LNER Class B12
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Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...
(GER) Class S69, also known as 1500 Class, and later classified B12 by the
London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after London, Midland and Scottish Railway, LMS) of the "Big Four (British railway companies), Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It ope ...
(LNER) is a class of
4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abs ...
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 ...
designed to haul express passenger trains from London
Liverpool Street station Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a major central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It i ...
along the
Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and t ...
. Originally they were designed by S. D. Holden, but were much rebuilt, resulting in several subclasses. Seventy-one S69 locomotives were built between 1911 and 1921 and numbered 1500–1570. Fifty-one of these were built at the GER's
Stratford Works Stratford Works was the locomotive-building works of the Great Eastern Railway situated at Stratford, London, England. The original site of the works was located in the 'V' between the Great Eastern Main Line and the Stratford to Lea Bridge r ...
and the remaining 20 by
William Beardmore and Company William Beardmore and Company was a British engineering and shipbuilding Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area. It was active from 1886 to the mid-1930s and at its peak employed about 40,000 peo ...
. A further 10 locomotives were built by
Beyer, Peacock and Company Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English general engineering company and railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Openshaw, Manchester. Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson founded the company in 1854. The company clo ...
for the LNER in 1928 and numbered 8571–8580. From 1948 the
British Railways 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 Commis ...
numbers were 61500–61580 (with gaps).


Background

At the time of their introduction, the "Claud Hamilton" 4-4-0s were becoming outclassed on the heaviest express. Although an enlarged
4-4-0 4-4-0, in the Whyte notation, denotes a steam locomotive with a wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels. First built in the ...
design was mooted, it was realised that any such design would have too high an
axle load The axle load of a wheeled vehicle is the total weight bearing on the roadway for all wheels connected to a given axle. Axle load is an important design consideration in the engineering of roadways and railways, as both are designed to tolerate a m ...
for the tracks of the
Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...
, which had a relatively low restriction. Another design constraint was the short turntables used at the time. This meant that a
4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abs ...
design was decided upon, although the design was relatively short compared to similar designs introduced at the same time.


Construction

The first locomotive, numbered 1500, was delivered to Ipswich shed in November 1911, and construction continued at Stratford Works up to number 1538 which was delivered, again to Ipswich shed, in June 1915. There was then a brief pause due to wartime restrictions and the next two locomotives, 1539 and 1540, were not delivered until June 1917. A further batch of 20, numbers 1541 to 1560, were constructed by Beardsmore's having works numbers 135 to 154 although running numbers were not in the same order as the works numbers. These were delivered from June 1920 to April 1921 during which time construction continued at Stratford Works with numbers 1561 to 1570 also being delivered in 1920. After the grouping the LNER ordered a further batch of 10 locomotives from Beyer Peacock of Manchester, and these were delivered with running numbers 8571 to 8580 to Gorton shed. This final batch brought the number of locomotives constructed to 81.


LNER

Seventy were still in service at the
1923 grouping The Railways Act 1921 ( 11 & 12 Geo. 5. c. 55), also known as the Grouping Act, was an act of Parliament enacted by the British government, and was intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, by "grou ...
, the LNER adding 7000 to the numbers of nearly all the ex-Great Eastern locomotives, including the Class S69 locomotives. A further ten were ordered in 1928 to ease a power shortage caused by the stalled development on a new class of 4-6-0 locomotives, and the cancellation of the planned suburban
2-6-4T Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a locomotive has two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels. Overview With only a few known exceptions, the Adriatic wheel arrangement was usual ...
tank locomotive due to the adverse press publicity caused by the Sevenoaks derailment of 1927. All the B12 locomotives were fitted with vacuum ejectors between 1924 and 1929 (the 1928 batch had them from new). Fifty-five locomotives were fitted with
ACFI feedwater heater A feedwater heater is a power plant component used to pre-heat water delivered to a steam generating boiler. Preheating the feedwater reduces the irreversibilities involved in steam generation and therefore improves the thermodynamic efficiency o ...
s between 1927 and 1934, but these were removed between 1934 and 1942. The first substantive change was the fitting of
Lenz Lenz may refer to: Places * Lenz, Gauteng or Lenasia, a township in Gauteng Province, South Africa * Lantsch/Lenz, a municipality, Canton of Grisons, Switzerland * Lenz, Hood River County, Oregon, an unincorporated community, US * Lenz, Klamath Cou ...
poppet valve A poppet valve (also sometimes called mushroom valve) is a valve typically used to control the timing and quantity of petrol (gas) or vapour flow into or out of an engine, but with many other applications. It consists of a hole or open-ended ch ...
s to the 1928 batch (from new), and six of the ex-GE locomotives (8516/19/25/32/33/40). These locomotives were then classified as class B12/2. The poppet valves were not a great success and they all reverted to or were converted to
piston valve A piston valve is a device used to control the motion of a fluid or gas along a tube or pipe by means of the linear motion of a piston within a chamber or cylinder. Examples of piston valves are: * The valves used in many brass instruments * ...
engines between 1931 and 1934. As newer power became available, the locomotives’ low axleload made them ideal candidates for transfers elsewhere. consequently, between 1931 and 1942, twenty-five locomotives were transferred to Scotland for use on the former
Great North of Scotland Railway The Great North of Scotland Railway (GNSR) was one of the two smallest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping, operating in the north-east of the country. Formed in 1845, it carried its first passengers the fro ...
lines. Starting in 1932, a programme began of rebuilding the B12 locomotives with larger diameter boilers. The Diagram 99A boilers utilised were diameter, compared with the diameter originals. These rebuilt locomotives were classified as class B12/3, and as they had a higher axleload, none of the Scottish-allocated locomotives were included. The last to be rebuilt was 8549 in 1944, leaving 8534 as the last English B12/1; but it was withdrawn the following year without being rebuilt. As the Scottish locomotives also required new boilers, a new design was started in 1941, based on the old design but with a round-topped firebox and other detail changes. Thirty of these Diagram 25A boilers were manufactured at Doncaster and Stratford between 1942 and 1946. Nine were sent to Inverurie Works for fitting to B12 locomotives, the remainder went to Stratford for fitting to class J20 locomotives. The B12 locomotives fitted with the Diagram 25A boiler (1500/04/05/07/08/11/24/26) were classified as class B12/4. In the 1942 LNER renumbering scheme, the class was allocated the range 7415–7494, but only eleven (7426/37/49/67/70/72/76/79/82/88/91) were renumbered before the scheme was abandoned due to the war. In the 1946 scheme, the class was allocated the 1500–1580 block(their 1924 numbers with 7000 removed from them), with gaps for the two withdrawn locomotives.


