GNR Class O2

GNR Class O2

O2/3 2-8-0 No. 3963 at Doncaster 1947

Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Nigel Gresley Builder Doncaster Works (57) North British Locomotive Co. (10) Build date 1918–1943 Total produced 67

Specifications Configuration 2-8-0 UIC class 1′D h3 Gauge 4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Leading dia. 2 ft 8 in (1 m) Coupled dia. 4 ft 8 in (1 m) Length 63 ft 3 in (19.28 m) Loco weight 74.1–78.65 long tons (75.29–79.91 t) Tender weight 43.1–52 long tons (43.8–52.8 t) Fuel type Coal Boiler pressure 180 lbf/in^2 (1.24 MPa) Cylinders Three Cylinder size 18 ^1⁄2 in × 26 in (470 mm × 660 mm) Valve gear Gresley conjugated Valve type 8-inch (203 mm) piston valves

Performance figures Tractive effort 36,740 lbf (163.4 kN)

Career Operators Great Northern Railway London and North Eastern Railway Eastern Region of British Railways Power class BR: 8F Withdrawn 1948–1963 Disposition All scrapped

The Great Northern Railway (GNR) Class O2 was a class of three-cylinder 2-8-0 steam locomotive designed by Nigel Gresley for freight work and built by the GNR from 1921. Further examples were built by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) from 1924.

Sub-classes

The LNER created four sub-classes: ^[1]

• O2/1, Introduced 1921. Development of experimental Gresley GNR 3-cylinder locomotive (LNER 3921). Subsequently rebuilt with side-window cab and reduced boiler mountings.
• O2/2, Introduced 1924. Development of O2/1 with detail differences.
• O2/3, Introduced 1932. Development of O2/2 with side-window cab and reduced boiler mountings.
• O2/4, Introduced 1943. Rebuilt with 100A (B1 type) boiler and smokebox extended backwards.

GNR

The first models of this class were designed and built under GNR ownership, the first loco, 461, built in May 1918. A batch of ten further O2s were built by the North British Locomotive Co. in 1921.

LNER

Immediately after Grouping (1923), fifteen more O2s were built.

16 more were delivered in 1932/33. Wartime requirements led to the construction of 25 in 1942/43 in three batches.

British Railways

All 67 locomotives passed to British Railways (BR) in 1948 and were given BR Numbers 63921-63987, but 63921 (which was the prototype 461, LNER 3921) was quickly scrapped. The locos served all across the former LNER from Stratford through East Anglia into the East Midlands, primarily hauling coal and iron ore trains. By Winter 1955/56, they had all gravitated to Doncaster (36A - 35 locos), Grantham (35B - 14 locos) and Retford (36E - 17 locos). By Winter 1962 they were down to 52 locos still in much the same locations, the following having been scrapped: 63929/34/44/47/50-55/57-59/70.

From personal recollection, between these times, in Retford they were shedded mostly in the former GCR shed on the Sheffield-Gainsborough line just east of the crossover with the LNER main line, rather than in the LNER shed to the west of the station. In this time, they would be seen hauling coal aggregate and slurry trains.

By the end of 1963 they were all gone, and none were preserved.

Gallery

O2/2 63942 at Doncaster 1961

O2/4 No. 63966 with side-window cab, band 100A boiler at Retford Locomotive Depot 1962

References

1. Ian Allan ABC of British Railways Locomotives, summer 1961 edition, part 4, pp 37–38

• British Railways Locomotives Combined Volume Winter 1955/56, part 4, p. 32, and the locoshed section, p. 71.
• British Railways Locomotives Combined Volume 11/62, p. 144
• Boddy, M. G.; Brown, W. A.; Neve, E.; Yeadon, W. B. (November 1983). Fry, E. V., ed. Locomotives of the L.N.E.R., Part 6B: Tender Engines—Classes O1 to P2. Kenilworth: RCTS. ISBN 0-901115-54-1.

External links

• LNER encyclopedia