The NER Class L (LNER Class J73) was a class of 0-6-0T

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 ...

s of the North Eastern Railway. They were a specialised design, intended for use on the Redheugh and Quayside banks on either side of the

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden, Northumberland, Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The ...

. They were replaced on the Quayside branch by NER Class ES1

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a Battery (electricity), battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime mover (locomotive), ...

s in 1905 but were re-allocated to other duties.

Overview

The Class L was

Wilson Worsdell Wilson Worsdell (7 September 1850 – 14 April 1920) was an English locomotive engineer who was locomotive superintendent of the North Eastern Railway from 1890 to 1910. He was the younger brother of T.W. Worsdell. Wilson was born at Monks C ...

's first design for the NER. Unusually for a Wilson Worsdell design, they were fitted with

Joy valve gear 250px, Joy Valve Gear Diagram Joy valve gear is a type of steam locomotive valve gear, designed by David Joy (3 March 1825 – 1903), Locomotive and Marine engineer, and patented (no. 929) on 8 March 1879. The British patent has not been found b ...

instead of the

Stephenson valve gear The Stephenson valve gear or Stephenson link or shifting link is a simple design of valve gear that was widely used throughout the world for various kinds of steam engines. It is named after Robert Stephenson but was invented by his employees. ...

fitted to his later locomotives.

British Railways

All 10 locomotives survived into

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 ...

ownership in 1948 and their BR numbers were 68355-68364. They were all withdrawn between 1955 and 1960. None have been preserved.

References

0-6-0T locomotives C n2t locomotives L Railway locomotives introduced in 1891 Scrapped locomotives Standard-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain {{England-steam-loco-stub