LNER Thompson Class B2

LNER Thompson Class B2
B2 class locomotive No. 61615 Culford Hall leads the 12.14 Summer Saturday Liverpool Street to Hunstanton express past Bethnal Green.
Type and origin Power type Steam Build date 1928–1937 (as class B17) Rebuild date 1945–1949 Number rebuilt 10
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 4-6-0  • UIC 2′B h2 Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Leading dia. 3 ft 2 in (0.965 m) Driver dia. 6 ft 8 in (2.032 m) Wheelbase Loco: 28 ft 2 in (8.59 m) Axle load Full: 18 long tons 12 cwt (41,700 lb or 18.9 t) Adhesive weight Full: 54 long tons 14 cwt (122,500 lb or 55.6 t) Loco weight Full: 73 long tons 10 cwt (164,600 lb or 74.7 t) Fuel type Coal Firebox: ​  • Grate area 27.9 sq ft (2.59 m2) Boiler Diagram 100A Boiler pressure 225 psi (1.55 MPa) Heating surface: ​  • Firebox 168 sq ft (15.6 m2)  • Tubes 1,033 sq ft (96.0 m2)  • Flues 460 sq ft (43 m2) Superheater: ​  • Heating area 344 sq ft (32.0 m2) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 20 in × 26 in (510 mm × 660 mm) Valve gear Walschaerts Valve type 10-inch (250 mm) piston valves
Performance figures Tractive effort 24,863 lbf (110.60 kN)
Career Operators LNER » BR Class B2 Power class LNER: load class 4 BR: 4P; 5P from May 1953 Axle load class Route availability: 5 Withdrawn 1958–1959 Disposition All scrapped

The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Thompson Class B2 was a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive. It was introduced in 1945 as a two-cylinder rebuild (with diagram 100A boiler) of the three-cylinder LNER Class B17. Ten were rebuilt from Class B17 but no more were rebuilt because of the success of the LNER Thompson Class B1.

Numbering

The LNER renumbered its locomotive stock during the period that these locomotives were being rebuilt, so some were renumbered at the time that they were rebuilt, some before rebuilding, and some after rebuilding. The renumbering plan for class B2 was the same as for class B17: in each case the first two digits were altered from 28 to 16. Thus 2803 became 1603 at rebuilding in October 1946; 2807 had already become 1607 (December 1946) prior to rebuilding in May 1947; and 2814 (rebuilt November 1946) became 1614 in December 1946. Between 1948 and 1950, British Railways increased these numbers by 60000; no. 61644 was so renumbered at the time of its rebuilding in March 1949.

Names

The rebuilt locomotives kept their names:

• 2803 (1603) Framlingham
• 2807 (1607) Blickling
• 2814 (1614) Castle Hedingham
• 2815 (1615) Culford Hall
• 2816 (1616) Fallodon
• 2817 (1617) Ford Castle
• 2832 (1632) Belvoir Castle
• 2839 (1639) Norwich City
• 2844 (1644) Earlham Hall
• 2871 (1671) Manchester City

Renaming

Two of the locomotives were renamed. No. 1671, based at Cambridge, was the official Royal engine, used to haul specials to and from Wolferton, which was the nearest station to Sandringham; for this purpose it was renamed Royal Sovereign in April 1946. When this locomotive was unavailable, no. 61617 Ford Castle was the designated reserve, and it was the latter which was one of the locomotives used to haul the funeral train of King George VI on 11 February 1952. This locomotive was used from Wolferton as far as King's Lynn; the train was hauled from there to King's Cross by BR standard class 7 70000 Britannia. The second renaming occurred after the withdrawal of 61671 in September 1958: in October, the name Royal Sovereign was transferred to no. 61632, which then became the official Royal engine.

None of them survived the scrapyard to be preserved.

References

• Template:RCTS-LocosLNER-2B

Further reading

• Yeadon, W. B. (1993). Yeadon's Register of LNER Locomotives, Volume 5: Gresley B17 and Thompson B2 Classes. Irwell Press.

External links

• LNER encyclopedia