GNR Class J23

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GNR Class J23
LNER Classes J50 & J51
A J50 0-6-0T at Doncaster Locomotive Depot, fresh from repair at Doncaster Works
Power type Steam
Designer Nigel Gresley
Build date 1913–1939
Total produced 102
Configuration 0-6-0T
UIC classification C
Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Driver diameter 56 in (1.422 m)
Locomotive weight J50/1: 56.3 long tons (57.2 t)
J50/2: 57 long tons (57.9 t)
J50/3 & J0/4: 58.15 long tons (59.1 t)
Fuel type Coal
Boiler pressure 175 psi (1.21 MPa)
Cylinders Two, inside
Cylinder size 18½×26 in (470×660 mm)
Tractive effort 23,636 lbf (105.14 kN)
Career London and North Eastern Railway
British Railways
Class GNR: J23; LNER: J50, J51
Power class BR: 4F
Number in class J50/1: 10
J50/2: 40
J50/3: 38
J50/4: 13
Axle load class Route Availability 6
Disposition All scrapped

The Great Northern Railway Class J23 was a class of 0-6-0T steam locomotive. They had long side tanks that came to the front of the smokebox, which sloped forwards to improve visibility and had a recess cut in to aid maintenance. Forty were built by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) between 1913 and 1922, with a further 62 being added by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) between 1924 and 1939. None of the locomotives survive today.

Contents

[edit] History

For shunting and local goods work, the Great Northern Railway (GNR) had traditionally used saddle-tank engines of the 0-6-0 wheel arrangement; the last of these, of GNR Class J13, having been built in 1909 to the designs of H.A. Ivatt, the GNR Locomotive Superintendent.[1][2]

Nigel Gresley succeeded Ivatt in 1911,[3] and soon identified a need for engines to work the short-haul coal traffic in the West Riding of Yorkshire; the nature of which required that the locomotives also be suitable for shunting. He designed a new class of 0-6-0 tank engine, using side tanks instead of saddle tanks.[4] Gresley had recently begun the rebuilding of the GNR Class L1 0-8-2T locomotives with larger boilers, 4 feet 8 inches (1.42 m) in diameter,[5] which left a number of 4-foot-2-inch (1.27 m) diameter boilers spare. Thirty of these were used in the construction of the new goods tank engines between 1913 and 1919;[4] when ten more were built in 1922, these again used secondhand boilers, but 4 feet 5 inches (1.35 m) in diameter.[6] On the GNR, both varieties were classified J23, but the LNER divided them into J51 with smaller boilers, and J50 with larger boilers.[4] The LNER continued the construction of Class J50, building a further 62 down to 1939,[7] only the first ten of which were given secondhand boilers.[8] Class J51 were rebuilt to class J50 between 1929 and 1935.[4]

Each of the two main classes exhibited variations: locomotive brakes could be operated by vacuum or steam pressure; the driving position could be on the right- or the left-hand side of the cab; and there were three sizes of coal bunker. These variations were recognised by class subdivisions:[7]

  • J51/1 10 built 1913–14, 4 ft 2 in boiler, vacuum brake, right-hand drive, short bunker
  • J51/2 20 built 1914–19, as J51/1 but long bunker
  • J50/1 10 rebuilt 1929–35 from J51/1 with 4 ft 5 in boiler
  • J50/2 20 built 1922–24, as J51/2 but 4 ft 5 in boiler, plus 20 rebuilt 1929–34 from J51/1 with 4 ft 5 in boiler
  • J50/3 38 built 1926–30, 4 ft 5 in boiler, steam brake, left-hand drive, long bunker
  • J50/4 14 built 1938–39, 4 ft 5 in boiler, vacuum brake, left-hand drive, long bunker with hopper

All were built at Doncaster, except the last fourteen which were built at Gorton.[9] Further orders were placed in 1939 and 1941 totalling 25 more locomotives, but these were cancelled in 1942 after a number of components had been manufactured.[10]

[edit] Numbering

On the GNR, the numbers were 157–164, 166–176, 178, 211–230; these were increased by 3000 by the LNER.[11] The first ten engines built by the LNER were numbered 3231–40, following on from the GNR engines;[12] but those built from 1926 were given scattered numbers between 583 and 636, between 1037 and 1086, and 2789–94.[13]

In 1943, new numbers were allotted in a continuous block from 8890 to 8991; these numbers were applied between January and December 1946,[14] but before this could be done, the oldest ten, nos. 3157–64/6/7 were temporarily renumbered 3180–9 in May and June 1945. They duly received their permanent numbers 8890–9 between June and December 1946.[15] Under British Railways, the 1946 numbers were increased by 60000.[16]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Groves 1987, pp. 260–2.
  2. ^ Allen et al. 1970, pp. 25–26.
  3. ^ Groves 1992, p. 3.
  4. ^ a b c d Groves 1992, p. 65.
  5. ^ Groves 1990, pp. 75–76.
  6. ^ Groves 1992, p. 70.
  7. ^ a b Allen et al. 1970, p. 7.
  8. ^ Groves 1992, pp. 71,72.
  9. ^ Allen et al. 1970, pp. 8,11,12.
  10. ^ Allen et al. 1970, p. 13.
  11. ^ Allen et al. 1970, pp. 7,8,11.
  12. ^ Allen et al. 1970, p. 11.
  13. ^ Allen et al. 1970, p. 12.
  14. ^ Allen et al. 1970, p. 8.
  15. ^ Allen et al. 1970, p. 19.
  16. ^ Allen et al. 1970, p. 16.

[edit] References

  • Allen, D.W.; Boddy, M.G.; Brown, W.A.; Fry, E.V.; Hennigan, W.; Manners, F.; Neve, E.; Proud, P. et al. (November 1970). Fry, E.V.. ed. Part 8A: Tank Engines - Classes J50 to J70. Locomotives of the L.N.E.R.. Kenilworth: RCTS. ISBN 0 901115 05 3. 
  • Groves, Norman (1987). Great Northern Locomotive History: Volume 2 1867-95 The Stirling Era. RCTS. ISBN 0 901115 62 2. 
  • Groves, Norman (1990). Great Northern Locomotive History: Volume 3a 1896-1911 The Ivatt Era. Lincoln: RCTS. ISBN 0 901115 69 X. 
  • Groves, Norman (1992). Great Northern Locomotive History: Volume 3b 1911-1922 The Gresley Era. Lincoln: RCTS. ISBN 0 901115 70 3. 

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: GNR Class J23 / LNER Class J50
Pre-grouping railway designs:
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Peppercorn (1946–1947):
Other designs:
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