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78-579: The London and North Eastern Railway Gresley Classes A1 and A3 locomotives represented two distinct stages in the history of the British 4-6-2 "Pacific" steam locomotives designed by Nigel Gresley . They were designed for main line passenger services and later express passenger services, initially on the Great Northern Railway (GNR), a constituent company of the London and North Eastern Railway after

156-410: A 220  psi (1.52  MPa ) boiler. This was closely followed by two other locomotives which also incorporated variations in the cylinder diameter and superheater size for comparative purposes. This led Gresley to make a radical departure from Churchward practice by increasing the number of large tubes containing superheating elements, hence increasing the superheater surface area in contact with

234-523: A Traffic Apprenticeship Scheme to attract graduates, train young managers and provide supervision by assistant general manager Robert Bell for career planning. The company adopted a regional managerial system, with general managers based in London, York and Edinburgh, and for a short time, Aberdeen. For passenger services, Sir Nigel Gresley , the Chief Mechanical Engineer built new powerful locomotives and new coaches. Later developments such as

312-482: A boiler tube length limited to 19 feet (5.8 m), features inherited from the K4 type but not present on the earlier Cole Prototypes. The boiler pressure was rated at 180 pounds per square inch (1.24  MPa ). The 1470-class Pacific was the third Great Northern locomotive type to incorporate Gresley's universal 3- cylinder layout. All three cylinders drove the middle coupled axle. The outside cranks were set at 120°, with

390-414: A complete redesign of the valve gear, which was applied to 2555 Centenary in 1927, with the rest of the class being modified in due course. Locomotives with modified valve gear had a slightly raised running plate over the cylinders in order to give room for the longer combination lever necessary for the longer valve travel. Another modification was made in 1927 when number 4480 Enterprise was fitted with

468-527: A free hand. William Barribal designed a series of bold Art Deco posters in the 1920s and 1930s. When Teasdale was promoted to Assistant General Manager, this philosophy was carried on by Cecil Dandridge who succeeded him and was the Advertising Manager until nationalisation in 1948. Dandridge was largely responsible for the adoption of the Gill Sans typeface, later adopted by British Railways. The LNER

546-433: A new special type of tender body was built for the new non-stop Flying Scotsman train . This tender had a corridor connection and an access tunnel through the water tank. It was of a more modern design with high side sheets curved in at the top and had a coal capacity of 9 long tons (9.14 t; 10.08 short tons). In order to be able to pack an extra ton of coal, a single coal rail was provided on this particular series, but

624-528: A non-streamlined locomotive, shared with a French Chapelon Pacific. Along with all the Gresley 3-cylinder types, the Pacifics suffered from low wartime maintenance standards, conditions for which they had not been designed. Following Gresley's sudden death in 1941 Edward Thompson took over and following the end of hostilities in 1945, Thompson made a request to his works staff that a locomotive be selected for rebuild,

702-449: A number of practical problems, the root of which was probably the need for the inside cylinder to be steeply inclined in order to give space for the inside connecting rod to clear the leading coupled axle; at the same time, the inside valve spindle had to be parallel with the outside ones from which it derived its motion. This problem had been overcome by what Holcroft called a "twist in the ports" (the passages that carried steam in and out of

780-479: A part of Flying Scotsman . Model railway companies Tri-ang , and later Hornby , have produced 'OO'-scale models of both the Gresley A1's and A3's almost continuously since the 1960s. In the 2000s, Hornby also produced live steam examples, re-using the chassis from the initial LNER Class A4 models. Trix and later Liliput made both loco drive and tender drive versions in 'OO' gauge. Although now owned by Bachmann,

858-504: A railway still in need of original design work. He joined Richard Maunsell's design team as an Assistant, participating in the latter's contributions to the SECR and Southern Railway's motive power. He collaborated with Nigel Gresley to develop the Gresley conjugated valve gear for 3-cylinder locomotives as fitted to LNER 3 cylinder locomotives. Holcroft continued to develop this mechanism by driving

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936-530: A real solution was found in Great Western methods of lubrication and manufacture for the big-end bearing. Other problems persisted, such as a stiff, insensitive regulator and overall design flaws that hampered maintenance. In spite of all this and the introduction of more recent Pacifics, in the middle of the 1950s Gresley types continued to have a quasi-monopoly of East Coast Main Line express passenger services, and as

