Great North of Scotland 4-4-0 Locomotives in Great_Britain

Class 28 (Locobase 6399)

Data from H A Vallance The Great North of Scotland Railway (1968 reprint, p 146) and the [] website of the Great North of Scotland Railway Association (visited 8 Dec 2004).

William Cowan became superintendent of the GNS in 1857, the railway was expanding rapidly. Within a few years, Cowan designed Eight-wheelers that were among the first in the British Isles. A photo shows them with the brass steam dome just ahead of the footplate, outside springs on the leading bogie, and a capped stack.

They were rebuilt several times and survived to receive an LNER classification of D47/2.

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Class A (Locobase 6413)

Data from H A Vallance The Great North of Scotland Railway (1968 reprint, p 153); F W Brewer, "The Genesis and Early Development of the British 4-4-0 Tender Enginer", Locomotive Magazine, Volume XXIX [29] (14 July 1923), p.198; and the [] website of the Great North of Scotland Railway Association (visited 8 December 2004).

This was James Manson's first class of 4-4-0s on the GNS. They weighed less than the last of Cowan' designs and had many visible differences, Vallance notes, including plainer apprutenances such as steam domes (cast iron instead of brass), uncapped stacks, and the deletion of brass plates and splashers. Also, Manson increased the weather protection in the cabs by adding side doors.

LM stated that rather than a brick arch, the builder installed David Kinner Clark's "smoke-consuming" system of open-ended tubes fitted in the front and rear of the firebox to admit fresh air to promote combustion. Clark's system originally included steam jets to promote this draft. Although the jets were soon deemed unnecessary, the smoke-consumers were considered quite successful and remained in the locomotives until 1893.

In 1904, Pickersgill put bigger boilers on these engines; see Locobase 7830

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Class A & G / D44 & D48 (Locobase 7830)

Data from Richard Marsden's LNER Encyclopedia -- [], last accessed 5 September 2006.

The six Class A locomotives originally procured in 1884 (see Locobase 6413) came due for an upgrade in 1904 and William Pickersgill persuaded the railway's Board of Directors to let him use a bigger boiler. His retrofit added 108 sq ft to the boiler's heating surface; at the same time, working pressure was reset to 150 psi.

The revived locomotives operated out of the Kittybrewster shed on local passenger and freight services. Three more locomotives with 66" drivers (Class G, see Locobase 6417) also were rebuilt.

Although the LNER assigned the D44 class name to the sextet in 1923, the amalgamated railway almost immediately retired most of them with 6867 (ex-67) surviving until 1932 on work trains. Two D48s were retired in 1928 with the third hanging on until 1934.

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Class C / D39 (Locobase 6407)

Data from H A Vallance The Great North of Scotland Railway (1968 reprint, p 146) and the [] website of the Great North of Scotland Railway Association (visited 8 Dec 2004). Additional data from Richard Marsden's LNER Encyclopedia, last accessed 6 June 2006

Derived from the Class M (Locobase 6406), these were the express-service greyhounds of the railway when they were introduced.

Like the Ls before them, the Cs had barely been assigned the D39 class designation by the LNER upon Grouping when they were retired in 1926.

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Class F/D40 -Heywood superheated (Locobase 7538)

Data from "New Express Locomotives, Great North of Scotland Ry", Locomotive Magazine, Volume 27 (14 May 1921), p. 118. See also ""New Engines for the Great North of Scotland Rly", Locomotive News and Railway Notes, Volume VII, No 44 (25 December 1920, pp. 188-189; Steamindex at [], last accessed 4 February 2021 and Richard Marsden, "The D40 (GNSR Pickersgill Class V & Heywood Class F) 4-4-0 Locomotives" in his LNER Encyclopedia at [], last accessed 4 February 2021. North British Locomotive Company supplied the first six (works numbers 22561-22566) in 1920 with Inverurie Works adding two more in 1921.

These were essentially repeats of the NBLC's sextet was delivered with names: 47 Sir David Stewart, 48 Andrew Bain, 49. Gordon Highlander, 50 Hatton Castle, 52 Glen Grant, 54 Southesk.

Not only were these locomotives quite small for superheated Eight-wheelers, but they retained their plain D slide valves and tucked the cylinders and valve train entirely between the frames. Perhaps the low superheat percentage encouraged the traditional layout and technology.

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Class G/D48 (Locobase 6417)

Data from H A Vallance The Great North of Scotland Railway (1968 reprint, p 153) and the [] website of the Great North of Scotland Railway Association (visited 8 Dec 2004).

Other than decreasing the driver diameter by 6", thus raising the tractive effort proportionately, these locomotives were identical to the A class of a year earlier. Their service lay with mixed-traffic trains.

In 1923, the LNER gave the class designation D48 to these engines. At least one remained in service until 1934.

