The Great Northern Railway 521 Class was a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotives, introduced in 1911. They were 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 ...

for goods traffic. From 1912 to 1922 further examples, slightly modified by Nigel Gresley, were built and designated 536 Class. The most obvious difference was in the front sandboxes. These were below the

running plate A footplate provides the structure on which a locomotive driver and fireman stand in the cab to operate a British or continental European steam locomotive. It comprises a large metal plate that rests on top of the locomotive frame, usually it is c ...

on the 521 but above it, and merged with the front splashers, on the 536. The boiler and firebox were also moved back, thus resulting in a shortened cab. The London and North Eastern Railway classified them both as J6. Initially, there was to be 120 members of this class. However, an order of ten was canceled so that Doncaster Works could build ten of Gresley's N2 Class

0-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The type is sometimes kno ...

Tanks, which shared the same cylinders, boilers, valve gear, and piston valves as the J6s. The J6s had superheaters and

piston valves Piston valves are one form of valve used to control the flow of steam within a steam engine or locomotive. They control the admission of steam into the cylinders and its subsequent exhausting, enabling a locomotive to move under its own power ...

operated by

Stephenson valve gear The Stephenson valve gear or Stephenson link or shifting link is a simple design of valve gear that was widely used throughout the world for various kinds of steam engines. It is named after Robert Stephenson but was invented by his employees. ...

. The class earned the nickname "Knick-Knacks" due to the sound made by the locomotives when steam was shut off.

Operational history

Under GNR ownership, the fast goods work of the 521s and 536s was short-lived, as the arrival of the H2 Class Moguls in 1913 saw the class reassigned to lighter goods and occasional passenger traffic. The class was also used on coal trains between Colwick and Hornsey. All survived into LNER ownership in 1923, being reclassified as J6s. The LNER put the class to good use, with about twenty locomotives being allocated to the former

Great Central The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the L ...

network in 1923. These worked alongside the J10 Class and the J11 Class "Pom-Poms", with common duties for them being beer trains out of Burton, heavy coal trains, and excursions along the Lincolnshire coast. On multiple occasions, the class would go as fast as 66 mph (106.22 km/h). This is what led to them also being used on timed cross-country passenger trains from Grantham to Derby via Nottingham. Seven members of the class were reallocated to the North East during World War II. This was to replace the forty J25s that were temporarily reallocated to the Great Western Railway. Some would also be temporarily based at Haymarket and around Newcastle.

BR Days

All 110 locomotives passed to British Railways in 1948 and had 60000 added to their numbers. The arrival of the Thompson L1 Class Adriatic Tanks led to the J6s being taken off the Grantham to Derby services. Other than that, their jobs remained more or less the same. As a result of the 1955 Modernisation Plan, the J6s were withdrawn between 1955 and 1962, the last stand of the class being in the West Riding. All members of this class were scrapped.

Modelling

Detail drawings and scale model kits are available from some suppliers.

Sources

External links

LNER Encyclopedia

Class J6 Details
at ''Rail UK''
GNR/LNER Ivatt "J6" Class 0-6-0
at BRDatabase {{LNER Locomotives

521 Z45 45 Year 521 (Roman numerals, DXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Justinian I, Sabbatius and Valerius (or, le ...

0-6-0 locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1911 Scrapped locomotives Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Freight locomotives