Great Eastern Railway Wagons. Part 9 – 20T Steel Loco Coal wagons to Diagram 46

When production of the 600 diagram 32 8-plank loco coal wagons ceased in 1902 the total stock of this type stood at 2047. It was a thoroughly modern fleet with the oldest being introduced only eleven years earlier, and all bar one were rated at 10 tons.

At the turn of the century there was widespread interest in high-capacity coal wagons with their significantly lower tare to capacity ratio over the traditional 10 ton wagon, and in 1900 Holden introduced an experimental 15 ton wagon to diagram 33. However the wagon didn’t find favour, and the following year the company hired a 30 ton capacity wagon from Leeds Forge & Co. for £1 10s 0d per week, initially employing it on the Parkston to Bishopsgate service before sending it over other parts of the system. The ‘truck of large carrying capacity’ was rejected by collieries as it couldn’t be fully loaded – and so never realised its full potential – and the single side door proved to be impractical for unloading, so the GER returned it to its makers.

The first of the line, no.933 built in the spring of 1902. The rest of the batch were numbered 1 to 61 and were the only batch to be fitted with a form of Parker’s either side brakes (note the short brake lever) and the experimental large and very modern ‘squared’ letters and numbers.  A photograph of no.65 taken in early 1903 shows the more familiar large rounded letters. These wagons were fitted with Holden’s split ‘R’ type axleboxes from new. Photograph ©Public Domain.

While the company continued to make use of its 10 ton fleet, Holden designed a new all-steel wagon of 20 tons capacity (perhaps with an eye on the recently introduced N4 and N3 20 ton wagons on the Great Western), consulting with and receiving assurances from enough collieries that they would be accepted for loading to capacity.  Production of the diagram 46 wagons commenced in 1902 and proved to be highly successful – a 400 ton train saving 10% in tare weight and over 30% in train length.

So successful was the design that further batches totalling 901 examples were built each year except 1915 and 1917-1919 down to 1920, and in consequence 650 of the diagram 31 loco coal wagons built during the 1890s were converted to diagram 48 high-sided general merchandise wagons between 1904 and 1911.

No 587 of the 1910 batch on 1 September of that year. This was the final Order to have the single brake lever acting on all four brake blocks, and from 1911 the Morton brake was fitted to new builds. The more familiar 1903 livery was applied down to, and sometimes beyond(!), Grouping.  Photograph ©Public Domain.

To details; the steel wagons were 21′ 6″ over headstocks, had a 12′ wheelbase and Holden’s split ‘R’ type oil axleboxes were fitted. The first batch were fitted with Parker’s ‘either side’ brake gear which wasn’t particularly fail-safe, and in time was removed. The second batch built in 1903 had a single lever on one side of the wagon acting on all four wheels via yokes – the cross-shaft extending half-way across the wagon where the inboard end was supported by a support post, and this design was continued well beyond the period covered by Basilica Fields, up to and including the 1910 batch ending with wagon number 690. From number 691 of 1911 the either side brake lever issue was resolved with the introduction of the Morton clutch which was applied to all new builds and in time retrospectively fitted to all earlier builds.

Modelling the Diagram 46 wagons

Fortuitously D&S Models include these loco coal wagons in the range, but need to be backdated to cater for the GER period.

Here’s a shelf-queen by D&S which I started many years ago and have, shamefully, still not completed.  I do have a rather lame but legitimate excuse that the axleboxes provided in the kit were completely wrong for the GE period, and I only managed to source some of the ‘R’ type a couple of years ago (thanks Mick!). I suppose there’s no excuse not to finish it now, nor the other half dozen in the pile… Photograph ©2007 Adrian Marks

References

There are various GA drawings at the NRM in York, one for the experimental diagram 33 and three for the 20T wagon dated 1908, 1912 and 1914.

Drawing no. 11290, Loco coal wagon, 15 tons, 8 plank, 18ft. Date: June 1900. Stratford Order E51, diagram 33W

Drawing no. 16285, Loco coal wagon, 20 tons, 21ft 6ins. Date: January 1908. Stratford Order R63, diagram 46W

Drawing no. 18248, Loco coal wagon, 20 tons, 21ft 6ins. Date September 1912. Stratford Order M73, diagram 46W

Drawing no. 19554, Loco coal wagon, 20 tons, 21ft 6ins. Date 28 October 1914. Stratford Order H77, diagram 46W  for batches built 1916-1921.

 

 

Great Eastern Railway Wagons. Part 8 – 8-plank Loco Coal wagons to Diagram 32

Two years ago I left the series on GE coal wagons incomplete, not for want of information, but simply an oversight – a silly error as the drafts were already complete. Here then is the penultimate entry, and the final one will go live in a couple of days.

During the 1890s receipts for coal traffic into London via the GN & GE Joint Line were strong, and investment in coal became a priority in the Boardroom at Liverpool Street. In 1892 the Great Eastern Railway became the major financial supporter of the proposed Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Railway (from which access would be gained via a junction at Pyewipe on the Joint) by sinking a quarter of a million pounds into the building of the new line, for which the Company was given two seats on the Board.

When the new line opened in 1896 the GER insisted that operations be concentrated between Chesterfield and Pyewipe, thus gaining unlimited access to all the collieries on the system. By the end of the century twenty five Great Eastern-bound coal trains came off the LD&ECR each week, and to bolster the company’s loco coal wagons for this traffic, between 1899 and 1902 six hundred 15′ long, 8-plank wagons were built to a new design.

Damping down the coal dust at Stratford a decade and a half after the curtain closes on Basilica Fields. In front of the rotary tippler and 800 ton capacity reinforced concrete coaling bunker (containing about one and a half days’ normal supply) sits a line of loco coal wagons made up of a diagram 32 8-plank, two diagram 31 7-planks, a further diagram 32 8-plank and what looks like a post-War diagram 80 timber-framed 8-plank. The medium-sized post-1903 lettering for wooden-bodied  loco coal wagons makes an interesting comparison with the large 24″ lettering applied to general merchandise opens. A T18 ‘Buck’ fusses in the yard. Photograph ©Public Domain

Rated at 10 tons, the top three planks ran the length of the wagon over the top of the side doors, and as the steel floor precluded a curb rail, a length of timber was attached to the side of the solebar onto which the door hinges were mounted.  The steel underframe was the standard Stratford design with a 9′ 0″ wheelbase, and a single brake lever actuated two brake blocks on one side of the wagon.

Finished in the standard grey livery with white lettering, the 1899 wagons had separate oval maker’s and load plates, but from 1900 a combined rectangular plate was fitted to new builds. The 1902 wagons may have been out-shopped with the medium-sized square lettering (I’ve not yet found a photo to confirm or deny), but over time all were given the post-1903 medium-sized rounded letters.

The Great Eastern bought vast quantities of coal when prices were cheap, building huge mazes out of the  stacks which waxed and waned in size as supplies increased and dwindled. At March the coal stacks even crossed the sidings at peak capacity. On a dull, dank, and thoroughly dingy 23 October 1911 two diagram 32 loco coal opens are parked nearest the camera on the south side near Norwood Drove. Photograph ©Public Domain.

 

Sample numbers included 977, 1416, and 1978.

Modelling the wagons

I’ve not yet located the GA for these wagons, but the type is ripe for utilising an etch for the standard GE wagon underframe, and a resin casting to the wagon body.

 

The Great Eastern 2-4-2Ts: Part 3, The Y65, M15R, G69 and the Hybrid Classes

In my original plan, the time-frame for Basilica Fields was going to span the early 1900s to circa 1915,  but somewhere along the line I dialled both ends backwards which means that the four classes of engines featuring in this entry will no longer play a part as their presence in an 1890s/early 1900s setting is an anachronism too far, even for my pet cat, Schrödinger. However, one or two of them may make an appearance elsewhere down some diverse branch of the Basilica Fields multiverse (but enough of that wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff for now) so I’ve included them for completeness.