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Class L/D47 (Locobase 6405)

Data from H A Vallance The Great North of Scotland Railway (1968 reprint, p 146) and the [] website of the Great North of Scotland Railway Association (visited 8 Dec 2004). Additional data from Richard Marsden's LNER Encyclopedia, last accessed 6 June 2006.

Designed by William Cowan, these Eight-wheelers were part of a general expansion of tractive power to suit the growing GNS.

Along with the other Cowan classes, this sextet was rebuilt in 1896-1904 with larger boilers that increased overall weight by 3 long tons (6,720 lb). They enjoyed a 50-year period of service, being retired by the LNER a year or two after being grouped in that almalgamation's D47/1.

Marsden shows another group -- LNER D47/2 -- with smaller cylinders and boilers.

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Class M/D45 (Locobase 6406)

Data from H A Vallance The Great North of Scotland Railway (1968 reprint, p 146) and the [] website of the Great North of Scotland Railway Association (visited 8 Dec 2004). Additional data from Richard Marsden's LNER Encyclopedia, last accessed 6 June 2006 and [], last accessed 10 June 2006.

Follow-ons to the Class L that were introduced 2 years earlier (Locobase 6405), this nonet had larger cylinders served by a boiler of higher pressure. They represented Neilson works# 2351-2359.

Unlike sisters L and C, the Ms persisted in LNER service for a few years after Grouping, the last being retired in 1932.

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Class N/D46 (Locobase 8350)

Data from Richard Marsden's LNER Encyclopedia -- [], last accessed 12 April 207.

The first new locomotives on the GNSR to bear names (KINMUNDY & THOMAS ADAM, respectively), these two Eight-wheelers were based on the G class. The boiler length increased to 10 ft 6 in and the firebox now measured 5 ft 6 in.

This odd pair remained essentially unchanged over the next several decades as they handled all kinds of trains right on through Grouping in 1923. Ex-number 6, now 6806, was retired in 1932 and #5 (6805) left in 1936.

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Class O,P/D42, 43 - superheated (Locobase 20838)

Data from Richard Marsden, "The D42 (GNSR Class O) 4-4-0 Locomotives" and "The D43 (GNSR Class P) 4-4-0 Locomotives" in his LNER Encyclopedia at [] and []. respectively, last accessed 4 February 2021.

Locobases 2991 and 20837 present James Manson's original saturated-boiler classes from 1888-1890. In the mid-'teens, Heywood updated seven of the locomotives with superheaters in a boiler that duplicated the boiler and firebox of the V class (Locobase 5425), but rolling on smaller drivers.

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Class O/D42 (Locobase 2991)

Data from E L Ahrons, The British Railway Locomotive, 1825-1925 (London: Locomotive Publishing Company, 1926); "Passenger Locomotive: Great North of Scotland Railway", Engineering, Volume 49 (23 May 1890), pp. 619 and 624; and Richard Marsden, "The Manson D42 (GNSR Class O) 4-4-0 Locomotives" in his LNER Encyclopedia at [], last accessed 4 February 2021. Works numbers were 3059-3067 in 1888.

A James Manson design with inside cylinders, these passenger engines set a trend of eight-wheeler dominance on the GNS that endured for years. Marsden enumerates the several changes introduced by this class. A longer firebox increased the coupled wheelbase by 5" (127 mm) and bogie wheel diameter increased 9.5" (241 mm) from the usual 36" to 45" (914 mm to 1,143 mm) . All later 4-4-0s would roll on these distinctive bogie wheels.

Manson took the opportunity to convert to balanced slide valves. To do so, he had to move the valve chests from between the cylinders to on top of each cylinder and actuated by rocking shafts.. Because the modification came five months into the contract, Kitson charged 25 BPS more for each locomotive.

The design featured several unusual departures from the norm, one of which was the absence of a brick arch. Instead, Kitson fitted a system that had "been in use with success on the Great North for thirty years." Sixteen 3" diameter tubes let air directly into the firebox at fuel level. ("Combustion tubes", as similar devices were known on US railroads, appeared in many locomotives in the 20th century.)

The original design by Daniel Kinnear Clark influenced airstream movement with nozzles, but practice showed that the nozzles weren't required when the engine was working. Eschewing the nozzles led to a simpler arrangement "has given good results on the Great North of Scotland Railway," Engineering reported, " and "is there acceted as the best method of smoke prevention, whike for economy of fuel it compares favourably with other systems.

See Locobase 20837 for the P class, which were identical to the O class except for a larger tenders and a different builder. Three engines (Q class) had 78 1/2" drivers; see Locobase 5425. All later taken into the LNER as Class D38 . See [] (visited 2 March 2003) for clarification.

Data from H A Vallance The Great North of Scotland Railway (1968 reprint, p 146) and the [] website of the Great North of Scotland Railway Association (visited 8 Deceember 2004) gives much higher values for engine weights. Vallance says they put 28 tons 18 cwt (66,976 lb) on the drivers and 42 tons (94,080 lb) total on all axles.