1014-551: A result of the 1923 Grouping . Gresley was appointed Chief Mechanical Engineer of the new company, which was the second largest of the "Big Four" railway companies in Britain. Realising the need for standardisation, Gresley adopted his GNR Pacific design as the standard express passenger locomotive for the LNER main line, designating it 'A1' within the LNER locomotive classification system . The choice

1092-546: A third set of Walschaerts gear, as allowed for in the original design. Holcroft's ideas for conjugated valve gear were incorporated into Maunsell's N1 class , K1 class and U1 class three-cylinder locomotives. Holcroft was involved in trials of the Anderson recompression system between 1930 and 1935. He stayed with the Southern Railway after Maunsell's retirement in 1937 to work with Oliver Bulleid . Holcroft retired from

1170-399: Is generally considered to be the first reliably recorded instance. On a later trial run to Newcastle upon Tyne and back in 1935, A3 number 2750 Papyrus reached 108 miles per hour (174 km/h) hauling 217 long tons (220  t ; 243 short tons ) at the same spot, maintaining a speed above 100 mph (161 km/h) for 12.5 consecutive miles (20.1 km), the world record for

1248-664: The Doncaster "Plant" in 1922 to the design of Nigel Gresley, who had become Chief mechanical engineer of the GNR in 1911. The intention was to produce an engine able to handle, without assistance, mainline express services that were reaching the limits of the capacity of the Ivatt large-boilered Atlantics . Gresley's initial Pacific project of 1915 was for an elongated version of the Ivatt Atlantic design with four cylinders. Finally realising that he

1326-615: The LNER Musical Society comprised a number of amateur male-voice choirs , based at Doncaster , Leicester , Huddersfield , Peterborough , Selby and elsewhere, which annually combined for a performance in London under their musical director Leslie Woodgate . Harold Holcroft At the GWR, Holcroft helped the Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME), George Jackson Churchward , design the 4300 class 2-6-0 Moguls, and took

1404-707: The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), the LNER was co-owner of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway , the UK's biggest joint railway, much of which competed with the LNER's own lines. The M&GNJR was incorporated into the LNER in 1936. In 1933, on the formation of the London Passenger Transport Board , the LNER acquired the remaining operations of the Metropolitan Railway Company. The LNER

1482-496: The amalgamation of 1923 , for which they became a standard design. The change in class designation to A3 reflected the fitting to the same chassis of a higher pressure boiler with a greater superheating surface and a small reduction in cylinder diameter, leading to an increase in locomotive weight. Eventually all of the A1 locomotives were rebuilt, most to A3 specifications, but no. 4470 was completely rebuilt as Class A1/1 . The names for

1560-586: The frames . A feature of the K4 that had soon been abandoned by the Pennsylvania Railroad was an unusual three-bar version of the Laird slide-bar. However, Gresley adopted this type of slide-bar for all his locomotives and it was later taken up by Bulleid for his Pacifics and by Riddles for the British Railways standard designs . The Great Northern Railway was incorporated into the newly formed LNER as

1638-438: The valve gear included increased lap and longer travel, in accordance with Great Western practice; this allowed fuller exploitation of the expansive properties of steam and reduced back pressure from the exhaust, transforming performance and economy; the economies in coal and water consumption achieved were such that the 180 psi Pacifics could undertake long-distance non-stop runs that had previously been impossible. There followed

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1716-482: The 392 miles (631 km) between London and Edinburgh. Initially three A1s and two A3s took turns on this service. The modifications also gave the A1 locomotives greater speed potential, and the proof of this came in 1933 when a high-speed 3-car diesel railcar service had been mooted. As this would have provided limited accommodation for passengers, it was proposed to use steam traction at similar service speeds with six carriages. A trial return run between London and Leeds

1794-578: The East Coast Main Line was won by Sea Containers Ltd , who named the new operating company Great North Eastern Railway (GNER), a name and initials deliberately chosen to echo the LNER. Following the collapse of Virgin Trains East Coast in May 2018, the newly-nationalised operator of the East Coast Main Line was named London North Eastern Railway to evoke the earlier company. During the 1930s,