Upon James Holden’s retirement in December 1907, the position of Locomotive Superintendent was passed to his son Stephen Dewar, a decision which privately infuriated Frederick Russell, head of the Locomotive Design section at Stratford Works, who felt the position should have been offered to him. And not without good reason, for he was directly responsible for many of the designs attributed to James Holden such as the P43 4-2-2 Single, the famous Claud Hamilton 4-4-0 and the infamous Decapod 0-10 0T. However, nepotism won the day, and S.D. Holden took up the position in January 1908.  In the end it worked out for the good; Stephen Dewar’s tenure was short and his contribution to locomotive design fairly light (although he patented many inventions while at Stratford), much of the work under his reign can be attributed to  Chief Draughtsman E.S. Tiddeman, a long-term Stratfordian, who maintained continuity and ensured development of the Great Eastern style. Russell’s career took a different path – he was later promoted to  Superintendent of Operations by General Manager Henry W. Thornton, and was instrumental in devising and implementing the famous suburban Jazz services.

The Y65 Class

The last of James Holden’s revised version of the Worsdell M15 class was released to traffic on 18th June 1909, a full eighteen months after his retirement.  Holden Sr. had left the Great Eastern Locomotive Department in a tremendously strong condition, and it wasn’t until 20th July 1909 that the first locomotive built under Stephen Dewar’s tenure was put into revenue-earning service. The Y65 class 2-4-2Ts were intended to both replace the last of the pre-Worsdell o-4-4 tanks class and to free up for other duties the rusticated members of the E22 class which pottered up and down the lightest of GE branchlines.

The prototype Y65 no.1300 posing in the photographic French grey (the ultramarine undercoat) livery with black borders and white lining. Most of the features mentioned in the main text can be seen; the brass-rimmed stovepipe, the dome on the back ring of the small boiler, the four-column Ramsbottom valves over the firebox, the large cab and huge quantity of glass – the tops of the front and rear windows following the profile of the high-arc roof, the brass ventilator, cab doors and coal rails on the bunker. Photo ©Public Domain

Letter Account Y65 consisted of two engines, and following on from the introduction of no.1300, no.1301 was released to traffic six days later on 26th July 1909. It’s certain that James Holden followed the career of his son, so must have looked on with amazement at the non-standard nature of this first locomotive which was an anathema to his legacy; a smorgasbord of old, new and seeming indecision. The uniquely sized 15” x 22” cylinders  were driven by Stephenson’s link valve-gear with slide valves in a geometry similar to the T18 class, the non-standard small diameter boiler measured just 3′ 11½” over the clothing and was pressed to a working pressure of 160p.s.i. With 3’6″ radial and 4′ 10″ driving wheels, the engines’ nominal tractive effort was 11607 lbs.

Stylistically the Y65s were a scaled-down M15 crossed with an E22 and topped-off with a capacious (some might say disproportionately large) high-roofed cab, mirroring the Great Eastern Railway’s express and goods locomotive policy of the new century, and set a precedent for future tank engine designs. These small radial tanks quickly became known as the ‘Crystal Palaces’ due to their not inconsiderable acreage of glass.

The water capacity of the small side tanks was 1000 gallons and the bunker held just two tons of coal.  The Worsdell-style dome was seated on the rear rather than the front ring of the boiler, and it’s difficult to understand the reason why four-column Ramsbottom safety valves were fitted when Stratford had always been – and would continue to be – satisfied that two-column valves were sufficient on boilers rated up to up to and including 160p.s.i. This anomaly was compounded by placing the valves over the firebox, in the manner of the two-column type, and implies that any safety concerns didn’t stretch as far as having the fireboxes stayed. The chimney was also unique, a kind of halfway-house comprising of a standard GE steel- fabricated stovepipe to Dia.1 with a brass rim of the type fitted to the contemporary large passenger engines. The Westinghouse pump and ancillary equipment, continuous handrails with integral Holden blower, cab controls, 1882 parallel-shank buffers, and whistle, et cetera, were all standard GER fittings.

Having done the rounds on the lightly laid branch lines of East Anglia, many Y65s ended up back in the London District, several of which were converted for compressed air operated push-pull services. No.1304 was the second fitted with the equipment which was based on the LB&SCR auto gear. The converted Y65s had a second Westinghouse pump fitted to the front of the LHS tank along with extra Westinghouse hose connections and a couple of electrical connections on the rear bufferbeams, one of the latter can be seen running along the rear of the valance to the cab door. For the auto services increased coal capacity was needed, so an extra four rails have been added to the bunker. No.1304 stands at Seven Sisters in 1921 in a very tired and grubby blue livery. Most Great Eastern locomotives had by this time been repainted in the wartime grey livery after Stratford’s stock of blue paint had been requisitioned by the Admiralty in 1915. Curious to see the front RH buffer is of the 8-bolt tapered variety, while the LH buffer is still the old 1882 parallel type. The arch-topped front and rear windows of the A67 batch differentiate between the majority of the class and the two prototypes. Photo ©Public Domain

New features which would become standard on future GER tank engines included a  brass ventilator at the top of  the front weatherboard, and half-height coal bars to protect the large rear windows. Two coal rails were fitted from new to bring the coal capacity up to 2 tons, S56-style cab doors increased the comfort of the crew, and intriguingly, as the class clearly wasn’t intended for London District duties, destination brackets were fitted to the smokebox door and bunker rear.

As nos. 1300 and 1301 were being built, an order was put in for a further ten locos, and nos. 1302 – 1311 to Order A67 were released to traffic between 2nd November 1909 and 28th January 1910. This new batch of radial tanks were identical to their two predecessors with one exception; whereas the top of the front and rear windows on nos. 1300 and 1301 followed the contour of the roof, those on nos. 1302 – 1311 were the same shape as the windows on the cab side sheets.

The class were initially allocated across the GE system and sub-shedded at Buntingford, Saffron Walden, Ramsey, St Ives, Stoke Ferry, Aldeburgh, Hadleigh, Braintree and Maldon. Much has been written on the unpopularity of the class, but I believe the majority of this stems from rehashing the offhand nature of their entry in the RCTS Vol.7 (1964). Earlier histories such as Aldrich (1944) had nothing bad to say about them, simply remarking that they would have been improved if rebuilt with a larger boiler.

On release to traffic at the end of 1909, no.1302 – the first of the A67 batch – was sent to Buntingford, replacing no.1301 which was allocated to Colchester for working to Walton. Locomotives shedded at Buntingford were fitted with a small steam-raising stop valve so that at night they could operate a pump to raise water from a nearby well to refill the supply tank. This might account for the small ladder on the side of the boiler. A conical re-railing jack rests on the tank top. Despite being in the suburban timetable, there were never any destination boards produced for Buntingford. Photo ©Public Domain

Indeed, at Buntingford, the only allocation within the Stratford district and which hosted no.1301 from its release to traffic in July 1909 until replaced by the newly-constructed no.1302 in December of that year, the class proved to be very popular. Aside from the crews’ appreciation of the covered footplate, their ability to haul eleven six-wheeled coaches over the relatively steep gradients of the tortuous 13½ mile long branch with ease earned them their approval. Neither was this feat unusual; in later years Frank E. Wilson witnessed one of the class haul a pair of Gresley Quint-Art sets from Palace Gates to Liverpool Street and the smartly-timed service to Enfield.

