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) Class O4 initially consisted of the 131 ex-

Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its Great Central Main Line, London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company ...

(GCR) Class 8K

2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...

steam locomotives acquired on grouping in 1923. The engines were designed by

John G. Robinson John George Robinson CBE, (30 July 1856 – 7 December 1943) was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the Great Central Railway from 1900 to 1922. Early life Born at Newcastle upon Tyne, the second son of Matthew Robi ...

and built at the GCR's Gorton Locomotive Works, Manchester.

O4 History post 1923

The O4s were added to when the LNER purchased 273 ex-

Railway Operating Division The Railway Operating Division (ROD) was a division of the Royal Engineers formed in 1915 to operate railways in the many theatres of the First World War. It was largely composed of railway employees and operated both standard gauge and narrow ...

ROD 2-8-0 The Railway Operating Division (ROD) ROD 2-8-0 is a type of 2-8-0 steam locomotive which was the standard heavy freight locomotive operated in Europe by the ROD during the First World War. ROD need for a standard locomotive During the First Wo ...

s to the same design between 1923 and 1927. Meanwhile, the 19 GCR Class 8M (LNER Class O5) were rebuilt as O4 standard during the 1920s and 1930s. 92 O4 locomotives were requisitioned by the War Department during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and shipped during late 1941 for operation in the Middle East. The O4 class were used to haul heavy freight trains throughout the LNER system. 329 engines remained in operation at 1 January 1948.

Sub-classes

The LNER rebuilt many, allotting them into eight subclasses. Sub-class details: * O4/1, Introduced 1911.

Robinson Robinson may refer to: People and names * Robinson (name) Fictional characters * Robinson Crusoe, the main character, and title of a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719 Geography * Robinson projection, a map projection used since the 19 ...

GCR design with small boiler,

Belpaire firebox The Belpaire firebox is a type of firebox used on steam locomotives. It was invented by Alfred Belpaire of Belgium in 1864. Today it generally refers to the shape of the outer shell of the firebox which is approximately flat at the top and s ...

, steam and

vacuum brake The vacuum brake is a brake, braking system employed on trains and introduced in the mid-1860s. A variant, the automatic vacuum brake system, became almost universal in British train equipment and in countries influenced by British practice. Va ...

s and water scoop. * O4/2, Introduced 1925. O4/3 with cabs and boiler mountings reduced. * O4/3, Introduced 1917. ROD locos with steam brake only and no water scoop. * O4/4, Rebuilt with O2 boiler, extended rear frames and side window cab, since rebuilt again. * O4/5, Rebuilt with shortened O2-type boiler (Diagram 15A). Retained GCR style cab * O4/6, Introduced 1924. Rebuilt from O5 retaining higher cab. 63914-20 with side windows. All cabs eventually reduced in height. * O4/7, Introduced 1939. Rebuilt with shortened O2-type boiler (Diagram 15D), retaining GCR smokebox. * O4/8, Introduced 1944. Rebuilt with B1 boiler (Diagram 100A) and B1 style side window cab. In 1944, 58 O4s were rebuilt with 100A boiler,

Walschaerts valve gear The Walschaerts valve gear is a type of valve gear used to regulate the flow of steam to the pistons in steam locomotives, invented by Belgium, Belgian railway mechanical engineering, engineer Egide Walschaerts in 1844. The gear is sometimes name ...

and new cylinders at Gorton Works, then classified O1.

British Railways

Dodworth Worsborough Bank Westbound freight geograph-2854612-by-Ben-Brooksbank

The surviving 329 Class O4 locomotives passed to

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 ...

(BR) on 1 January 1948. They were then widely operated on freight trains throughout the Eastern and North Eastern regions of BR. The locomotives were given BR numbers in the range 63570-63920, but this range included 58 locomotives which had been rebuilt as Class O1. Withdrawal of O4 engines by BR commenced in 1959 and the last engine was taken out of service in the Doncaster area in April 1966.

Preservation

An O4/1, GCR No. 102, BR No. 63601, is part of the extensive

National Collection The UK National Collection is a collection of around 280 historic rolling stock, rail vehicles (predominantly of British origin). The majority of the collection is kept at four national museums: * National Railway Museum, York * National Railwa ...

. Since 1996, this locomotive has been kept at the preserved Great Central Railway at

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

, Leicestershire. The locomotive was overhauled in the late 1990s and returned to working use in January 2000. A further three Robinson 2-8-0s were exported and survive in preservation in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

References

Gallery

External links

LNER encyclopedia
{{LNER Locomotives O4 2-8-0 locomotives 1′D h2 locomotives Railway Operating Division locomotives Freight locomotives Standard-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain