The Great Northern had invested heavily in the Widened Lines, and in the early years provided perhaps the largest range of classes available for duties on the sub-surface lines of all the companies involved. Both Sturrock and Stirling had built various tank locomotive classes with an 0-4-4 wheel arrangement, but in 1898 Ivatt bucked convention and introduced a handsome 4-4-2T, sixty of which were built down to 1907. Of the class total, ten were normally aspirated, and fifty were fitted with condensing apparatus.

No.1504 of 1899 is at Enfield c.1905. It is fitted with the earlier condensing pipes, and although the tanks have had a cursory wipe with cotton waste, there’s a considerable amount of soot and grot all over the loco. So much for the pristine pre-Grouping livery brigade (which I’ve never subscribed to).

I’ve a Meteor kit of the LNER C12 which looks like very little needs to be done to it to backdate it to the GNR C2, but there are some alterations needed to make it suitable for the Widened Lines.