In April 1913, no.1302 was sent to Southend to trial two-carriage trains in the newly-expanding residential area of Southend, stopping at a number of proposed halts – a precursor to the auto-train trials the following year. The experiment was short-lived and no.1302 is seen here later the same year back in the East End on a Canning Town service with six-four-wheeled suburban carriages. The two green discs with white rims indicate the train originated at Victoria Park. Photo ©Public Domain

It’s also interesting to note that the three remaining pre-Worsdell 0-4-4T classes they were supposed to replace remained in service and continued to be withdrawn at a slow pace, the last of which survived until the end of 1913. Concurrently the Y65s began to appear on services in the Stratford District, some of which would later include the Great Eastern’s early push/pull services.

Modelling the Class

Connoisseur Models once produced a 7mm kit of the class (strictly speaking the A67 batch), and I was fortunate enough to buy the penultimate one before they all sold out. I was going to run it under the same excuse I have included the E22 class – i.e. occasional through trains from Buntingford, but my self-imposed temporal constraints have now put paid to that idea. There is, however, a strong possibility that No.1302 will eventually surface elsewhere in the Basilica Fields meta-universe.

I have to admit I’m rather fond of this class and its quirky style, and for me their introduction heralded the end of all that had gone before; La Belle Époque of the Great Eastern Railway had come to an end and nothing would be the same anymore. Stratford was entering a modern mechanised age where there was no place for the breathtaking, bewitching, beguiling, or beautiful; new locomotives appearing from the Works would now be big, bold, brash and brutish.

 

The G69 Class

Increased demand on the London outer suburban services by the end of the Edwardian period prompted the need for more frequent and heavier trains. With the exception of the single experimental 12-wheeled bogie suburban carriage set on the Enfield line, all suburban trains were still made up of close-coupled 4-wheeled carriages built between 1885 and 1905. During the first half of 1910, drawings of eight- and nine-coach sets of 48′ 3″, 50′ 0″ (reflecting the design of main line stock) and 54′ 0″ long (twice the length of the 4-wheelers) eight-wheel bogie carriages were prepared to determine the best way forward.

One warm Sunday in June on Brentwood Bank, no.63, resplendent in photographic grey livery, poses with the first of the new suburban bogie sets for the Loughton – Epping service. The large cab looks well-proportioned on these larger 2-4-2Ts with their high tanks and busy boilers. The four-column safety valves in the forward position and the parallel brass-rimmed chimney are prominent. The carriages are as follows: Dia.542 bk3rd no.333, Dia.236 1st/3rd composite no.7, Dia.104 1st no.10, Dia.300 2nd no.92, Dia. 300 2nd no.94, Dia.300 2nd no.97, Dia.237 1st/2nd composite no.6, Dia.542 bk3rd no.334. The set was close-coupled with a break point between seconds nos.94 and 97. Photo ©Public Domain

By the end of the year Stratford had settled on eight-carriage 54’0″ sets to the same design as the contemporary 50’0″ main line stock. These were designed to carry 808 seated passengers with up to half as many again standing, and, crucially, weighed 50 tons more than the comparative 4-wheeler sets. Four sets were completed in 1911 and a further ten were in service by 1914, all performing duties on the Loughton – Epping – Ongar line. Of course, the increased weight of the trains required more powerful locomotives and Stephen Holden chose to dust off his father’s revision of Worsdell’s M15 design, which had proven to be both reliable and capable for many years, and develop it for modern requirements.

The first of two batches of ten, numbered 61-70, formed Order G69 and were released to traffic between 3rd May and 30th June 1911. They took their numbers from a Neilson & Co.-built batch of Adams’ London Suburban 0-4-4 tanks, the No.61 class, which had been delivered in 1875-6, the last of which had already been added to the duplicate list and prefixed with a cipher.

No.61, the first of the class, poses newly shopped in ultramarine blue, the vermilion lining not visible due to the limitations of the orthochromatic emulsion. Three coal rails were fitted from new, and unlike similar photographs of new G69s posed in grey, the running number is not repeated on the lined-out toolbox. Photo ©Public Domain

The second batch of ten to order A71 and numbered 1-10 entered revenue-earning service later in the year between 17th and 29th November. The 2-4-2T was the second Great Eastern locomotive to carry the prestigious No.1 works plate, the previous bearer being the first of S.W. Johnson’s 2-4-0 ‘Little Sharpies’ built in 1867 and remarkably still in service (and, incidentally, the last to be withdrawn in 1913), having been put on the duplicate list on the 1st January 1911 and its running number prefixed with a zero.

The G69 class were fitted with a brand new type of boiler, the same size as the M15s, but pressed twenty pounds per square inch higher at 180p.s.i. They had a sloping rather than a flat grate and were fitted with four-column Ramsbottom valves placed over the back ring of the boiler. Visually the biggest impact was the addition of the high-arched Y65-style cab (or, strictly speaking, the A67 cab) which appeared rather handsome and well-proportioned on these larger engines. There was a 10cwt reduction in coal capacity to 3 tons, but slightly higher side tanks gave an increase of 250 gallons to 1,450 gallons.

The engines had parallel built-up chimneys (and as passenger engines were topped off with brass rims) of a visually similar design to the tender engines introduced from 1898, with the exception that the base was slightly shorter. However, internally the chimneys were very different; all the chimneys on the larger engines, with the exception of Decapod, were tapered inside the casing and had cast iron petticoats (designated Diagram 2), whereas those on all the tank engines from G69 onwards were parallel inside (designated Diagram 3).

Eight days after entering service, no.61 is photographed on 21st May 1911 at Liverpool Street with the unique 12-wheel bogie suburban set (with eight wheel bogie brake thirds at each end) built in 1900 for the Enfield line and described in the entry on the R24R class. At least engineers standing on the running plate testing the performance of the boiler had tall timber shelters by this time, their predecessors twenty years earlier had no such luxury, just a low shelter to stop them from falling off. Photo ©Public Domain

All twenty of the Westinghouse-braked engines were fitted with condensing apparatus for the London suburban duties. However, unlike the M15s, the vent pipes were situated on the tank tops outside the cab, pre-empting their position on the future L77 class 0-6-2Ts. One other visible difference contributed to the busy nest of rods and pipes on top of the boilers; on the M15 160p.s.i. boilers, injector steam cocks were mounted on top of the boiler back inside the cab, but on the 180p.s.i. boilers the same cocks were mounted near the dome with control rods leading back to the cab.

Modelling the Class

Laurie Griffin’s F6 kit is the LNER classification for the GER G69. It’s an upgraded version of the old Shedmaster kit, and with care produces an accurate model.

 

The M15R Class

With the first ten G69s entering service, the opportunity was taken to up-rate a number of the 1903-1909 series of M15s with the sloping-grate G69 180p.s.i. boiler, and to differentiate these locomotives from the earlier 160p.s.i. flat-grate rebuilds they were assigned the classification M15R or M15Rblt.

No.110 was rebuilt as an M15R in August 1913. The LH side injector valve is visible behind the dome, and the rimmed parallel chimney and four column safety valves in the forward position distinguish it from the M15 class engines. By the time of this photo, the old flat-dished smokebox door, which was prone to heat distortion, has been replaced with Alfred Hill’s heavier type. Eight-bolt tapered buffer housings have been fitted. Photo ©Public Domain

As noted above, the first G69, no.61 was released to traffic on 3rd May 1911, and one month later M15 no.104 entered Stratford Works for a General overhaul and to be rebuilt.  Four months later, on 9th October, both it and no.103 (which had come into Works two days after no.104) re-entered revenue-earning service as M15R class engines, the first of an eventual 30 members of the class. The vast majority of these rebuilds were completed over the next three years, and all bar one completed by 1916. No.188 finally re-entered service in June 1920 having languished in the sidings at Stratford since the end of the Great War.

