Which Non-LNER Class Would You Have Liked to See on the LNER

[Pyewipe Junction]

A bit of a daft topic, I know!

But I have to say I've always greatly admired the Southern 'Schools' 4-4-0s and would have loved it if the LNER had produced something like them. I am sure they would have put up some heroic performances on the GCML and no doubt elsewhere as well, for example King's Cross to Cambridge. (LNER engine men would have loved them - apparently they were terrors to start, just like V2s! But once they got going...

Apart from the 'Schools', a 2-8-2T similar to the GWR 72XX class could have been useful for short runs in the East Midlands and South Yorkshire coalfields. (I think a 2-8-2T was proposed at one stage wasn't it.)

Finally, I've wondered why there was no light/medium loco in the post-war plan (or was there?). So a 2-6-0 of about the same power as the LMS/BR Class 2 (or possibly the Class 3).

[richard]

Thompson's Standardisation Programme did include a 2-6-0. He built the prototype from a K4 to produce the K1/1. It entered production as the Peppercorn K1. One survives in preservation.

Thompson also had a place for the B12s in his plans, although he wasn't going to order any more.


Richard

[Pyewipe Junction]

I'd hardly call the K1s light/medium.

They had a TE of over 32 000 and were classified 6MT!

[richard]

I was just looking at the wheels and the concept rather than power

Thompson also had a standard 4-4-0 in his plans, but the prototype (Class D - a D49 rebuild) wasn't exactly a success and the route availability of the original D49s was always surprisingly restricted.


Richard

[Bill Bedford]

Finally, I've wondered why there was no light/medium loco in the post-war plan (or was there?). So a 2-6-0 of about the same power as the LMS/BR Class 2 (or possibly the Class 3).

That's because the LMS scrapped all their small and old loco in the 30's, so they had to build new 2-6-0s to replace them. The equivalent LNER locos didn't really go until the advent of DMUs.

[stembok]

I would suspect that like most other things in life much of what happened came down to money and its availability. Quite often the LNER had to 'make do and mend' in the locomotive field. It didn't have the resources to do what Stanier was able to do on the LMSR in the 1930s. Also because of this any proposals for light, modern mixed traffic designs might well be consigned to the back of the queue.

[Sailor Charon]

Apart from the 'Schools', a 2-8-2T similar to the GWR 72XX class could have been useful for short runs in the East Midlands and South Yorkshire coalfields. (I think a 2-8-2T was proposed at one stage wasn't it.)

Yes, there was a 2-8-2T proposed by the LNER (See the LNER Locos that never were thread), although the GWR proposed a 2-10-2T at about the same time they (briefly) considered a 2-8-8-2 Garratt (And a lovely thing it was too, the Garratt, that is)

[Bill Bedford]

a 2-8-2T similar to the GWR 72XX class could have been useful for short runs in the East Midlands and South Yorkshire coalfields.

They had the class R1 0-8-2T but they all went by 1934

[hq1hitchin]

Some diesel traction, I'm afraid. What about a fleet of AEC railcars in rural areas, similar to those on the GWR - the LNER actually had one on trials during WW2, I think. Also CoCo diesels, identical to LMS 10000. These would have been ideal for, say, London to Cambridge services. BTW, we were only talking yesterday about the tired old Cravens units and the phenominal rattling inside the passenger saloons when they got up to 70 mph on the falling gradients south of Potters Bar on what we called 'The Fast Parlies' - an odd term but in wide use by signalmen. Another 'endearing' feature of travel in them was the way bodies and heads used to sway in unison at speed, people nodding to the left and then, shortly afterwards, to the right. Totally unsuited for suburban work in the KX division, but we were stuck with them. A ride on a heritage DMU on the Swanage Rly brought some of it back, but not the discomfort of having to travel in them on a regular basis!

[Eightpot]

For non-LNER locos seen at the southern end of the GN main line in the late 1950s:-

Black 5 44911 ex 6A (Chester) at 34A.

Fowler 2-6-4T 42378(?) + another (?) at 34D

BR Standard 5s 73157/8/9 at 34A.

Or is my memory playing tricks?

[stembok]

Eightpot: No indeed, your memory is spot on. I seem to remember a report that the Black Five may have been at King's Cross as part of some trials, possibly to do with ATC later AWS. Also one of the magazines of the period published a photograph of the Fowler tank. The Standard Fives went to 34A in late 1957 and were reported on Cambridge workings and on Newmarket race specials during their time at King's Cross. I have a photograph of 73157 in King's Cross Loco minus its leading and middle driving wheels and carrying a 34A shed plate.

[52D]

Well the LNER had King Arthurs,8Fs and S160s for a while during the war.
The good old K1s i suspect would have been built in larger numbers if the modernisation plan and dieselisation had not come to the fore. They were a damn good mixed traffic loco from pottering down the Alnwick branch with the local work or taking over from a failed brush type 4 at Tweedmouth and thrashing the Anglo Scottish car carrier through to Newcastle on time. The Alnmouth lads liked them and i believe they were popular in East Anglia as well as in the Highlands.
Did the K1s rock and roll like the K3s when they were near to shopping.

[jay]

Did the K1s rock and roll like the K3s when they were near to shopping.

I don't know whether that is true or not, but ours (62005) is permitted 50mph. When this is exceded (only on test runs) you can tell, even if your not on the footplate. It gets rough at about 55mph.

[bricam5]

52D wrote:

Did the K1s rock and roll like the K3s when they were near to shopping.

I have fired K3's straight out of the shops and they still rolled like a trawler in a heavy swell !

[Ferrybridge Flyer]

How about the Midland Pullman diesels? I dont think they ran on the east coast main line.Speaking of which,is there a full set of these units preserved?Can anyone tell me what they were like to ride on-or even better-drive?