1872-647: The East Midlands and Yorkshire to the north east of England and Scotland. The 1923 grouping meant that former rivals within the LNER had to work together. The task of creating an instantly recognisable public image went to William M. Teasdale, the first advertising manager. Teasdale was influenced by the philosophies and policies of Frank Pick , who controlled the style and content of the London Underground's widely acclaimed poster advertising. Teasdale did not confine his artists within strict guidelines but allowed them

1950-545: The LMS and the Corporation. In 1935, with the LMS, Wilson Line of Hull and others it formed the shipping company Associated Humber Lines Ltd. In 1938 it was reported that the LNER, with 800 mechanical horse tractors, was the world's largest owner of this vehicle type. The LNER operated a number of ships , including three rail ferries . In total, 6 turbine and 36 other steamers, and river boats and lake steamers were used by

2028-452: The LNER decided to standardise on the vacuum brake, and as the number of Westinghouse-braked coaches subsequently decreased, the need for Westinghouse-braked locomotives also fell. The fifteen A1s with Westinghouse brakes were converted to vacuum brakes between 1933 and 1935. The outcome of the various experiments and modifications made to the A1s in the late 1920s was a new Class A3 "Super Pacific",

2106-454: The LNER had inherited a substantial amount of Westinghouse-braked coaches, mainly from the NER, and it was necessary to provide some locomotives with Westinghouse brakes to work trains formed of ex-NER coaches. Accordingly, fifteen (nos. 2568–82) of the forty A1s ordered by the LNER in 1923 had dual Westinghouse and vacuum brakes for the train – on these, the locomotive brakes were Westinghouse. In 1928,

2184-537: The Pacific, but was claimed to be the most powerful locomotive in Britain with a tractive effort rated at 31,625 lbf (140.68 kN). In the following months, the two railway companies ran comparative exchange trials between the two types from which the Great Western emerged triumphant with 4079 Pendennis Castle . The LNER learned valuable lessons from the trials which resulted in a series of modifications carried out from 1926 on number 4477 Gay Crusader . Changes to

2262-435: The Pacifics the increase in efficiency was deemed insufficient and the apparatus was eventually removed. In 1935, number 2544 Lemberg received Trofimoff piston valves of an ingenious design with automatically varying steam passages. A3s 2747 Coronach and 2751 Humorist were subjected to smoke deflection trials following an accident on the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) due to poor visibility; this included

2340-519: The Sixties approached they went through yet another series of improvements comparable to those of the 1920s. The most significant of these was the fitting of the French double Kylchap exhaust system, which was entirely due to the persistence from 1956 of P. N. Townend, Assistant District Motive Power Superintendent at King's Cross locomotive shed. These modifications greatly reduced exhaust back pressure, making

2418-630: The Southern Railway in 1946, and worked on periodicals for the Institution of Civil Engineers . He died in Tadworth , Surrey on 15 February 1973. Holcroft wrote a book, Locomotive Adventure about his experiences regarding the development of steam locomotives in Britain. He was also editor of Railway Engineering Abstracts (some of these abstracts were used for the later material in Steam Locomotive Development ). A collection of Holcroft's papers

LNER Gresley Classes A1 and A3 - Misplaced Pages Continue

2496-399: The capacity of their Atlantic predecessors as was shown in a test run made by No. 1471 Sir Frederick Banbury when it took a 20-coach train weighing 600 long tons (610  t ; 670 short tons ) over the 105 miles (169 km) from London to Grantham at an average speed of 51.8 miles per hour (83.4 km/h). However this was at the cost of heavy coal consumption, and general performance

2574-494: The chimney. Finally, in the 1950s, it acquired the Peppercorn -type of deflector plates. The original A1s were coupled to a traditional Great Northern type of tender with coal rails of a design that can be traced back to Stirling days. The A1-variant was a much-enlarged eight-wheel version carrying 8 long tons (8.13 t; 8.96 short tons) of coal and 5,000 imperial gallons (23,000 L; 6,000 US gal) of water. In 1928,

2652-522: The class, 4472 Flying Scotsman , then nameless and numbered 1472. In line with the philosophy behind Cole's Alco prototypes, the Gresley Pacifics were built to the maximum limits of the LNER loading gauge with a large boiler and wide firebox giving a large grate area. The firebox was set low and rested on the trailing carrying axle. However, unlike the Pennsylvania K4, the firebox was not of