Visibly there were few differences between the M15R and the 160p.s.i. M15s; the M15Rs had sloped instead of flat grates, G69-style parallel chimneys with brass rims instead of stovepipes, four-column safety valves seated on the back ring of the boiler instead of two column valves over the firebox, whistles mounted on the cab front instead of the valve seat, and the injector steam cocks mounted behind the dome instead of inside the cab.  The rebuilds retained their 1200 gallon side tanks and 3½ ton capacity bunkers.

No.96 was converted to M15R in October 1911 and still carries the original smokebox door and 1882 parallel buffers. The RH injector steam cock on the boiler with the long control rod and pipe is is much more visible on this non-condensing member of the class. Somewhat intriguingly it has what appears to be a steam-raising stop valve in front of the dome, which suggests it may previously have been sub-sheded at Buntingford, though I have no record if it there.  Photo ©Public Domain

Twenty of the rebuilds were non-condensing engines, but six of these gained the apparatus during their rebuilding which indicated their anticipated duties. In his article ‘Improving Buckle’ Lyn Brooks suggests that the only mechanical difference between the M15R and G69 classes was the size of shim placed between the eccentric straps and rods in the link motion.

Visual differences between the M15 and M15R classes soon began to blur, a process which years later would eventually end with just the running number giving away the classification; in 1913 it was decided that engines and boilers were no longer paired for life, and the following year, once production of the 160p.s.i boilers ceased, G69 sloping-grate 180p.s.i. boilers began to be fitted to the 1903-1909 series of M15s with new four column valves de-rated to 160p.s.i. and placed in the forward position over the back ring. With the exception of No.798, which received a brand-new but de-rated 180p.s.i boiler in 1920, 160p.s.i boilers removed from the 1903-1909 series were set aside for surviving members of the three batches of M15s built during the 1880s – the first three of which had been withdrawn in 1913.

With the imposing Skinner Street bridge behind, 2-4-2Ts contribute to the smog as they wait their turn at Liverpool Street station. At the back a C32 class, at front right an unidentified 1903-1909 series condensing M15 class and on the left no.76, a condensing M15 with a 180p.s.i. boiler with four-column safety valves in the forward position and de-rated to 160p.s.i.  Neither the East nor West Side signal boxes had a full view of the domain they controlled so each had an extra ‘observation box’  located at the ends of platforms 4/5 and 14/14 respectively. The driver of the unidentified M15 lets off a sharp whistle and is looks towards the East Side OB indicating he is ready to move onto the waiting carriages in platform 13 for the next down outer suburban service. Photo ©Public Domain

At 53t 19cwt the M15Rs weighed 2 tons 6cwt heavier than the M15 class but 2½ tons lighter than the G69 class, although the tractive effort was identical to the latter.

Modelling the Class

The LNER classification for the GER M15R was F5 and both Connoisseur Models and Laurie Griffin can supply kits for the class, though third party castings from Laurie, Ragstone or Alan Gibson would be needed to backdate the kit to the GER period.

 

M15 with G69 Boiler and Large Cabs

In 1912 a hybrid conversion resulted in this rather convoluted classification for two locomotives, nos. 789 and 790.  Post-rebuild they were to all intents and purposes members of the M15R class, retaining their original 1200 gallon side tanks and 3½ ton capacity bunkers, but were  fitted with G69 cabs. Both had been built as non-condensing M15s in 1904 under Order D58 (no.790 being the second member of the class to carry that number, the previous bearer being renumbered no.800 in 1892), and both received condensing apparatus on being rebuilt. One interesting facet of this hybrid class was that like the M15 and M15Rs the condensing vent pipes were located inside the cab so projected through the roof. However, whereas the other locomotives had a sizeable stub protruding from the shallow-arc roof with the top of the pipe cut away horizontally, the top of the vent pipes on nos.789 and 790 were almost flush with, and contoured to match, the profile of the G69 high-arc roof.

Hybrid no.789 looking very down-at-heel rests at Stratford. As can be seen, it is, to all intents and purposes an M15R with the G69 high-arc cab. From this angle the top of the condensing vent pipe can be seen almost flush with, and profiled to the shape of the roof. There’s an interesting riveted patch on the smokebox which I’ve not seen elsewhere. Photo ©Public Domain

It’s not known why nos. 789 and 790 were converted in this hybrid manner, but they brought the total number of conversions to thirty two.

One final, and somewhat intriguing comment about the M15-M15R and G69 classes is that the side tanks and bunkers had 2”x 2” angle around the bottom edges, flush-riveted to the running plate. The feature was common on earlier tank locomotives, but these and the T18’s were the only tank engines built after 1885 to retain the feature.

Modelling the class

Jim at Connoisseur Models sells an add-on pack of etches to convert his F5 kit into the F5/6 hybrids.

The other hybrid, no.790 also looking very scruffy, although apparently with a new or reconditioned smokebox and chimney. Although the GER classified these two engines separately, the LNER somewhat confused by their nature, lumped them in with the G69s and classed them F6. British Railways saw sense and later reclassified them both F5. Photo ©Public Domain

To round off the 2-4-2T saga, I suspect that no more than a handful of Great Eastern Railway locomotives were captured on film during the pre-Grouping period. However, In October 1920 M15R no.96 was fitted with the experimental Regan electro-mechanical train control system and underwent trials on the Fairlop Loop. In addition to the automatic stop device, the right hand side trailing radial wheel was fitted with a speed control. The Great Eastern had already trialled the Sykes (SYX) train control system on the Palace Gates and Ongar branches, fitting the control gear to G69 no.66, part of which was designed in-house and patented by E. S. Tiddeman. The Regan system didn’t find favour with the company and the trials progressed no further.

Fortuitously the rushes survive in the Pathé newsreel library, and an article on the trials was published in the November 1920 issue of The Railway Magazine, illustrated with photos, possibly stills from the film. The article notes that those present included the inventor Mr J. B. Regan, Mr J. H. Thomas M.P., various chief officers of the GER, signal engineers and experts from several railway companies, and representatives of the technical and general press.

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/unknown-celebrities-at-inauguration-of-new-train-l

It’s a fascinating snippet for not only the railway element of seeing a Great Eastern locomotive at work on home turf in this period, but in terms of fashion, especially the wide range of hats, from the Bowler and Homburg, to the Fedora, down to the various styles of flat caps, which, intriguingly, had begun to transcend social status. It’s lucky for the very confident Mr. Cholmondley-Warner standing in the 4-foot the Great Eastern used the Westinghouse brake and could stop on a sixpence…an H&S apoplexy in more ways than one!

Finally, the F5 Trust is building a working replica of no. 789, details of which may be found here.

References:

• GERS Journal no.6 – The Crystal Palace Tanks by Lyn Brooks
• GERS Journal no.103 – An Introduction to the GER Carriage Part 2 by John Watling
• GERS Journal no.129 – Updating Buckle Part 2 by Lyn Brooks
• GERS Journal no.146 -Carriage Building in 1911 by John Watling
• GERS Journal no.150 – The Locomotive Department in 1912 by Lyn Brooks
• GERS Drawings by John Gardner
• RCTS Locomotives of the LNER Part 7.
• Yeadon’s Register Volume 39
• Locomotives Illustrated  no.116
• The Buntingford Branch by Peter Paye

 

 

 

The Great Eastern 2-4-2Ts: Part 2, the C32 Class.

In 1893 James Holden introduced a new 2-4-2T specifically designed for fast stopping trains on the increasingly heavy outer suburban services from Liverpool Street. Classified  C32 from the Stratford Works Letter Account of the first batch ordered, the new locos were a tank version of Holden’s earlier 5’8” ‘Intermediate’ (GER parlance for Mixed Traffic) 2-4-0s  which was in turn a lighter version of his 7’0” express T19 class, the ‘Standards’, which would also lead to the development of the D27 7’0” 2-2-2 ‘Singles’ in the late 1890s.

