The North Eastern Railway Class T3, classified as Class Q7 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 ...

designed for heavy freight. Five were built by the NER in 1919 and a further 10 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) in 1924.

Performance

The first of the T3s, No.901 was outshopped from Darlington Works in November 1919. A month later the NER organised a test train, over the

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

line, including a

brake van Brake van and guard's van are terms used mainly in the UK, Ireland, Australia and India for a Rolling stock, railway vehicle equipped with a hand brake which can be applied by the Conductor (transportation), guard. The equivalent North Americ ...

and the company's

dynamometer car A dynamometer car is a railroad maintenance of way car used for measuring various aspects of a locomotive's performance. Measurements include tractive effort (pulling force), power, top speed, etc. History The first dynamometer car was probably ...

to record the locomotive's performance. No.901 had in tow but handled the load with ease, registering both high power and steady acceleration. There were no problems starting on a 1 in 298 (0.335 %) grade and on the return, with a reduced load of , the engine was untroubled by gradients as severe as 1 in 107 (0.93%).

LNER

Despite their prowess, the original quintet of T3s was not augmented by the North Eastern Railway, a move that would have pleased footplate crews who disliked having to

lubricate Lubrication is the process or technique of using a lubricant to reduce friction and wear and tear in a contact between two surfaces. The study of lubrication is a discipline in the field of tribology. Lubrication mechanisms such as fluid-lubric ...

and maintain the centre cylinder and valve gear. Instead the enlargement of the class came under LNER. it authorised the construction of ten additional T3s and these emerged from Darlington Works during 1924. Of the new engines two were allocated to

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

and a further four went to

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

. The remaining four gravitated to their natural habitat, Tyne Dock depot near

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was once known in Roman Britain, Roman times as ''Arbeia'' and as ''Caer Urfa'' by the Early Middle Ag ...

. It was there eventually that all 15 T3s/Q7s congregated. Here they performed the role they were designed for. This was to haul rakes of

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

hoppers to the

steelworks A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

Consett Consett is a town in the County Durham (district), County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of County Durham, Durham, England, about south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 27,394 in 2001 and an estimate of 25,812 in ...

above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. On the steepest section, as severe as 1 in 35 (2.86%) in places, one 0-8-0 pulled while another pushed.

British Railways

All 15 passed 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 they were numbered 63460-63474. They remained master of their task till the arrival of

BR Standard Class 9F The British Railways Standard Class 9F is a class of steam locomotive designed for British Railways by Robert Riddles. The Class 9F was the last in a series of standardised locomotive classes designed for British Railways during the 1950s, a ...

s in the 1950s. With the loss of their bread and butter work British Railways retired all 15 of the Q7s in November and December 1962.

Preservation

One, NER 901 (BR 63460) has survived and is currently on display at

Darlington Railway Centre and Museum Hopetown Darlington, previously known as Head of Steam and formerly known as the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum, is a railway museum located on the 1825 route of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which was the world's first steam-powere ...

. It is the newest exhibit at the museum.

Models

DJH Models has made a kit for 1:76 (

OO gauge OO gauge or OO scale (also, 00 gauge and 00 scale) is the most popular standard gauge model railway standard in the United Kingdom, outside of which it is virtually unknown. OO gauge is one of several 4 mm-scale standards (4 mm to , or 1: ...

) of the class

References

External links

The Raven Q7 (NER Class T3) 0-8-0 Locomotives
''LNER Encyclopedia'' T3 0-8-0 locomotives D steam locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1919 Standard-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Freight locomotives {{England-steam-loco-stub