GER Class N31

GER Class N31
LNER Class J14

Great Eastern Class N31 locomotive 998
Type and origin
Power type Steam
Designer James Holden
Builder Stratford Works
Build date 1893–1898
Total produced 81 (+1 rebuilt from Class 127)
Specifications
Configuration 0-6-0
UIC class C n2
Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Driver dia. 4 ft 11 in (1.499 m)
Wheelbase 35 ft 5 in (10.80 m)
Length 47 ft 3 in (14.40 m) over buffers
Loco weight 38 long tons 18.5 cwt (87,200 lb or 39.5 t)
Fuel type Coal
Firebox:
 • Firegrate area		 18.0 sq ft (1.67 m2)
Boiler pressure 160 lbf/in2 (1.10 MPa)
Heating surface 1,199.5 sq ft (111.44 m2)
Cylinders Two, inside
Cylinder size 17.5 in × 24 in (444 mm × 610 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort 16,942 lbf (75.36 kN)
Career
Operators GER » LNER
Class GER: N31
LNER: J14
Nicknames Swifts
Withdrawn 1908–1922

The GER Class N31 was a class of eighty-two 0-6-0 steam locomotives designed by James Holden for the Great Eastern Railway. Eighteen passed to the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at the 1923 grouping and received the LNER classification J14.

History

These goods locomotives had 17.5-by-24-inch (444 mm × 610 mm) cylinders, 4-foot-11-inch (1.499 m) driving wheels, and a 160-pound-force-per-square-inch (1,100 kPa) boiler. Eighty-one were built at Stratford Works between 1893 and 1898.

Table of orders and numbers

Table of orders and numbers[1]
Year Order Quantity GER Nos. Notes
1893 N31 1 999
1893 H33 10 979–988
1894 L33 10 989–998
1894 E34 10 969–978
1896 N37 10 959–968
1897 H40 10 949–958
1897 O41 10 602–608, 946–948
1898 G42 10 542–551
1898 K43 10 562–571

Class 127

In addition, when the Class 127 locomotive was rebuilt from compound to simple in 1895, it was then included into Class N31.[1]

Performance

They were not particularly successful locomotives. Although nicknamed Swifts, they were sluggish locomotives, due to the placement of the valve chests underneath the cylinders.[1][2]

Withdrawals

Withdrawals started in 1908, and by the end of 1922, only eighteen were left in service. The LNER allocated numbers 7000 higher than the locomotives' GER numbers, but withdrawals continued, and by 1925 the class was extinct.

Table of withdrawals[3]
Year Quantity in
service at
start of year 		Quantity
withdrawn 		Locomotive numbers
1908 82 1 971
1909 81 18 546, 549, 565, 566, 570, 571, 602, 605, 608, 950, 953–955, 957, 966, 969, 972, 975
1910 63 14 542, 550, 563, 568, 569, 603, 606, 956, 962, 974, 982, 989, 990, 991
1911 49 9 547, 551, 562, 567, 958, 960, 961, 988, 997
1912 40 6 544, 949, 952, 967, 968, 996
1913 34 3 607, 979, 935 (ex-127)
1914 31 3 0545, 0564, 947
1915 28 1 946
1916 27 1 994
1920 26 2 0543, 999
1921 24 1 965
1922 23 5 548, 948, 986, 992, 995
1923 18 6 959, 970, 976, 980, 985, 993
1924 12 5 951, 963, 964, 977, 978
1925 7 7 604, 973, 981, 983, 984, 987, 998

References

  1. 1 2 3 Aldrich 1969, p. 77
  2. ↑ Aldrich 1929, p. 75
  3. ↑ Aldrich 1969, pp. 77, 134, 138–139
  • Aldrich, C. Langley (1969). The Locomotives of the Great Eastern Railway 1862–1962 (7th ed.). Wickford, Essex: C. Langley Aldrich. OCLC 30278831. 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to GER Class N31 / LNER Class J14.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.