Great Central 0-8-0 Locomotives in Great_Britain

Class 8A - superheated (Locobase 6415)

Data from Richard Marsden of [] (visited 11 December 2004). Mike Parkes -- [], last accessed 26 June 2006.

A deep Belpaire firebox is noticeable as are the outside cylinders tucked under the frame.

Marsden says eight Q4s (Locobase 8407) retained their saturated boilers throughout their working lives. Mike Parkes credits the GCR with superheating 35 boilers by 1916 and the LNER converting an equal number from 1925-1933. Withdrawals began a year later and by 1940 41 had been taken out of service. The remainder carried on in the face of increased traffic demands; Thompson rebuilt 13 as Q1 0-8-0T tank engines in 1942-1945.

After World War II, all but one of the remaining 35 were carried on the British Railway rolls at Nationalization in 1948. In the next three years, these were retired with the last one going in October 1951.

Class 8A Tinies/Q4 (Locobase 8407)

Data from Samuel Rendell (M. I Mech.E), "The Steam Locomotive: Fifty Years Ago and Now", read Saturday, 13 January 1906 and published in the Transactions of the Manchester Association of Engineers 1906 (January to March) and "New Engines, Great Central Railway," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol VIII (3 Jan 1903), p. 3.

Rendell's entry represents John G Robinson's saturated-steam goods locomotive as introduced in 1902. This heavy mineral engine (drag freighter for coal, iron ore, etc.) used essentially the same boiler as the 4-6-0 Fish engines of the same year (Locobase 6301), but grafted on a deeper firebox with more surface area.