Great Central 0-6-0 Locomotives in Great_Britain

Class 18T Altered / J59 (Locobase 9591)

Data from Richard Marsden's LNER Encyclopedia on [], last accessed 10 June 2006.

Built originally for the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire in 1877-1881, this set of yyard switchers was designed by Charles Reboul Sacre. About 20 years after their introduction, John G. Robinson rebuilt them with smaller saddle tanks, steel buffer beams, and enclosed cabs.

Twenty-six were taken in by the LNER as J59s, but none lasted even into the 1930s.

Class 4 / J61 (Locobase 9593)

Data from Richard Marsden's LNER Encyclopedia on [], last accessed 10 June 2006.

Class 5 / J62 (Locobase 9594)

Data from Richard Marsden's LNER Encyclopedia on [], last accessed 10 June 2006.

Class 5A / J63 (Locobase 10618)

Data from "Side Tank Shunting Engine," G. Central R.", The Locomotive Magazine, Volume XIII [13] (15 May 1907), p. 86.

This sextet was based on the 1896 saddle-tank design shown in Locobase 9594, but had side tanks of greater capacity. The specifications indicate that the firebox also was shallower and certainly the class had more adhesion weight and a higher-pressure boiler.

In addition to the six delivered in 1906, a seventh followed in 1914.

Class 9J / J11 (Locobase 8929)

Data from Richard Marsden's LNER Encyclopedia ([], accessed 25 November 2007).

John G Robinson produced this goods locomotive design and contracted with Neilson, Reid & Co for 40 that were delivered in 1901-1902. Gorton Works - the GC shops - produced at least 48 and Beyer, Peacock, Vulcan Foundry, and Yorkshire Engine also supplied locomotives. Their "stack talk" reminded some enginemen of the QF (quick-firing) field guns used in the Boer War and they were nicknamed the Pom-Poms.

Marsden notes: "The J11s were very popular with the enginemen, and at various times they worked just about every class of train from pick-up goods to express passenger! Most of the GCR and Cheshire Lines sheds received significant numbers of J11s at one time or another."

All J11s were eventually superheated; see Locobase 8930. Robinson installed his 18-element superheater design in No 16 when it was built in 1909. His apparatus differed from the better-known Schmidt superheater in that he joined the elements directly to the header whereas Schmidt's elements were held to the header by bolts and copper "jointing rings".

Class 9J / J11 - superheated (Locobase 8930)

Data from Richard Marsden's LNER Encyclopedia ([], accessed 25 November 2007).

The numerous saturated-steam "Pom-Poms" went through a superheater upgrade over a period of more than 3 decades. Robinson installed his 18-element superheater design in No 16 when it was built in 1909. His apparatus differed from the better-known Schmidt superheater in that he joined the elements directly to the header whereas Schmidt's elements were held to the header by bolts and copper "jointing rings". He began upgrading the 9Js (Locobase 8929) in 1913.

Most retained their slide valves and Belpaire fireboxes to the end. Edward Thompson did update 31 J11s with long-travel piston valves in 1942-1953 as part of his program to use a modified J11 as his post-war standard engines. These proved capable of hitting 60 mph with a passenger train on many occasions.

Class Robinson Cl 18 rebuild / J58 (Locobase 8712)

Data from Richard Marsden's LNER Encyclopedia -- [], accessed 8 September 2007.

In 1902, John G Robinson took in hand some of the older Class 18 0-6-0s and transformed them into saddle-tank engines; the program lasted 4 years and made use of as much of the original engine as possble.

Robinson took advantage of the relative youth of the rebuilt boilers to create some handy mixed-traffic locomotives with drivers slightly taller than the originals. Because they had steam brakes and vacuum ejectors, they could switch passenger stock or even fill in on passenger trains.

Still, they were older locomotives and their post-conversion lifetime was about 20 years. Six had been retired by the time the LNER gave its J58 class ID to this design and the other 14 were gone by 1930.

Class unknown (Locobase 10114)

Data from "The Engines for working the London Extension of the M Sheffield & L Ry", The Railway Engineer, Volume XVI, No 6 ( June 1895), p. 169 and "Six-Coupled Goods Engine, Great Central Ry," The Locomotive & Railway Carriage & Wagon Review, Vol IV (March 1899), p. 41. Works numbers were 3704-3725 in 1895, 3726-3747 in 1896-1897, and 3748-3769 in 1897.

Like the 10 radial-tank locomotives designed by Harry Pollitt awarded to Beyer, Peacock in 1895 (Locobase 13576), these goods engines had Belpaire fireboxes and shared the same boiler. They were delivered first.