2730-518: The collection of the St Bride Library . Gill Sans was retained by the Railway Executive in 1948, although modified for signage, and Gill Sans was the official typeface until British Rail replaced it in the mid 1960s with Rail Alphabet for signs and Helvetica or Univers for printed matter. Continental shipping services were provided from Harwich Parkeston Quay. The company took up

2808-654: The company during its existence. The most common liveries were lined apple green on passenger locomotives (much lighter and brighter than the green used by the Great Western Railway ) and unlined black on freight locomotives, both with gold lettering. Passenger carriages were generally varnished teak (wood) finish; the few metal-panelled coaches were painted to represent teak. Some special trains and A4 Pacific locomotives were painted differently, including silver-grey and garter blue. The LNER covered quite an extensive area of Britain, from London through East Anglia,

2886-465: The conversion to A3 standard continued. The A1/1 was at first classified as A1, and reclassified as A1/1 when Arthur Peppercorn designed and constructed his own Class A1s in 1947 this class owing a great deal to the work of Thompson in showing the improvements that could be made on availability and maintenance costs when compared to the Gresley set up of conjugated valve gear instead of 3 sets. The Gresley 3-cylinder drive arrangement continued to bring

2964-461: The cylinders). A consequence was that the length of these passages was greater than that generally recommended, increasing "dead space", and this was combined with a shorter exhaust passage. The net result would be rather different working conditions in the middle cylinder from those on the outside. A contributing problem was that any elongation of the outside valve spindles was multiplied by the conjugated valve gear. Although this had been anticipated at

3042-537: The design principles for this class of locomotive with him when he moved to the SECR. Here, he worked as Assistant to Richard Maunsell and was involved with the design of the Maunsell Moguls, transferring to the Southern Railway when it was created by the amalgamation of the SECR with other railways at Grouping in 1923. After Maunsell's retirement in 1937, Holcroft continued to work for the Southern Railway under Oliver Bulleid until his retirement in 1946. Holcroft

3120-401: The design stage, the overall consequence was that the inside cylinder had a tendency to give more power than the other two as speed increased, leading to the overloading of the inside connecting rod bearings, especially the big-end which was liable to overheat and fail. Various experiments were tried over the years to cure this chronic ailment, and it was only towards the end of the steam era that

3198-466: The device in 1935, and it became a standard fitting on all LNER large, wide-firebox boilers that were applied to new locomotives until 1949, except for a short period while Edward Thompson was CME. The banjo dome was one of the Gresley features he disliked. It was also applied to replacement boilers on the A3s. Although all of the original Class A1 locomotives were eventually rebuilt to Class A3 specifications, it

LNER Gresley Classes A1 and A3 - Misplaced Pages Continue

3276-460: The driver's forward vision. The solution came in the form of narrow German-style smoke deflectors , which somewhat changed the appearance of the A3 locomotives in their latter days. The prototype locomotive, number 60113 Great Northern , had been rebuilt by Edward Thompson into a virtually new design. The first to be withdrawn was 60104 Solario in 1959. Otherwise the class remained intact until 1961, and

3354-470: The first example of which was number 2743 Felstead . This locomotive appeared in August 1928 with 220 psi (1.52 MPa) boiler, 19-inch (483 mm) cylinders, increased superheat, long-travel valves, improved lubrication and modified weight distribution. Another new development was the changeover from right- to left-hand drive, less convenient for a right-handed fireman, but more so for sighting signals, resulting in

3432-545: The first of Gresley's A1 Pacifics, Great Northern was selected and became the LNER Class A1/1 specification with divided drive and separate valve gear for the inside cylinder. Thompson intended to rebuild to this configuration all the Gresley A1s that had not been converted to A3 standard; in the meantime, the remaining Gresley A1s were reclassified as A10s. The rebuilding of these locomotives as A1/1 never happened. Instead,

3510-456: The flat-topped Belpaire variety, but a round-topped one that was in line with Great Northern tradition. Features in common with the American types were the downward profile towards the back of the firebox and the boiler tapering towards the front. Heat transfer and the flow of gases were helped by use of a combustion chamber extending forward from the firebox space into the boiler barrel, along with