British Railways

At nationalisation in 1948, seventy-two locomotives passed to British Railways, who renumbered them 61500–61580. Withdrawals continued, and all were gone by the end of 1961. One engine, LNER No. 8572, has been preserved.


Tables


Accidents and incidents

*On 12 July 1913, locomotive No. 1506 was hauling an express passenger train which collided with
GER Class T26 The GER Class T26 was a class of one hundred steam tender locomotives designed by James Holden for the Great Eastern Railway. At the 1923 grouping they all passed to the London and North Eastern Railway, who classified them E4. Eighteen survi ...
2-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles and no trailing wheels. In most of North America it b ...
No. 471, at ,
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
due to a signalman's error. Three people were killed and fourteen were injured. The brand new locomotive, only 4 months old, was so severely damaged that only its boiler and tender were salvaged. The remaining parts were cut up at Stratford Works in September of that year. A replacement locomotive was constructed, but this was allocated running number 1535 and number 1506 was not re-used. *On 17 January 1931, locomotive No. 8578 was hauling a newspaper train that departed from station, Essex against signals. It was in collision with LNER D16
4-4-0 4-4-0, in the Whyte notation, denotes a steam locomotive with a wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels. First built in the ...
No. 8781, which was undertaking a light engine move, at
Great Holland Great Holland is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Frinton and Walton, in the Tendring district, in the county of Essex, England. It is to the north-east of Holland-on-Sea, and west of Frinton-on-Sea. The village is served ...
. Two people were killed and two were seriously injured. After this accident the engine was given a general overhaul and received tender No. 20, which has originally built for the GER Decapod when it was converted to an
0-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and no trailing wheels. Locomotives of this type are also referre ...
tender engine. *On 10 February 1941, locomotive No. 8556 was hauling a passenger train that overran signals and was in a rear-end collision between and ,
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
. Seven people were killed and seventeen were seriously injured. *On 2 January 1947, locomotive No. 1565 was hauling a passenger train that was run into by an express passenger train at ,
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
. The express had overrun signals. Seven people were killed, 45 were hospitalised.


World War II Career

An unknown number of B12s were used towards the end of WWII to haul ambulance trains for the US Army. These trains, equipped for working on the Continent or at home, were fitted with the Westinghouse brake. B12s were selected because they had the Westinghouse brake, and were generally acceptable because their low-axle loading gave them a very high route-availability. They operated widely over the network and were fitted with a "vacuum/air proportioning valve" to allow the driver of a local pilot engine (used where double heading was necessary because of gradients) to control the brake throughout the train.


Preservation

One B12/3, LNER number 8572 (BR 61572), has survived to preservation on the
North Norfolk Railway The North Norfolk Railway (NNR) – also known as the "Poppy Line" – is a heritage railway, heritage steam railway in Norfolk, England, running between the towns of Sheringham and Holt, Norfolk, Holt. The North Norfolk Railway is owned ...
, the only British inside cylinder
4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abs ...
to be preserved.


Models

A model of the B12 was brought out in OO gauge by
Tri-ang Railways Tri-ang Railways was a British manufacturer of toy trains, one of the elements of the Lines Bros Ltd company who traded using the brands Tri-ang, Minic, Pedigree, and Frog. The Tri-ang Railways name was dropped a few years after Lines Bros took ...
(now Hornby) in 1963. Models produced since 1970 feature a steam "chuff" effect, where in the tender as the wheels turn, a piece of sandpaper is scraped by a piece of metal fixed to one axle. In 2016, Hornby launched a brand new tooling of the B12 in a super detail form with LNER apple green and BR lined black with early and late crest liveries.


References


Notes


Bibliography

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External links


The S.D. Holden B12 (GER Class S69 / "1500"s) 4-6-0s
— LNER Encyclopedia {{Authority control S69 4-6-0 locomotives 2′C h2 locomotives William Beardmore and Company locomotives Beyer, Peacock locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1911 Standard-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Passenger locomotives