The Great Northern Railway (GNR) Class J13, classified J52 by the LNER is a class of

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

intended primarily for shunting. The Class J13 were introduced in 1897 designed by

Henry Ivatt Henry Alfred Ivatt (16 September 1851, Wentworth, Cambridgeshire – 25 October 1923) was an English railway engineer, and was the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Northern Railway from 1896 to 1911. Career London and North Wester ...

based on the earlier domeless GNR Class J14 (LNER Class J53). Eighty-five J13s were built up to 1909. Several J14s were rebuilt as J13s from 1922.

Sub-classes

Some locomotives were fitted with condensing apparatus for working on the

Metropolitan Railway The Metropolitan Railway (also known as the Met) was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the capital's financial heart in the City to what were to become the Middlesex su ...

. Condensing apparatus was added to, or removed from, locomotives when they were allocated to, or away from, the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

area. The LNER reclassified the J13 as J52. They also introduced two subclasses, J52/1 for the rebuilt engines and J52/2 for the originals. Forty-eight J52/1s and eighty-five J52/2s passed to

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

ways in 1948 and they were numbered 68757–68889.

Accidents

On May 20, 1952, No. 68790 collided with an NCB locomotive.

Preservation

One, 8846 was privately preserved by Captain Bill Smith in 1959 and became the first locomotive to be privately preserved from BR. In 1980 it was donated to the

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum (NRM) is a museum in York, England, forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historical ...

and made regular visits to other preserved railways and museums on its two Boiler Ticket durations in preservation.

Sources

External links

The Stirling J52 & J53 (GNR J13 & J14) 0-6-0ST Locomotives
''LNER Encyclopedia'' {{LNER Locomotives J13 0-6-0ST locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1897 Standard-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Robert Stephenson and Company locomotives Sharp Stewart locomotives Shunting locomotives C n2t locomotives