3588-483: The grouping, the locomotives were required to have a far greater operating range. In 1924, number 4472 Flying Scotsman , renumbered and named for the occasion, was displayed at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley along with the first member of the Great Western Railway (GWR) Castle Class , number 4073 Caerphilly Castle . The latter weighed 19.6 long tons (19.9 t; 22.0 short tons) less than

3666-508: The hot gases, thus raising steam temperature. The presence of the larger superheater could be recognised from the square covers on either side of the smokebox, a feature that the locomotives retained throughout the rest of their existence. At the 1925 British Empire Exhibition, Flying Scotsman was again exhibited; but this time, the GWR sent Pendennis Castle . Most of the locomotives built as class A1 (also all of those built as class A3) had vacuum brakes for both locomotive and train. However,

3744-487: The inside crank displaced by about 7 degrees to allow for the 1:8 inclination of the inside cylinder, this slight deviation from even spacing being a suggestion by Harold Holcroft of the SECR which enabled the outside cylinders to be perfectly horizontal. Gresley conjugated valve gear derived the motion of the inside valve spindle from the two outside valve spindles: this eliminated an inaccessible middle set of valve gear between

3822-554: The locomotive's revolutionary design. However, by incorporating the Great Western-inspired valve modifications, the economies in coal and water consumption achieved were such that the 180 psi Pacifics could undertake long-distance non-stop runs that were previously impossible. The first and most spectacular outcome occurred in 1928, when the Pacifics were called upon daily to work the Flying Scotsman train non-stop over

3900-501: The locomotives came from a variety of sources. The first, Great Northern , was named after its parent company. Others were given the names of high-ranking railway officials, but most were given the names of famous racehorses. One was named after the company's most famous long-distance passenger train, the Flying Scotsman . Flying Scotsman is the sole member of the class to be preserved. The new Pacific locomotives were built at

3978-452: The locomotives more economical and free-running, and also kept the firetubes clean, reducing turn-around time, so much so that they were able to fit into the more intensive diesel locomotive workings. The Kylchap arrangement was already being universally applied to the A4 streamlined Pacifics , though with the non-streamlined A3 locomotives, the soft exhaust would cause the smoke and steam to drift into

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4056-532: The middle cylinder gear of a steam locomotive from the outside cylinder combination levers, as opposed to Gresley's method of using direct transmission from the front valve spindles. This was necessary in the case of the SECR / SR Moguls because there was insufficient space for Holcroft's original gear to fit between the cylinder leading wheels and first drivers. Holcroft's method had a number of advantages. The Gresley design of conjugated valve gear suffered from variations in valve events brought about by heat expansion of

4134-539: The models have never been resurrected. Other manufacturers have produced models in other scales, such as Minitrix, Graham Farish, and Dapol (N-gauge) and Bassett-Lowke (O-gauge). London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway ( LNER ) was the second largest (after LMS ) of the " Big Four " railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At that time, it

4212-473: The modification of all earlier locomotives. Twenty-seven A3s were built from new, until 1935, with little variation except for a new type of boiler with a "banjo dome", an oval steam collector that was placed on top of the rear boiler ring. The first banjo dome was hidden beneath the casing of Cock o' the North of 1934; it was subsequently used in the A4 streamliners . The last nine A3 Pacifics were constructed with

4290-434: The modification of the upper smokebox area surrounding the chimney. Originally the whole smokebox wrapper was retained in order to form an air duct, with the exit behind the chimney, but this was found ineffective. The next stage, at least with 2751, was to cut off the top part of the wrapper, but retaining the sloping plate that directed air flow upwards, and therefore lifting the smoke above the locomotive. The original chimney

4368-807: The most westerly track and stations in Great Britain, in the form of the West Highland Railway to Arisaig and Mallaig , previously owned by the North British Railway. The LNER inherited four of London's termini: Fenchurch Street (ex- London and Blackwall Railway ; King's Cross (ex- Great Northern Railway ); Liverpool Street (ex- Great Eastern Railway ); and Marylebone (ex- Great Central Railway ). In addition, it ran suburban services to Broad Street ( London, Midland and Scottish Railway ) and Moorgate ( Metropolitan Railway , later London Transport ). The LNER owned: In partnership with

