The NER Class L (LNER Class J73) was a class of 0-6-0T

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 North Eastern Railway. They were a specialised design, intended for use on the Redheugh and Quayside banks on either side of the

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Wate ...

. They were replaced on the Quayside branch by NER Class ES1

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas ...

s in 1905 but were re-allocated to other duties.

Overview

The Class L was Wilson Worsdell's first design for the NER. Unusually for a Wilson Worsdell design, they were fitted with Joy valve gear instead of the Stephenson valve gear fitted to his later locomotives.

British Railways

All 10 locomotives survived 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 and their BR numbers were 68355-68364. They were all withdrawn between 1955 and 1960. None have been preserved.

References

0-6-0T locomotives L Railway locomotives introduced in 1891 Scrapped locomotives Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain {{England-steam-loco-stub