The C32 class was the epitome of Holden’s standardisation policy, sharing the boiler & firebox, and the arrangement of motion and cylinders with a number of other classes, the trailing and driving wheels with the T26, and of course incorporating the standard contemporary smokebox and Worsdell/Holden boiler fittings shared with all GE locos. As a passenger-rated class it was finished in the ultramarine, black and vermilion livery.

On 29^th March 1893, two weeks after the final member of the E22 class 0-6-0Ts (Order B32) rolled off the production line at Stratford Works, the first of the C32s, no.1090, was completed and began trials, after which it was painted in what appears to be ultramarine with white lining rather than the usual French Grey livery used for official photographs.

The official photograph of no.1090 confirms one particularly valuable piece of information in that it was fitted with Holden’s short-lived (in terms of production) side-valve blower, operated via a rod and crank at a break-point on the smokebox in an otherwise continuous handrail. The two-ring boiler, pressed to 140 lbs per square inch has the dome on the front ring in Holden’s usual style with the clack valves directly underneath, and encased two-column Ramsbottom safety valves with the whistle on the valve seat positioned over the firebox. The Westinghouse pump, exhausting into the smokebox , was located on the driver’s side tank front, and three coal rails were fitted from new. Photograph ©Public Domain.

The usual practice in locomotive design was to incorporate the maximum axle loading on the coupled wheelbase, however, in common with the 2-4-0s it was instead over the leading axle, and why Holden chose to do this is not entirely clear. The overall length of the frames was 31’ 9” which was the maximum practically possible for Great Eastern tanks due to the dimensions of the end of platform engine docks at Liverpool Street. This constraint led to the one slight design difference between the C32 and T26 classes, and as we shall see, almost certainly contributed to the tanks’ Achilles heel. To maximise the bunker length and incorporate a coal capacity of 3t 5cwt for their intended duties, the tanks had a 3” shorter leading wheelbase of 7’ 6” with the frames in front of the smokebox correspondingly reduced.

Dispensing with the radial axleboxes favoured by Worsdell for the leading and trailing wheels of his M15 class 2-4-2Ts, Holden copied the double-frame design of the leading axle of his 2-4-0s and installed a similar axle for the trailing wheels,  the outer frames forming the valance over the coupled wheels. This feature, along with the 1460 gallon tanks and capacious bunker, contributed to the massive and distinctively brutish appearance of the class.

The carrying axles at each end were double-bearing, incorporating axleboxes fitted to both the inner and outer frames. The inner journals lacked collars which allowed 1” of lateral, uncontrolled sideplay, and in common with the T19 and T26 classes, Holden ensured there was some inbuilt flexibility of the outside frames which allowed them to absorb all of the imparted side forces when the axles reached their limit of travel.

No.1099 is seen with a train of four-wheeled carriages at Romford Factory, the original Eastern Counties Railway Loco Works.The date is before its first rebuilding with a 160psi boiler in 1906. It may have been frowned upon as bad practice, but here’s proof that putting discs on both ends of the loco at the same time actually happened. The discs indicate the service runs between Liverpool Street and Romford, Brentwood, Shenfield or Chelmsford, running on the Through line into and out of Liverpool Street. Up Chelmsford, Shenfield or Chelmsford trains running on the Through line from any point between Romford Junction and Bow Junction inclusive were required to carry “No Distinguishing Discs by day and a white light only under the chimney at night”. Engines running on the Local line between Bethnal Green and Liverpool Street were to carry white-edged green discs or green lights over the buffers only between those two points. Photograph ©Public Domain

Numbers 1090 – 1092, ex Works between 29 March and 17^th April, were handed over to the running department between 20^th April and 8^th May, but within seven days of  no.1092 entering service all three were back in Works for what the Stratford Repair Register describes as ‘extra clearance’. Quite how this was achieved isn’t clear, but in practical terms an extra half-inch of sideplay was added to both carrying axles to allow the C32s to traverse the same minimum radius curves as the 2-4-0 classes because it was found that the limit of travel on the trailing axle in either direction was too restrictive.

Numbers 1093-98 were ex-Works 19^th April -11^th May but the Register notes they had the extra clearance added before they entered service between 15^th May and 17^th June.  Number 1099, ex-Works 16^th May had the extra clearance built in during construction and was released to traffic on the same day as no.1098.

A second batch of ten locos, numbers 1070-9 to Stratford Order 033 were built and handed over to the running department between 27^th November 1893 and 23^rd January 1894.  These and all subsequent locos had the 1½” sideplay built in from new.

No. 1085 taken between April 1894 and January 1905. The large condensing pipes fitted to this batch added to their powerful appearance. As with the M15 class, the condensing vent pipes are inside the cab and protrude through the roof. The outside frames haven’t yet suffered the ignominy of a fracture and are so far free of strengthening plates. The cupboard in the lower half of the bunker gives access to the trailing wheel springs. Yet again there’s quite a haze of traffic grime on the paintwork. Photograph ©Public Domain.

The ten locos to Order 033 were immediately followed by another ten to Order R33, numbered 1080-9, which entered traffic between 19^th February and 18^th April.  However this latest order was different from the previous twenty locos as they were fitted with condensing apparatus for running over the East London Railway to New Cross (though I’ve seen no evidence of them being used on this route) and the then new suburban lines out of Liverpool Street which burrowed under the Goods Station at Bishopsgate.  Although the condensing gear was deemed necessary in the Up direction on the suburban lines, due to trains often being held by signals in the tunnel for the roads into the terminus to clear – especially during peak hours – it wasn’t the easiest of locations to use the apparatus in the Down direction because the exhaust was directed into the side tanks at a time when it was imperative to have a roaring fire and full head of steam to haul several hundred tons of  fully-laden carriages out of the Bishopsgate Low level station up the 1:70 Bethnal Green Bank to the junction. Even with the blower turned on full, the lack of exhaust to aid combustion must have made that section of the journey especially difficult, and drivers suffered the additional problem that condensed steam routed into the side tanks raised the temperature of the water to the point where the injectors ceased to work – feed pumps not being a feature of GER suburban tank design. It’s interesting to note that any official instructions for the use of condensers in the suburban tunnel no longer exist and in later years, long after the LNER repealed the requirement in the 1930s, contemporary drivers later admitted they couldn’t actually remember ever using the equipment there in the GE period!

Number 1084 in the Stygian gloom at Liverpool Street prior to November 1904 when it entered Stratford Works for rebuilding with a 160psi boiler. The paintwork on the tank sides and boiler has been well looked after by the crew, but much of the paint on the smokebox and its door has been completely burnt off under heavy load. The loco displays the simple headcode for an ordinary passenger train. Photograph ©Public Domain

Between July and November 1894, the Repair Register notes that first batch of locos comprising nos.1070-9 were modified by having their frames recessed, but again what exactly is meant, or what it entailed is unclear. It has been suggested the Register implies the frames were somehow dished to clear the carrying wheels, and although it would be an easy modification around the trailing wheels, it’s a mystery as to how this was achieved at the front end due to the presence of the cylinder casting which lay directly behind the leading wheels. The Register is silent on the matter regarding the subsequent batches which suggests the modification had already been implemented during building, though why the first batch had to wait so long to be altered is another unknown.

In December 1894 no.1098 became the first of the class to have control springs fitted to the carrying axles and in January 1895 it was fitted with ‘stronger check springs’, though the Register is silent as to specifics.

Between 1^st and 25^th May 1895 a fourth batch to Order G35 and numbered 1060-9 were released to traffic. As with the first two batches, these ten locos were not fitted with condensing gear.

No.1060 on a Liverpool Street to Chelmsford fast train leaving Brentwood in May 1908. The first three carriages are fresh out of the carriage repair shops having lost their varnished teak finish and are now painted in the golden brown livery with yellow lining around the windows and upper beading. Photograph ©Public Domain.