4446-551: The offer in 1933 of government loans at low interest rates and electrified the lines from Manchester to Sheffield and Wath yard, and also commuter lines in the London suburban area. The LNER inherited: It took shares in a large number of bus companies, including for a time a majority stake in United Automobile Services Ltd. In Halifax and Sheffield , it participated in Joint Omnibus Committees with

4524-420: The public to visit the holiday destinations of the east coast in the summer. The company was nationalised in 1948 along with the rest of the railway companies of Great Britain to form British Railways . It continued to exist as a legal entity for nearly two more years, being formally wound up on 23 December 1949. On the privatisation of British Rail in 1996, the franchise to run long distance express trains on

4602-435: The standard typeface for the company. Soon it appeared on every facet of the company's identity, from metal locomotive nameplates and hand-painted station signage to printed restaurant car menus, timetables and advertising posters. The LNER promoted their rebranding by offering Eric Gill a footplate ride on the Flying Scotsman express service; he also painted for it a signboard in the style of Gill Sans, which survives in

4680-413: The streamlined Silver Jubilee train of 1935 were exploited by the LNER publicity department, and embedded the non-stop London to Edinburgh services such as the Flying Scotsman in the public imagination. The crowning glory of this time was the world record speed of 126 miles per hour (203 km/h) achieved on a test run by LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard . In 1929, the LNER chose the typeface Gill Sans as

4758-423: The time and gave Gresley the elements necessary to design a thoroughly up-to-date locomotive. The first two GNR Pacifics, 1470 Great Northern and 1471 Sir Frederick Banbury were introduced in 1922. The Great Northern board ordered a further ten '1470-class' locomotives, which were under construction at Doncaster at the time of the formation of the LNER in 1923. This included the future sole surviving member of

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4836-482: The valve spindles and flexing of the combination lever – even after considerable re-design of the lever and pivot bracket, affecting the valve events when the locomotive was under way. By using the combination lever assembly to drive the middle cylinder, Holcroft managed to circumvent these problems. Subsequently the problem of flexure and lost motion caused the gear to be removed from the SR Moguls in 1931, to be replaced by

4914-400: The very necessary ball race ; excessive 'play' led to so much over-travel of the middle valve, that it began to hit the end-covers. In order to prevent this, when applying the gear to the Pacifics, Gresley fell back on the expedient of shortening valve travel even though that choked the exhaust at speed, was responsible for the heavy coal consumption, and negated most of the advantages gained by

4992-737: Was 106.5 miles (171.4 km). It covered the area north and east of London . It included the East Coast Main Line from London to Edinburgh via York and Newcastle upon Tyne and the routes from Edinburgh to Aberdeen and Inverness . It also included the Great Central Main Line , from London Marylebone to Sheffield . Most of the country east of the Pennines was within its purview, including East Anglia . The main workshops were in Doncaster , with others at Darlington , Inverurie and Stratford, London . The company also owned

5070-477: Was a drawn-out process that lasted until 1949; 60068 Sir Visto was the last locomotive to be converted. The changeover to left-hand drive took longer, and continued into the Fifties. Despite having settled on a new standard type, Gresley continued to experiment on individual locomotives, in one of which experiments ACFI feedwater heaters were installed in A1 2576 The White Knight and A3 2580 Shotover . However, on

5148-452: Was a very industrial company: hauling more than a third of Britain's coal, it derived two thirds of its income from freight. Despite this, the main image presented was one of glamour, of fast trains and sophisticated destinations. Advertising was highly sophisticated and advanced compared with those of its rivals. Teasdale and Dandridge commissioned top graphic designers and poster artists such as Tom Purvis to promote its services and encourage

5226-578: Was born in Wolverhampton and undertook a premium apprenticeship at the Wolverhampton works of the GWR (managed by his uncle Ernest Edward Lucy). He worked in the assembly shop and the drawing office to get an all-round feel for railway life, giving him the experience to generate his own ideas. His first patent was filed at the age of 18, which brought Holcroft to the attention of Churchward and enabled him to transfer to Swindon works when his apprenticeship

5304-505: Was completed. As one of Churchward's rising prodigies in the heyday of GWR locomotive development, Holcroft helped with the design of several of Churchward's locomotives, notably the 4300 class 2-6-0. In 1909, he patented a form of conjugated valve gear to drive the valves of a three-cylinder engine from only two sets of valve gear. When the Churchward development programme of new locomotives began to slow down, Holcroft sought employment with

