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NER Class R1
LNER Class D21
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerWilson Worsdell
BuilderNER Gateshead works
Build date1908-1909
Total produced10
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte4-4-0
Gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Leading dia.3 ft 7+1⁄4 in (1.099 m)
Driver dia.6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Wheelbase23 ft 9 in (7.24 m) engine
12 ft 8 in (3.86 m) tender
45 ft 10+3⁄4 in (13.989 m) total
Axle load20.8 long tons (21.1 t)
Fuel typecoal
Boiler5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) diameter
Boiler pressure175 psi (1.21 MPa)
Cylinderstwo inside
Cylinder size19 in × 26 in (480 mm × 660 mm)
Valve gearStephenson
Performance figures
Tractive effort17,026 lbf (75.74 kN)
Career
OperatorsNorth Eastern Railway
London and North Eastern Railway
Retired1942-1946
DispositionAll scrapped

The NER Class R1 (LNER Class D21) was a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives of the North Eastern Railway. The class was designed by Wilson Worsdell and built from 1908 to 1909.[1]

Design

The design was similar to that of the NER Class R (LNER Class D20) but a larger boiler was used. Boiler pressure was initially 225 psi (1.55 MPa).

Towards the end of construction the work was to be moved from Gateshead to Darlington Works. However the initial locomotive assembled as Darlington was failed as unfit to drive and subsequent investigations established that the coupling rod centres were not equal, resuling in a change of Works Manager at Darlington.[2]

Modifications

Boiler pressure was reduced to 180 psi (1.24 MPa) at an unknown date. Superheaters were fitted between 1912 and 1915 and, at the same time, boiler pressure was further reduced to 160 psi (1.1 MPa). It was standard NER practice to reduce boiler pressure when fitting a superheater. At some time before the 1923 Grouping, boiler pressure was increased to 175 psi (1.21 MPa).

Use

The R1s were initially used on the Glasgow-Newcastle and York-Newcastle services. However, as loads increased, they were replaced by more powerful locomotive types (like the class Z) and relegated to secondary duties. By 1924, the Gresley A1s started to arrived in large numbers, which displaced the C7s to many of the secondary duties of the D21s, and in particular, York its entire allocation.[1]

Withdrawal

They were withdrawn between 1942 and 1946 and none were preserved.

In fiction

Although Edward the Blue Engine, from the Railway Series books and its spin-off television series Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, is regularly described as bearing "a quite striking similarity" to the Furness Railway 'Larger Seagulls'.[3] Edward is recognisable as an NER Class R1. The Edwardian 4-4-0 type is a fairly common design pattern in British steam locomotives, although at the time of the Seagulls they still had low-set small diameter boilers with tall chimneys. Edward, in particular, differs in having a cab with dual glazed side windows, a much more characteristic feature of North Eastern railway locomotives, the tapered non-circular spectacle plate windows and also the larger boiler diameter and higher boiler line are distinctively those of the NER R1, by then the LNER D21.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c "The W.Worsdell Class D21 (NER Class R1) 4-4-0 Locomotives". LNER Encyclopedia.
  2. ^ Hughes, Geoff (August 1992). "Talking to Thompson part II". Steam World. No. 62. Peterborough: EMAP Apex Publications.
  3. ^ Sibley, Brian (1995). The Thomas the Tank Engine Man. Heinemann. p. XVIII. ISBN 0-434-96909-5.
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