During that month, nos.1071 1072 and 1077 were fitted with a ‘new controlling rubber spring arrangement’ although there is no official indication as to what form these control springs took,  it would seem the entire class was modified as photographic evidence shows the hornguides of the C32s were deeper than the General Arrangement drawings and the castings fitted to the T19, T26 and D27 classes.

After a gap of seven years a final batch of C32s to Letter Account D53 were ordered. These ten locomotives differed from the earlier forty members of the class by being fitted with a new type of boiler pressed to 160 lbs per square inch, and like the R33 batch, were given condensing apparatus. Numbers 1040-9 were released to traffic between 1st and 25^th May 1902.

No.1044 was released to traffic on 16th June 1902 and is seen here at Stratford circa 1912 (the year Harrison communication cords were superseded by ‘butterfly’ train alarm gear on the carriage ends) but before May 1914 when it entered Works to be rebuilt. No.1044 has done well to survive thus far without fracturing the outside frames. The destination board reads Loughton and the headcode indicates the service originated at Fenchurch Street. A haze of traffic grime covers the paintwork and the smokebox is in a poor condition. Photograph ©Public Domain.

Beginning with no.1078 in September 1903 and ending with no.1061 in June 1909, the rest of the class were all rebuilt with the 160psi boilers.

A further batch of ten locos were considered and speculatively numbered 1050-9, but with the introduction of the revised M15 class in 1903 was not followed through.

Some years after their introduction, problems arose with stress fractures appearing near the top inboard corner of the carrying hornguides and riveted (later welded) strengthening plates were fitted. This must have come as a bit of a surprise as at this time neither the longer-serving T19 nor the T26 classes suffered from this malady, and although several years later a solitary T19, no.743,  rebuilt with a heavier Belpaire boiler (and a consequently higher tractive effort) and several of the T26 class did suffer stress fractures and were correspondingly fitted with strengthening plates. By Grouping all except one of the fifty C32s were given strengthening plates either side of all four axleboxes.

No.1080 at Southend after rebuilding with the 160psi boiler with a strengthening plate riveted to the outside frame behind the front axlebox. The paintwork again has a haze of grime on it, and again the smokebox has been burnt away from being worked hard on the fast outer suburban trains. The loco is showing the headcode for Shenfield and Southend local passenger trains, and the coaching stock behind is a mix of widened and six-a-side suburban 4-wheelers. Photograph © Public Domain.

It may be pertinent to note that the original configuration T19 and D27 classes had a lower tractive effort than the T26 and C32 classes, but it’s likely that the heavy bunker and shorter overhang at the front of the C32s increased the lateral forces when starting away or pulling hard, leading to the high incidence of stress fractures. It’s also interesting to note that all of the photograph’s I’ve managed to locate of the class show the strengthening plates fitted only after the class had been rebuilt with the higher pressure 160lbs boiler, producing a higher tractive effort.

Services

On release to traffic the C32s were all put to work on the heavy outer-suburban fast stopping trains to destinations such as Bishop’s Stortford, Broxbourne, Hertford, Loughton, Southminster and Southend – services which some of the class remained on for many years.

One of my favourite railway photographs of all time! I love the imperfect, dreamy quality of this image taken on a rural stretch of the GE main line to Cambridge which I know so well. As a child I used to spend Thursday evenings after swimming watching trains from just about where those saplings were planted – what I’d give to have seen No.1048 leaving Broxbourne for Liverpool Street with a typically eclectic mix of Victorian 6-wheel stock during the mid-Edwardian period; the nearest carriages are a 32ft Dia.513 brake, a six compartment third to Dia.422, a five compartment first or second to either Dia.105 or 306 built specifically for the Hertford services, and another third after which it all gets a bit fuzzy! The covered footbridge linking the station platforms can be seen in the distance, a view which would be blocked from 1908 with the building of a new road overline bridge immediately south of the station. The headcode indicates the fast service from Hertford stops at Broxbourne, Cheshunt and then on to Liverpool Street via either Clapton to the suburban lines (for which the condensing-equipped loco is suited) or Stratford and the Through or Local lines (where it passes through Basilica Fields) to the terminus. Any loco hauling a Special service going via Stratford and taking the Through lines between Bethnal Green and Liverpool Street was required to show two more white-edged green discs on the middle and left-hand lamp irons between those stations. Photograph ©Public Domain.

Modelling the class

In 7mm no commercial kit exists or has ever existed, which is surprising considering the popularity of the T26.  However, that top man Colin Dowling has come to the rescue by making available highly accurate profile milled parts for the body and frames and I’ll be building one of the condensing series for Basilica Fields.

Sources

This entry would have been very poor indeed were it not for the following rich seams of information:

• Locomotive Mysteries: Side Control Springs – Lyn D. Brooks, Great Eastern Society Journal #52
• Side Control Springs: An addendum – Lyn D. Brooks, Great Eastern Society Journal #55
• Great Eastern Locomotive Mysteries: Condensing Gear – Lyn D. Brooks, Great Eastern Society Journal #62
• Locomotives of the LNER Part 7 – RCTS
• Yeadon’s Register of LNER Locomotives Vol.39
• Great Eastern Locomotives Past and Present – C Langley Aldrich
• GER Appendix to the Working Timetable 19,  January 1906

 

The Great Eastern 2-4-2Ts: Part 1, The M15 class ‘Gobblers’

By the time the curtain rises on Basilica Fields in 1890, the foundation for future outer-suburban passenger services is well in hand. Thomas Worsdell’s relatively short tenure at Stratford (January 1882 – July 1885) had brought much to the table in terms of both engineering and style, the best of which his successor, James Holden, was keen to retain or improve upon rather than discard, and the M15 class illustrates this policy well.

Flying in the face of a very long line of successful suburban and branch line 0-4-4T designs by Bromley, Adams and Johnson, in 1884 Worsdell designed the first Great Eastern 2-4-2Ts since Sinclair’s low-boilered ‘Scotchmen’ Well Tanks built in the early 1860s.  Stylistically the M15s set the standard for future tank engine design at Stratford,  incorporating many features which are now considered quintessentially Great Eastern, and between 30th June and 11th November 1884 ten locomotives to Letter Account M15, numbered 650-9, were released to traffic.

To specifics; the locos were 31’9″ long over the frames – the maximum length permissible due to the size of the loco docks at the platform ends of Liverpool Street, and to which all large tanks down to Grouping would conform – ten spoke radial wheels fore and aft, 5′ 8″ driving wheels, and 18″ cylinders with Joy’s radial motion. The boilers were in three-rings, butt-jointed and pressed to 140psi with Worsdell’s standard dome on the middle ring. The round-topped fireboxes were fitted with cased twin Ramsbottom safety valves and the whistle on the driver’s side of the valve seat. The smokebox was built up from angle iron, and faced with a wingplate, a dished smokebox door, and topped with Worsdell’s pattern of fabricated stovepipe chimney.

