North London 4-4-0 Locomotives in Great_Britain

Class 21 (Locobase 10689)

Data from "A Relic of Bygone Days on the North London Railway," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol XIV (15 October 1908), p. 182-183 and from W B Paley, "Correspondence - Old North London Engine", LM, Vol XV (15 February 1909), p. 32

The October report notes that one of these early NLR locomotives was sold to the Clifton Colliery in 1869, where it still operated in 1907. By that time it had received 2 new boilers from Derby and from G R Cowen of Nottingham and new cylinders from Derby. Paley observes that as delivered the tanks had "...raised fireboxes, no flanges on the driving wheels, practically no weather board, and carried 600 gallons of water in three tanks."

Class 35 (Locobase 10171)

William V Cauchi, "The Locomotive History of the Isle of Wight Central Railway," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol VI (February 1901), p. 26. Works number 443.

Compared to the locomotives that would be built in the NLR's own Bow Street works just two years later (Locobase 3502), these were rather underwhelming engines. Locobase cannot determine how many there were, only that one of them was purchased 19 years after delivery by the Joint Committee of the Cowes & Newport and Newport & Ryde Railways for operation on the Isle of Wight. Compared to their earlier engines, this was quite a step up in size.

In 1887, when the Isle of Wight Central Railway took over, they painted this engine their standard red, and numbered it 7.

Class 43 (Locobase 10348)

Data from "Locomotives of the North London Railway," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol VIII (27 June 1903), p. 448.

Introduced to work the main line passenger service of this suburban railway, these were the smaller of two principal inside-cylinder bogie-tank classes still in operation on the NLR at the turn of the century. By that time they were hauling light shuttle trains operating on the Bow to Plaistow and South Acton to Hammersmith branch lines.

Class 51 (Locobase 3502)

Data from "Passenger Locomotive for the North London Railway", Engineer, Volume 73, No. 2 (2 January 1891), p. 35, 39. See also Ahrons (1927)

William Adams designed these bogie tank engines for suburban service and fitted them with wide-set, outside-frame leading bogies. Compensation levers equalized the coupled axles and tied to a central pivot on the bogies, which was typical of US 4-4-0s, but apparently of special mention by Ahrons as a typical Adams practice in England.

The tanks straddled the forward driver set and flanked the brass dome.

Class 51 - rebuilt (Locobase 10349)

Data from "Passenger Locomotive for the North London Railway", Engineering, Volume 51, No.2 (9 January 1891), pp. 35, 37. See also "Locomotives of the North London Railway," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol VIII (27 June 1903), p. 448.

Delivered as cabless bogie tanks in the 1860s, this class was rebuilt with a bigger boiler but a considerably smaller firebox. By 1903, they were being used on the lighter services; Locobase wonders if the relatively meager direct heating surface area had anything to do with their relegation.

Class unknown (Locobase 8975)

Data from C J Bowen Cooke, British Locomotives: Their History, Construction, and Modern Developments (3rd rev and enlarged ed), (London: Whittaker and Co, 1900).

It's not likely that J C Park strayed too far from William Adams' successful tanks (Locobase 3502). After all, the requirements remained constant - heavy traffic over a crowded line with some steep gradients. Park adopted the by-then standard combination of copper firebox and steel boiler tubes. Bowen Cooke commented on their good performance, noting they were "...in every way suited for the purpose for which they were constructed. They start away from stations very quickly when working passenger trains, and are strong enough for working goods trains when required."

Given the start-stop nature of the service, Bowen Cooke was moved to add: "They are fitted with Messrs Gresham and Craven's gear for working the automatic vacuum brake."