The Class EF1 (''Electric Freight 1'') was a class of electrically powered locomotives built by the North Eastern Railway from 1914. They were built to haul coal trains from the mines at

Shildon Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham (district), County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on ...

to the docks at

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. In common with other LNER electric locomotives, no classification was given to these locomotives until 4 October 1945, when nos. 3-12 were all classified EB1 (Electric Banking 1) although only no. 11 was actually modified for

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

. It was expected that all the locomotives would be similarly modified, but this did not happen, and the remaining locos were classified as EF1 (Electric Freight 1).

Proposed diesel conversion

During the 1920s the coal traffic declined and some of the locomotives became surplus to requirements. In 1928 a plan was devised to convert one of them to a diesel-electric, using a 1,000 hp Beardmore diesel engine driving an

English Electric The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during the war, made munitions, armaments and aeroplanes. It initially specialised in industrial el ...

generator. This plan did not come to fruition.

Class EB1

Electric traction on the Shildon line was discontinued in 1935 but the locomotives were retained for possible future use. Number 11 (later BR 26510) was rebuilt in 1941 for use as a

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

on the Manchester-Sheffield line, and given the classification EB1 (Electric Banking 1). Horsepower was increased from 1,100 to 1,256 and the twin pantographs were replaced by a single central one. In October 1945, all ten locomotives were classified as Class EB1. Although only one had been rebuilt, it was expected that rebuilding of the others would follow. Nos. 3-12 were renumbered as Nos. 6490-9 in the LNER's 1946 renumbering scheme. After nationalisation in 1948 they were renumbered again as 26502-11. In 1949, the plan to convert the remaining nine locomotives as banking engines was dropped and they were reclassified as Class EF1 (Electric Freight 1).

Final years

The EF1s were withdrawn in 1950–51. In 1949, the EB1 (number 26510) was moved to

Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...

Depot (Eastern Region) for use as a shunter. Number 26510 was transferred to departmental stock (as No. 100) in 1959 and withdrawn in 1964. None of the locomotives were preserved.

Notes

References

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The NER Electric Bo-Bo Class EF1 & EB1 Locomotives

Proposed diesel conversion

Class EB1

Final years

See also

Notes

References

Further reading