North Eastern 4-2-2 Locomotives in Great_Britain

Class I (Locobase 3518)

Based on the earlier C-class 0-6-0 compound freights, these were the first of TW Worsdell's passenger compound singles. In these, however, the unequal cylinders lay side-by-side (LP right, HP left) with valves on top. These engines operated on the Leeds and Scarborough secondary main line express services.

Class J (Locobase 3541)

Data from Harry Clifton Reagan, Locomotives: Simple, Compound, and Electric - 5th Edition, Revised and Enlarged (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1907), pp. 328-334.

Elaborations of the I-class compound singles (Locobase 3518), these engines had taller drivers and less weight on the driving axle. Thus, adhesion was seriously limited.

Nevertheless, according to Nock (Locos. of the NER, 1954), once in service, "they soon showed a remarkable ability to work heavy trains at high speed." At 86 mph (138 kph), steam to the HP cylinder was cut off at 53% of stroke; exhaust steam to the LP cylinder was cut off at 70% of stroke. Reagan cites an instance of a test run between Newcastle and Berwick with 17 empty coaches (train load 270 tons) that covered 67 miles in 78 minutes or a 51.5 mph (83 kph) average. Coal consumption came to a modest 26.4 lb/train mile.

Although Worsdell's design was a success at getting each of the two pistons to do its fair share of work, the mechanism proved fragile. Valves broke, the outside steam chests cracked, and the rocker motion to the outside valve spindle proved troublesome. All ten were converted to two-cylinder simples within six years; see Locobase 2247.

Class J - converted (Locobase 2247)

Data from Ahrons (1927).

Glover (1967) notes that Wilson Wordell converted these from TW Wordell's 2-cylinder compounds. Eight-inch (203 mm) piston valves fed both cylinders; a redesign of their segmental rings ended the problem of water admission and cylinder blowout. As a result, these were the "pride of the line," says OS Nock (Locos. of the NER, 1954).