For many reasons this photo is an absolute gem. For a start it is the only one I’m aware of which shows one of the first ten M15s in Worsdell’s as-built condition;  the early-style lamp sockets on the bufferbeam and brackets on the smokebox date the photo to not later than c1886. The cylinder covers below the smokebox door are prominent and reminiscent of the NER A Class. The Roscoe displacement lubricator on the smokebox side and separate boiler handrails with the Westinghouse exhaust pipe running over the top of the tank from cab to smokebox are features of the period. Only four of the eight possible bolt holes on the parallel buffer housings have been utilised – hollow spindle buffers are fitted as are under-hung Westinghouse hoses. The destination boards at this time were assigned to specific locomotives, evidenced by the running number on them. Worsdell’s small 4″ GER lettering on the tank side is noticeable. Fascinating to see that even at this early date there is considerable loss of paint from the front and sides of the smokebox and door due to working the engine hard. Photo ©Public Domain

Other fittings included Roscoe lubricators on the smokebox sides, clack valves on the front ring with straight feed pipes, a brass spherical blower valve on the driver’s side of the smokebox operated by a rod inside the handrail, a Westinghouse pump inside the cab on the fireman’s side exhausting into the smokebox via a pipe running above the tank top, parallel buffer casings with hollow-spindle buffers, under-hung Westinghouse pipes, a capacious cab with a wooden roof and round spectacles in both front and rear weatherboards. All the locos were turned out in Worsdell’s ultramarine blue livery, lined vermilion with black borders,  4″ high lettering and brass numberplates painted vermilion.

For nearly a century historians were universally scathing of Worsdell’s decision to fit Joy’s valve gear to three of his five GER  locomotive designs, and the M15s quickly gained the unfortunate epithet ‘Gobblers’ from their rather voracious appetite for both coal and water.  David Joy had been a colleague and friend at Crewe, and his radial motion had been used successfully there by Worsdell’s mentor, Francis Webb.  Joy’s gear is considered superior to Stephenson’s Link motion as the valves open and shut more quickly – an advantage when ‘notched up’ and the maximum opening of the valves is relatively small. However, in 1964 the RCTS pulled no punches in a rather rambling statement  saying that the M15s were ‘poor machines’ before conceding their problems probably stemmed to the difficulty fitters had in setting the valves on the radial motion.

The fact of the matter is that the ten locos performed sufficiently well enough on the outer suburban services they were tasked with that the Directors of the historically cautious Board (they having successfully lifted the Company out of Chancery in the previous decade by expediency) can’t have been overly concerned as a second batch of twenty locomotives to Order E16,  numbered 660-79, was given the all-clear and gradually released to traffic between 22 December 1884 and 3rd March 1886.

No.663 circa 1886. One of a couple of photos I have of the E16 series in as-built condition. Virtually identical to the M15 series, these twenty locos had radial wheels with 12 spokes instead of 10 and tank fillers on the tank tops rather than in the bunkers. Lamps were hung from the unusual brackets on the smokebox. Photo ©Public Domain

In May 1885, an article in The Engineer explained Worsdell’s somewhat unusual explanation for experimenting with and building the compounding G16 4-4-0 class which also used Joy’s gear; for no greater reason than to try and force the crews to drive expansively by notching up the motion rather than driving full on the regulator. Most senior drivers in the early 1880s had started their careers on engines fitted with primitive Gab gear which had two positions – full forward or full reverse – and the old habit of driving on the regulator was not only proving hard to break, but was being passed to their firemen who would be the next generation of drivers.

The complexities are far too involved to describe in detail here, but tenacious research by Lyn Brooks of the GER Society and his comparison between the contemporary Y14 Stephenson Link and M15 Joy motion by computer simulation concluded that there was little difference between Joy’s and Stephenson’s motion when driven expansively, but driven in full gear on the regulator Joy’s motion caused a reduction of pressure in the main pipe and made the engine sluggish which encouraged the driver to open the regulator wide, consuming more coal.

However, before he could satisfactorily address the issue of the coal and water consumption Worsdell handed in his resignation and taking the opportunity of a substantial pay rise (essentially doubling his income with the addition of a house thrown in) by moving to Gateshead, home of the North Eastern Railway. Soon afterwards the M15 design with a slightly larger driving wheel diameter was introduced as Class A on the NER – a company for which, due to its location, large coal consumption was not an issue.

Holden came to Stratford from Swindon in July as Nos. 670 and 671 were being built and was happy enough with the specification to see the order completed. However, the Works was also in the middle of constructing Order P17 – which comprised of ten Worsdell’s Y14 0-6-0s with Stephenson’s Link motion – and the following month Holden ordered one of the Y14s should exchange cylinders and motion with an M15 for comparative trials. M15 number 674 was the chosen loco, and very little work was needed to accommodate the Y14 cylinders and motion, it being released to traffic on the 23rd October. For Y14 no.696 it was a very different story;  to clear the valve chests positioned above the cylinders on the M15 Joy motion, the boiler needed to be pitched 7½” higher than normal, and it wasn’t until 30th December 1885 that the loco was released to traffic.

The results of the trial was as expected; Holden hadn’t tackled the issue of the driving style and thus fuel consumption of the hybrid Y14 was higher than average for the class and that of the hybrid M15 was lower. Holden had already ordered ten new members of the M15 class, and it’s debatable whether the change to Stephenson’s motion was due to the test results or was in fact pre-emptive.

No 797 from Holden’s O18 series with Stephenson’s Link motion – the small cylinder lid cover differentiates these from the previous thirty locos. The three ring boiler with dome on the middle ring and 12 spoke radial wheels contradict RCTS pt.7. Spike lamp irons and swan-necked Westinghouse standpipes were Holden’s initial improvements as built, the Macallen blast pipe rod and crank on the smokebox is a recent addition and dates the photo to between c1894 and late 1896 when the loco entered Stratford Works for rebuilding. The location is St. Pancras which the GER had gained access via the Tottenham and Hampstead Joint from 1868, choosing to exercise perpetual running powers for eight passenger trains daily in 1870 for the sum of £2000 per year. By 1893 the figure had risen to £4000 and services extended beyond Tottenham to far-flung destinations including Cambridge, Ely, Norwich and even Royal trains to Wolferton for Sandringham. Photo © Public Domain.

Between 24th September 1886 and 17th January 1887 Order O18, numbered 790-9 were released to traffic with Y14-style 17½” cylinders and the valves set between them, Stephenson’s Link motion and, contrary to hitherto published information, with single-bar slidebars rather than the four-bar type fitted to the earlier batches. The RCTS Part 7 states that 140psi boilers with two butt-jointed rings and the dome in the forward position were fitted, but my photograph above clearly shows a three-ring boiler with the dome over the middle ring. For the first time spike lamp irons were fitted from new and Holden’s 6″ lettering was used on the tank sides, spaced a little wider than Worsdell’s lettering. Small cylinder cover lids were fitted at the base of the smokebox, and again 12-spoke radial wheels were used, but essentially the rest was as designed by Worsdell, and even the Westinghouse pumps remained inside the cabs.

For the next five years there is little to report: In July 1892 no 790 was renumbered 800 to clear a numerical block for an order of T19 2-4-0s and the following year, and with an increase in heavy passenger and outer suburban work Holden introduced a new design of 2-4-2T based on his T26 2-4-0s, the C32 class (the subject of the next entry).

Between August 1895 and January 1898 the thirty locomotives of the M15 and E16 batches were rebuilt with new 2-ring boilers and the dome seated on the front ring, The first twenty rebuilds down to August 1896 had boilers pressed to 140psi, but thereafter the new standard 160psi type was fitted. Holden took the opportunity to replace the Joy radial gear with Stephenson’s Link motion, single-bar slidebars and 17½” cylinders. To avoid the expense of a new crank axle the cylinders were spaced with 2’0″ centres and fitted with the T19 2-4-0 pattern of link motion with the valves beneath; their steep inclination resulted in a large, incongruous cylinder cover lid underneath the smokebox door.

