LNER Peppercorn Class A1.html



See also: LNER Class A1/A3 and LNER Thompson Class A1/1

LNER Peppercorn Class A1

60133 Pommern passing Leeds-Holbeck High Level Station hauling Leeds Central to Kings Cross Yorkshire Pullman in 1951
Power type	Steam
Designer	Arthur Peppercorn
Builder	Doncaster Works Darlington Works
Build date	1948 - 1949, 2007 (see article)
Configuration	4-6-2
Leading wheel size	3 ft 2 in (0.97 m)
Driver size	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Trailing wheel size	3 ft 8 in (1.12 m)
Length	72 ft 11.75 in (22.24 m)
Width	9 ft 2.875 in (2.82 m)
Height	13 ft 1 in (3.99 m) (60163 Tornado - 13 ft (3.96 m))
Axle load	22.1 long tons (22.5 t)
Weight on drivers	66.55 long tons (67.62 t)
Locomotive weight	105.2 long tons (106.9 t)
Tender weight	60.9 long tons (61.9 t)
Locomotive and tender combined weight	166.1 long tons (168.8 t)
Fuel type	Coal
Fuel capacity	9.0 long tons (9.1 t) (60163 Tornado - 7.5 long tons (7.6 t))
Water capacity	5,000 imp gal (23,000 L) (60163 Tornado - 6,000 imp gal (27,000 L))
Boiler	Diagram 118 6 ft 5 in (2.0 m) diameter 29 ft 2 in (8.9 m) length
Boiler pressure	250 psi (1,700 kPa)
Fire grate area	50.0 square feet (4.65 m2)
Heating surface: Tubes	1,211.6 square feet (112.56 m2)
Heating surface: Flues	1,004.5 square feet (93.32 m2)
Heating surface: Firebox	245.3 square feet (22.79 m2)
Superheater area	697.7 square feet (64.82 m2)
Cylinder size	19 in × 26 in (480 mm × 660 mm)
Top speed	100 mph (160 km/h)
Tractive effort	2,700 metric horsepower (2,000 kW)
Number in class	49 (+1 under construction)
Number	60114 - 60162 (60163 Tornado under construction)
Locale	North Eastern Region of British Railways
First run	August 1948
Last run	June 1966
Retired	October 1962 - June 1966
Scrapped	1962 - 1966
Disposition	49 withdrawn and scrapped, 1 under construction

60155 Borderer primed and ready for duty, by the coaling stage at Gateshead depot.

60163 Tornado during its fitting out at Hopetown Carriage Works in Darlington.

The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Peppercorn Class A1 was a class of steam locomotives. 49 were built to the design of Arthur Peppercorn (who was the last Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the London and North Eastern Railway) during the early British Railways era, but all were scrapped with the discontinuation of steam, and none survive.

The Class has the wheel arrangement 4-6-2 and was powered by three cylinders. The chimney system was of the type Double-Kylchap. The new series was ordered by the LNER but delivered later to British Railways. It was built after the nationalization of private railway companies at Doncaster and Darlington works of former LNER between 1948 and 1949.

Most of the former LNER Class A1 locomotives designed by Sir Nigel Gresley had been rebuilt as LNER Class A3 locomotives prior to this class being conceived. The few straggling LNER Class A1 locomotives that remained unrebuilt during the tenure of Peppercorn's predecessor, Edward Thompson, were redesignated by him as Class A10s in preparation for the construction of his new Class A1 locomotives. The Thompson A1s were not, however, constructed, these locomotives being built in their place after his retirement.

The locomotives were designed to cope with the heaviest passenger trains in the after-war period at the East Coast Mainline (London – York – Newcastle – Edinburgh – Aberdeen) which consisted normally of trains with up to 15 coaches and up to 550 tons. The ‘’’Peppercorn’’’ A1’s were able to pull such a train on the flat at a speed of 60-70 mph (95-110 km/h.

Above all though the A1s were renowned for their reliability. By 1961 the class had accumulated 48 million miles, equivalent to 202 miles each calendar day. These were unmatched by any other steam locomotive on British Railways. Some of the best performances were put in by Nos 60153-57, which in a move to increase mileage between general repairs were fitted with roller-bearing axleboxes. Between 1949 and 1961 this quintet totalled 4.8 million miles with an average mileage between works overhauls of 120,000. In a single year No 60156 Great Central of Kings Cross ran 96,000 miles.

If there was one drawback to the Peppercorn A1 it was its riding. There were wide variations between individual class members with some very rough indeed. The cause apart from the inevitable axlebox wear lay in the leading bogie. This was the same as that fitted to the LNER Thompson Class B1 but no adjustments were made at the design stage to tailor it for the heavier A1. Changes to the loading of the bogie side control springs usually brought the riding up to a level comparable with other express types.

By summer of 1966 all 49 class members had gone for scrap. The last to be withdrawn was no 60145 Saint Mungo after a working life of just 17 years.

Names of Peppercorn A1 locomotives

Preservation

None of the original Peppercorn A1s survived to be preserved. A fiftieth example, 60163 Tornado (named after the Panavia Tornado) has been built by the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust and assembled at the old LNER works at Darlington. Its first test run took place on 1st August 2008.¹ From Darlington it moved to the Great Central Railway (preserved) for testing, concluding with participation in the GCR's Steam Railway Autumn Gala in October 2008 before transferring to the National Railway Museum, York on 21st October, its home during the planned sequence of mainline tests through November. Its first livery—after the standard grey undercoat—will be LNER Apple Green. The importance of Tornado, other than revival of a scrapped class, is that it is the first mainline steam engine to be built and completed since the end of steam in British railways.

References

External links

• LNER encyclopedia
• A1 Steam Locomotive Trust
• Historic A1s 1940s - 1960s