North Eastern 0-4-4 Locomotives in Great_Britain

Class 290/J77 (Locobase 20871)

Data from "North-Eastern [sic] Railway Class 290 Tank Engines," Locomotive Magazine, Volume XXVII [27] (15 Octobers 1921), p. 255 and Richard Marsden, "The W.Worsdell J77 (NER Class 290) 0-6-0 Tank Engines" in the LNER Encyclopedia at [], last accessed 28 March 2021.

So many Bogie Passenger Tanks (Locobase 3516) appeared on North Eastern's roster beginning in 1874 that the North Eastern began rebuilding the engines at York Works in 1899. Over the next five years, York turned out 40 Class 290 shunters. Darlington Works produced ten more in 1907-1908 and ten more in 1921.

Converting the 0-4-4 well tank to an all-adhesion 0-6-0T involved eliminating the well tank in favor of side tanks, modifying the trailing ends of the frame, fitting a new cab and coal bunker. Driving and rear axles turned in new axle boxes held in new hornblocks. All six wheels measured 14 1/2" (368 mm) smaller, thus suiting the engines to their shunting obligations. New coupling rods served the smaller wheels.

"Possibly due to their rugged Fletcher qualities", wrote Marsden, "the J77s were popular with both engineman and enthusiasts."

Most worked for the NER and LNER through World War II.

Class Bogie Tank Passenger /G6 (Locobase 3516)

Data from Ahrons (1927); Richard Marsden's LNER site -- [] (January 2004.;and "NER Bogie Tank Passenger" in Wikipedia at [], last accessed 10 March 2024. See also []; and G W J Potter, A History of the Whitby & Pickering Railway (London: The Locomotive Publishing Company, 1906), p.

The first batch of twelve came from Neilson & Co in 1874. Others followed from Hawthorn's and from the North Eastern shops. OS Nock (Locomotives of the North Eastern Railway, 1954) pronounced them "splendid little engines." As Wilson Worsdell's Class Os began replacing the BTPs in the late 1890s, BTPs underwent substantial modifications to become Class 290 0-6-0Ts (later LNER J77s) to serve in shunting roles as well as making up coal trains.

Other BPTs provided the motive power for Steam Autocar trains in which the BTP, converted to bi-directional running from the cab, either pulled one passenger car behind it or formed the meat in the sandwich between two cars with the driver commanding operation from the head of the front coach. As Wikipedia describes the linkage:" The driver had control of the regulator and reverser by means of a mechanical connection running under the coach and connecting to the engine using a form of universal joints."

GWJ Potter provided an intimate look at Fletcher's Steam Autocar in service on the Whtiby & Pickering branch that headed from the port of Whitby, which lies northeast of York in Norty Yorkshire southwest to Pickering and beyond to Malton. As he understood the reasoning for the type, modifying the BTPs avoided taking on the cost of "purchasing new and expensive motor vehicles ...the results have proved very satisfactory in many ways."For one thing, he pointed out the 58-passenger coach and BTP together ran as a much lighter consist than the usual three-coach train weighing 90 tons. "Moreover, the cylinders of the engine have been reduced in size, with a view to economical working."

As he wrote his assessment in 1906, Potter pointed to a widespread dispersion of BTP Steam Autocars to many of the local branches on the NER. Over time, however, Wikipedia reports a gradual replacement by Sentinenl Waggon Company steam-powered, cardan-shaft driven railcars. .

At grouping in 1923, 46 were taken into the LNER as class G6 where they served only briefly before retirements ending in 1929.

Marsden offered an important caveat about data relating to this class: "Fletcher was known for allowing some flexibility in locomotives, and the G6s were no exception ...There were even variations in the sizes of the cylinders and the driving wheels." And how -- within this loosely defined class of "back tank" engines were examples with 63" and 66" drivers, the latter with 17" cylinders. Locobase used Marsden's data which were official as of the 1923 Grouping into the LNER, but should note that Ahrons's specifications included 16" x 22" cylinders, 140-psi boiler, and 60" drivers as well as a slight difference in evaporative heating surface.

As passenger service declined, this class began retiring and the last was gone in 1929.

Class Class O/G5 (Locobase 3770)

Data from Bryan Attewell ([] Steam locomotive simulator (April 2000 edition), [], and Richard Marsden's LNER site -- [] (January 2004).

Wilson Worsdell supplanted his brother Thomas's 2-4-2T passenger tanks with these traction-heavy 0-4-4Ts in a flurry of construction that lasted from 1894 to 1901, replacing many of Fletcher's earlier Bogie Tank Passenger engines (see Locobase 3516). According to Marsden, Worsdell's design became noted "for being sturdy, working long and economical careers." Moreover, they were capable of 60-mph running between on the suburban service between Newcastle and Middlesborough. At Grouping in 1923 the class was redesignated G5 in the LNER.

Left alone for the most part, the largely unreconstructed G5s provided useful service through 1949, when withdrawals began. Most of the class were replaced only in 1955-1958.