No.652 again, but now after rebuilding in December 1896. The very many changes are obvious and detailed in the accompanying text. The steep inclination of the T19-type cylinders and motion is given away by the bolts on the frame under the smokebox and the mountainous cylinder cover lid. Note the 12 spoke radial wheels and the condensing vent pipes projecting from the top of the roof. No.652 was a Stratford loco for all but the last couple of years of its existence, and was the third to be withdrawn from service which was as early as October 1913. Photo © Public Domain

Other contemporary improvements were made; narrow-waisted smokeboxes to a new flanged pattern were fitted, tank filler lids on nos. 650-9 were moved from the bunker to the tank tops, the Westinghouse pumps were moved to the tank front on the driver’s side and coal rails were fitted to the bunkers.  All thirty received continuous handrails with Holden’s rotary-pattern blower actuated via rod and crank inside the handrail, sight-feed lubricators in the cab replaced the displacement type on the smokebox sides, the clack valves were moved back to the dome centreline with the feed pipe cranked forwards. Swan-necked Westinghouse standpipes replaced the under-hung type on the front and rear bufferbeam, and some locos were fitted with tapered buffer housings. There must have been a policy of ‘grab the nearest wheelset’ during rebuilding as several were photographed with a mixture of 10 and 12 spokes on the radial wheels. No.674 returned the Y14 type of Stephenson’s Link motion to number 696 in January 1897 and later fitted with the T19 type to fall in line with the rest of the rebuilds.

No. 663 again, but after rebuilding. Although I have dozens of photos of M15s it’s nice to be able to compare changes to specific machines during the course of their time in service. Taken from the driver’s side, this fills in the blanks left over from the photo of no.652’s rebuild and shows the new position of the Westinghouse pump. No.663, rebuilt with a 140psi boiler in August 1895 has picked up two pairs of 10 spoke radial wheels and some 8-bolt tapered buffer housings. It remained a normally-aspirated loco until withdrawal in September 1925. Photograph © Public Domain.

The main difference between the M15 and E16 rebuilds is that the original ten nos. 650-9 were all fitted with condensing apparatus during their rebuild, whereas the E16 series remained as normally aspirated engines.  The visual evidence of the condensing gear on these locomotives were two long pipes leading from the smokebox to tank tops and vent pipes inside(!) the front of the cab, the tops of which projected out from the roof.

During the rebuilding of the M15 and E16 batches, Holden’s O18 series also came up for reboilering, and between July 1896 and June 1899 all ten were fitted with two-ring boilers with a working pressure of 160psi. These locos retained their Y14 type Link motion and 17½” cylinders at 2′ 4″ centres with valves set between them and the correspondingly small cylinder cover lid.  As with the two earlier batches, all the contemporary improvements were made. None of the ten were fitted with condensing gear at this time.

No. 791 was rebuilt in February 1898 and is seen here in the Platform 6 engine dock at Liverpool Street in the Edwardian period after 1903, probably before its second rebuild with a 2-ring telescopic boiler in 1910. Fewer outward changes visible than the first thirty locos, but it has received 10 spoke radial wheels and despite the lack of condensing equipment, exhibits all the features future builds would be given from new. Photograph © Public Domain.

When the need for new outer-suburban engines came up in 1898 Holden turned back to the 0-4-4T type which had served the GER so well for many years and designed the S44 class based upon his ‘improved Y14’ 0-6-0, the N31 class. Unfortunately neither design turned out to be as successful as expected and for the first and only time Holden experienced the pitfalls of a standardisation too far. Therefore, in 1903 with the opening of the new suburban line between Woodford, Ilford and Seven Kings via Fairlop and Hainault, and with many of the early Bromley, Adams and Sinclair 0-4-4T classes becoming life-expired, Holden had the O18 drawings of 1886 dusted off, and down to 1909 a further 120 members of the 2-4-2T class were built in ten batches, somewhat incredibly retaining by-now archaic features such as outside brake rigging.

No.236 of series I60, built in 1906 – the 82nd M15 to be built. With new production in full flow, outwardly nothing has changed from the 1886 rebuilds. This was the second batch to have condensing equipment fitted from new, and only ten more locos would be built without the gear. Photo © Public Domain.

Telescopic two-ring boilers pressed to 160psi were fitted to new builds from 1907 onwards and fifteen earlier rebuilds gained this type from that year until a 180psi boiler came into service in 1911.

Eighty of the new builds were fitted with condensing apparatus from new, only the ten locos comprising series’ P55 of 1903 (nos.140-9), D58 of 1904 (nos. 781-90), R58 of 1905 (nos. 91-100) and  D63 of 1907 (nos. 582-91) were normally aspirated. Over time various engines either lost or were fitted with the gear, depending on whether they were transferred in to or out of the London District.

All the locos were Westinghouse braked, but nos. 216-20 from Order G63 built in 1907 were also fitted with a vacuum ejector from new for working the East London Railway, and many other members of the class were later dual-braked.

The exhaust from No. 577 of series A62 (released to traffic in 1907) diffuses the sunlight as it passes Bishopsgate Low Level station with the 1.45pm Liverpool Street to Albert Dock (via Basilica Fields!) on a warm 12th May 1912. The train is comprised of an eclectic selection of types and vintages, and the loco is the ‘wrong way around’; usual practice was chimney leading out of the terminus. No.577 had a short life, the LNER withdrawing it from service in January 1931. Photograph © Public Domain.

In Service

The first forty locos of the class were initially based in the London Division, working into and out of Liverpool Street and Fenchurch Street on outer suburban duties. Most were based at Stratford with some out-stationed to suburban and rural depots in the area. With the advent of the larger C32 2-4-2T and S44 0-4-4T classes there was some movement to the country districts, but in the main, during the period covered by Basilica Fields, the majority worked into and out of London, and it wasn’t until the end of the Edwardian era that there was a general migration to the more rustic pastures.

No.664 on a Liverpool Street to Woolwich train at Stratford Market on a changeable 6th September 1902. Exhibiting a considerable amount of traffic grime the loco is obviously on a shuttle service as the crew have retained the white-edged green headcode disc on both the chimney and at the top of the bunker. The carriage is a 4-wheel suburban brake third designed by Worsdell to Dia.507 in 1883, many of which Holden widened by 12″ between 1902 and 1904.  Photograph © Public Domain.

Modelling the Class

Fortunately the 7mm modeller is well served with kits from both Connoisseur Models and Laurie Griffin for the LNER versions of the class, and a range of detailing parts to backdate them to GER condition are available from Laurie Griffin, Ragstone Models and Alan Gibson Workshop.

It’s my intention to build at least four of the class; M15 no.652 as rebuilt in 1895 with condensing gear, E16 no.664 as rebuilt in the same year without condensing gear, O18 no.795 as built with a 3-ring boiler and one of the post-1903 batches with condensing apparatus. I’d also quite like one of the original thirty in pre-rebuilt condition, perhaps no.661 which wasn’t reboilered until November 1897, but we’ll see about that.

M15 under construction from a Connoisseur F5 kit. I had intended to use this one to portray no.652 as rebuilt, but may now end up as one of the O18 batch of 1886 in original condition or possibly one from the early 1900s such as no.781 from series D58 in 1904 which was the 1000th locomotive built at Stratford under Holden. Photograph © Adrian Marks.

This journal entry supersedes the earlier place-holder article titled ‘Gobblers’ published 10 March 2010, which has now been deleted.

Sources/Further Reading

• Great Eastern Locomotives Past & Present 1862-1945 – C Langley Aldrich
• GER Society Journal no.129 – Updating Buckle: The M15 Class ‘Gobbler’ 2-4-2Ts – Lyn Brooks
• GER Society Journals nos. 14 and 18 – A Background to GER Locomotive Policy 1856-1923, parts 1 & 2 – Lyn Brooks & A. C. Sandwell
• GER Society Journal no.87 – Personal Profile: T. W. Worsdell – Richard Joby
• GER Society Journal no.87 – GER Locomotive Mysteries: Worsdell Gobblers – Did They? – Lyn Brooks
• GER Society locomotive drawings – John Gardner
• Locomotives of the LNER – RCTS Part 7
• Yeadon’s Register Vol. 39