The Great Central Railway

Great Central Railway

The Great Central Railway was a railway company in England which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension . On 1 January 1923, it was grouped into the London and North Eastern...

 (GCR) Class 9F was a class of 0-6-2T steam locomotive

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

 built between 1891 and 1901. From 1923 the locomotives were redesignated Class N5.

Design and construction

Designed by Thomas Parker

Thomas Parker (engineer)

Thomas Parker was chief mechanical engineer of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway from 1886-1893.He was Carriage and Wagon Superintendent at the railway's Gorton works from 1858 and then replaced Charles Reboul Sacre who resigned in 1886...

 for the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway

Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway

The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway was formed by amalgamation in 1847. The MS&LR changed its name to the Great Central Railway in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension.-Origin:...

 (MSLR), the prototype 9F was built in 1891. A total of 12 batches were constructed up to 1901, with 131 locos being completed. The MSLR changed its name to the GCR in 1897. The GCR 9F locos were reclassifed as N5 under the LNER locomotive numbering and classification

LNER locomotive numbering and classification

A number of different numbering and classification schemes were used for the locomotives owned by the London and North Eastern Railway and its constituent companies. This page explains the principal systems that were used...

 system when the GCR was absorbed into the London & North Eastern Railway after the 1923 grouping

Railways Act 1921

The Railways Act 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, was an enactment by the British government of David Lloyd George intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, move the railways away from internal competition, and to retain some of the benefits which...

. It was the first design for a British railway to use the Belpaire firebox

Belpaire firebox

The Belpaire firebox is a type of firebox used on steam locomotives. It was invented by Alfred Belpaire of Belgium. It has a greater surface area at the top of the firebox, improving heat transfer and steam production...

.

Operation and use

The 9F, later N5, locos were utilised for a variety of purposes including goods shunting, short goods train trips and local passenger train duties. Some locos acted as station pilots at larger termini.

The N5 class was widely spread over the ex GCR rail system and elsewhere. During July 1952, there were N5s based at Neasden (London), Immingham, Lincoln, Darnall (Sheffield), Gorton (Manchester), and Northwich, Chester and Wrexham, plus several other loco depots.

Locomotive numbering

The GCR locos had 5000 added to their original numbers when the line was absorbed by the LNER in 1923, resulting in numbers ranging between 5021 and 5946. As part of the LNERs numbering rationalisation scheme introduced in 1946, the surviving 121 N5s were renumbered between 9250 and 9370 with the earliest built receiving the lowest number, and so on. British Railways, formed on 1 January 1948, added 60000 to all LNER loco numbers.

Withdrawal and scrapping

All 121 9F locos survived to be absorbed by the LNER in 1923. 121 N5 locos remained in service at the creation of British railways in 1948. 117 survived at 24 April 1954, reducing to 46 at 8 March 1958 as diesel-electric shunters were delivered. The last N5 was withdrawn for scrapping in 1961.