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Class P/D43 (Locobase 20837)

E L Ahrons, The British Railway Locomotive, 1825-1925 (London: Locomotive Publishing Company, 1926); and Richard Marsden, "The Manson D43 (GNSR Class P) 4-4-0 Locomotives" in his LNER Encyclopedia at[], last accessed 4 February 2021.

Locobase 2991 describes the James Manson design that served as template for 4-4-0s on the GNS that endured for years. The only signficant difference in the Stephenson-built engines was the addition of an eight-wheel tender. A two-axle bogie held up the front end and two rigid axles carried the rear.

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Class Q superheated/D38 (Locobase 7535)

Data from Richard Marsden's LNER Encyclopedia -- [], last accessed 9 June 2006. See also Steamindex's tour of Great North locomotives -- [], last accessed 9 June 2006.

Steamindex noted that the superheating first applied to Manson's O-class (Locobase 5425) #75 was such a success it was immediately applied to the others two engines in the class.

Note, however, how small the boiler was compared to the cylinder volume it was supplying. How much "thrashing" could they take?

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Class Q/D38 (Locobase 5425)

This is Manson's Q class referred to in Locobase 2991; the works numbers were 2698-2700. The data is from RREJ February 1891.

The article describes an arrangement of 16 3" (outside) diameter copper air tubes (two rows of eight in front and back) for conducting streams of air into the firebox.

Later taken into the LNER as Class D38. See [] (visited 2 March 2003) for clarification. See also Richard Marsden's LNER Encyclopedia -- [], last accessed 9 June 2006.

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Class V (1909) (Locobase 15887)

Data from "Passenger Locomotive, Great North of Scotland Railway", The Locomotive, Volume 16, No. 309 (15 January 1910), p. 5; and A T Taylor, "Great North of Scotland 4-4-0 Express Engine" in Modern British Locomotives, 2nd Edition (London: E&FN Spon, Ltd, 1914), p. 9. See also "The D40 (GNSR Pickersgill Class V & Heywood Class F) 4-4-0 Locomotives" online in Richard Marsden's LNER Encyclopedia at [], last accessed 4 June 2022.

Locomotive superintendent William Pickersgill built this octet of V-class engines at Inverurie that differed from earlier class members (Locobase 7537) in fitting a few more tubes in the boiler. All came from the GNS's own works at Inverurie as batches of four in 1909 and four more in 1913 and 1915.

Marsden notes that the small GNS never upgraded its express locomotive designs to either a 4-4-2 or 4-6-0 layout. Thus the Vs hauled the mainline trains from Aberdeen to Keith and Elgin. He underscores the slim resources available by pointing out "the GNSR's best express passenger locomotives ...also had to take their share of goods and branch line workings alongside the other GNSR 4-4-0 classes."

Although quite new when the GNS was grouped with others in 1923 to become the London & North Eastern, none of the Vs were superheated. The LNER placed both the Vs and the superheated F class engines described in Locobase in class D40.

Even though the Vs may have been small, most remained in service up to the nationalization of 1948. Only then did BR retire the last 18 D40s)

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Class V/D40 (Locobase 9081)

Data from Richard Marsden's LNER Encyclopedia -- [], last accessed 9 June 2006 as well as Fowler, Illustrated Locomotive Dictionary (1906), p 504 and A T Taylor, Modern British Locomotives (London: E & FN Spon, Ltd, 1907), p. 9. Works numbers were 5202-5206

As noted in Locobase 7537, the Great North's four classes of Eight-wheelers in the 1890s used the same grate and power layout. As they were added to the sheds, however, deteail differences crept in. For example, this 1899 batch, class V, had a few more fire tubes and consequently a little more heating surface area.

Pickersgill's last eight locomotives built at Inverurie appear in Locobase 15887.

Later superheated using the same boiler as the D38; see Locobase 7535.

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Class V/D40 & D41 (Locobase 7537)

Data from Richard Marsden's LNER Encyclopedia -- [], last accessed 9 June 2006.

Four classes built in 1893 (S), 1895 (T), and 1899 (F & V) shared the same boiler, grate, and cylinder dimensions.

Class Locomotive Engineer Builder Year Works # LNER

S James Johnson Neilson 1893 4640-4645 D41

T William Pickersgill Neilson 1895 4877-90, 5212-5223 D41F

(13 later superheated; see Locobase 7535).

V William Pickergill Neilson 1899 5602-6 D40

(Locobase 9081)

(5 others sold to South Eastern & Chatham as 676-680; see Locobase 10140)

F William Heywood NBL 1920 22561-22566 D40

(delivered with superheaters; for specs see Locobase 7535)

The eight engines built at the GNS's own shops at Inverurie appear in Locobase 15887.

Later superheated using the same boiler as the D38; see Locobase 7535.