frames were lengthened at the rear, which also allowed a larger cab to be fitted. At the same time, the locomotive was given a superheater and piston valves, in line with others of the class. The booster, being for extra power at very low speeds, were of little use above speeds of 25mph, was removed temporarily between July 1924 and February 1925, and it was permanently removed in November 1935.


Later years

They were eventually superseded on the heaviest trains by the Gresley A1 Pacifics in the early 1920s. They continued to haul lighter expresses up until 1950, although this did include the Harrogate Pullman for a period during the 1920s and 1930s. They were often called upon to take over trains from failed Pacifics and put up some remarkable performances with loads far in excess of those they were designed to haul. One once took over the Flying Scotsman from a failed A3 at
Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
and not only made up time but arrived early.


Accidents and incidents

: *On 19 September 1906, locomotive No. 276 was hauling a sleeper train which was derailed at ,
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due to excessive speed through the station after passing signals at danger. Fourteen people were killed and seventeen were injured. *On 13 February 1923, locomotive No. 298 was hauling an express passenger train that overran signals and was in a rear-end collision with a freight train at ,
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...
. Three people were killed. : *On 15 June 1935, locomotive No. 4411 was hauling a passenger train that was run into by an express passenger train at due to a signalman's error. Fourteen people were killed and 29 were injured.


The last trip

Seventeen C1s made it to serve
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, albeit for a short time. According to
The Railway Magazine ''The Railway Magazine'' is a monthly British railway magazine, aimed at the railway enthusiast market, that has been published in London since July 1897. it was, for three years running, the railway magazine with the largest circulation in t ...
, the last engine in service was BR 62822, ex GNR 294. On 26 November 1950 she hauled a train one way from Kings Cross to Doncaster to mark the end of the C1s. Among the many on board was the son of H.A. Ivatt, Mr. H.G. Ivatt who received one of the
builder's plate A builder's plate is usually a metal plate that is attached to railway locomotives and rolling stock, bogies, construction equipment, trucks, automobiles, large household appliances, bridges, ships and more. It gives such information as the name of ...
s. On display at Doncaster was pioneer sister ex GNR 251, already preserved, and a number of modern engines. The return trip to London was hauled by A1 Pacific 60123 named, suitably enough, ''H.A. Ivatt''.


The first becomes the last, No. 251

Pioneer 251, LNER 2800, had been saved for the UK National Collection even before the last one was withdrawn from revenue service in 1950. Restored to GNR livery, she is the only C1 to survive. She joined preserved sister GNR 990 "Henry Oakley" on two weekends of trips entitled Plant Centenarian in 1953, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the
Doncaster Works Doncaster Railway Works is a railway workshop located in Doncaster, England. Also referred to as The Plant''", it was established by the Great Northern Railway in 1853, replacing the previous works in Boston and Peterborough. Until 1867 it un ...
. On 20 September the two engines, 990 leading, hauled the train from Kings Cross to Doncaster carrying nearly 500. LNER Class A4 2509 Silver Link (BR 60014) brought the train back to London. A similar trip a week later operated from Kings Cross to Leeds with a stop at Doncaster, with the GNR veterans again hauling one leg of the trip. No. 251 steamed poorly on these trips, because the superheater had been removed although the boiler flues had not been replaced with small tubes to compensate. Further trips followed, the last being on 12 September 1954, but it was not until March 1957 that the locomotive was placed in York museum. Since her preservation, the locomotive has spent time on display at the
National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant r ...
, the
Locomotion Locomotion means the act or ability of something to transport or move itself from place to place. Locomotion may refer to: Motion * Motion (physics) * Robot locomotion, of man-made devices By environment * Aquatic locomotion * Flight * Locomo ...
museum in Shildon,
Bressingham Steam and Gardens Bressingham Steam & Gardens is a steam museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or sci ...
and Barrow Hill Engine Shed. As of 2021, the locomotive is currently on a three-year loan to the new Danum Gallery, Library and Museum in Doncaster. Two C1 boilers, one of which belonged to No. 3287, were discovered at a factory at Essex in 1986 by Steve Dymond and Nick Pigott, the revelation that the boiler once belonged to No. 3287 unknown until 2005 by a pressure washer. The boiler that once belonged to No. 3287 was in good condition and was purchased by the Bluebell Railway for their H2 project while the other boiler was scrapped due to it being in bad condition.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gnr Large Boiler Class C1 C1 4-4-2 locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1902 Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Passenger locomotives