5382-532: Was divided into the new British Railways ' Eastern Region , North Eastern Region , and partially the Scottish Region . The company was the second largest created by the Railways Act 1921 . The principal constituents of the LNER were: The total route mileage was 6,590 miles (10,610 km). The North Eastern Railway had the largest route mileage of 1,757 miles (2,828 km), whilst the Hull and Barnsley Railway

5460-480: Was in a design impasse, he took as a model the new American Pennsylvania Railroad class K4 Pacific of 1914. This in turn had been updated from a series of prototypes scientifically developed in 1910 under Francis J. Cole, Alco's Chief Consulting Engineer at Schenectady and the Pennsylvania's K29 Alco prototype of 1911, also designed by Cole. Descriptions of those locomotives appeared in the British technical press at

5538-418: Was later deemed unnecessary. Ten of these corridor tenders were built, and a non-corridor version of similar design followed with 8-ton coal capacity and no coal rail. Further series of both types had disc wheels instead of the previous spoked variety. The early A1 Pacifics were a match for the performances demanded of them in the early 1920s. They were certainly able to take loads single-handed that were beyond

5616-563: Was made after comparative trials with an equivalent North Eastern Railway (NER) Pacific, classified ' A2 '. Between 1923 and 1925, 51 A1 locomotives were built; twenty by the North British Locomotive Company , and the remainder by Doncaster Works. However, Gresley's Pacifics had been designed to work within the bounds of the Great Northern Railway, meaning maximum distances of less than 200 miles (322 km). After

5694-466: Was made with modified A1 locomotive number 4472, Flying Scotsman ; on the return trip with 6 coaches weighing 208 long tons (211.3 t; 233.0 short tons) it attained 100 mph (160 km/h) just outside Little Bytham in Lincolnshire for just over 600 yards (549 m). There were earlier claims to this speed, notably by the Great Western locomotive 3440 City of Truro , but this 1933 run

5772-453: Was replaced by a double stove-pipe variety, and miniature deflector plates were added on either side, angled to concentrate the air flow when the locomotive was on the move. Smoke-lifting devices were not a priority with the normal single-chimney Pacifics. However, with its double chimney and subsequent fitting of a double Kylchap exhaust in 1937, Humorist continued to pose a problem in this regard and always had small wings on either side of

5850-809: Was sold for preservation to Alan Pegler . After overhaul, Scotsman worked a number of railtours, including a non-stop London–Edinburgh run in 1968, the final year of steam traction on British Railways. After a much-publicised appeal in 2004, Flying Scotsman was purchased by the National Railway Museum in York and is now part of the National Collection. A spare A3 boiler that was fitted to 60041 Salmon Trout and 60097 Humorist , but mainly on Salmon Trout survives at National Railway Museum's National Collection. Cylinder parts from Salmon Trout purchased by Alan Pegler still exist to this day, they are

5928-632: Was still operating on express passenger work. The last class member to be withdrawn by British Railways was number 60052, Prince Palatine in January 1966. 60103 Flying Scotsman was withdrawn in 1963, and has since been preserved at the National Railway Museum in York. The sole surviving member of the A3s and A1s is 4472 (60103) Flying Scotsman . The locomotive was withdrawn from service with British Railways in 1963 and after being saved from scrap it

6006-901: Was the majority partner in the Cheshire Lines Committee and the Forth Bridge Railway Company . It depended on freight from heavy industry in Yorkshire, the north east of England and Scotland, and its revenue was reduced by the economic depression for much of the early part of its existence. In a bid to improve financial efficiency, staffing levels reduced from 207,500 in 1924 to 175,800 in 1937. For investment to retain freight traffic, new marshalling yards were built in Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire, and Hull in Yorkshire to attempt to retain freight traffic. Sir Ralph Wedgwood introduced

6084-422: Was well below the ultimate potential of the design. This was largely due to a regression from the earlier 3-cylinder 2-6-0 design , which was the first to have the standard Gresley conjugated motion combined with long valve travel. However, practical problems were experienced with components quickly suffering from premature wear, especially in the main bearing of the large 2:1 lever which had not yet been fitted with

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