The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Peppercorn Class A1 is a type of express passenger steam locomotive. Forty-nine original Peppercorn Class A1s were built to the design of Arthur Peppercorn (who was the last Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the LNER) during the early British Railways era, but all were scrapped with the discontinuation of steam, with none of the original production run surviving into preservation. In 2008, a brand new 50th Peppercorn A1 locomotive, 60163 Tornado, was completed.

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LNER Peppercorn Class A1
60155 Borderer by the coaling stage at Gateshead depot in April 1964
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Arthur Peppercorn Builder Doncaster Works Darlington Works Build date 1948 - 1949, 2008 Total produced 49
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 4-6-2 Leading dia. 3 ft 2 in (0.965 m) Driver dia. 6 ft 8 in (2.032 m) Trailing dia. 3 ft 8 in (1.118 m) Length 72 ft 11+3⁄4 in (22.24 m) Width 9 ft 2+7⁄8 in (2.82 m) Height 13 ft 1 in (3.99 m) Axle load 22.1 long tons (22.5 t; 24.8 short tons) Adhesive weight 66.55 long tons (67.62 t; 74.54 short tons) Loco weight 105.2 long tons (106.9 t; 117.8 short tons) Tender weight 60.9 long tons (61.9 t; 68.2 short tons) Total weight 166.1 long tons (168.8 t; 186.0 short tons) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 9.0 long tons (9.1 t; 10.1 short tons) Water cap. 5,000 imp gal (23,000 L; 6,000 US gal) Firebox:  • Firegrate area 50.0 sq ft (4.65 m2) Boiler Diagram 118 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) diameter 29 ft 2 in (8.89 m) length Boiler pressure 250 psi (1,700 kPa) Heating surface 2,461.4 sq ft (228.67 m2)  • Tubes 1,211.6 sq ft (112.56 m2)  • Flues 1,004.5 sq ft (93.32 m2)  • Firebox 245.3 sq ft (22.79 m2) Superheater: ​  • Heating area 697.7 sq ft (64.82 m2) Cylinders 3 Cylinder size 19 in × 26 in (483 mm × 660 mm) Valve gear Walschaerts
Performance figures Maximum speed 100 mph (160 km/h) Power output 2,700 hp (2,000 kW)[citation needed] Tractive effort 37,400 lbf (166 kN)
Career Operators British Railways Power class BR: 8P6F Number in class 49 original, plus 1 completed 2008 Numbers 60114 - 60162, 60163 Locale North Eastern Region First run August 1948 Last run June 1966 Withdrawn October 1962 - June 1966 Disposition Original 49 withdrawn and scrapped, 1 built in 2008 and Mainline Registered

Background

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. Thompson rebuilt the pioneer LNER Pacific Great Northern in 1945; originally this was the new Class A1, but the rebuild was not repeated. Instead, initiated by Thompson but largely taken forward by his successor Arthur Peppercorn, Great Northern was designated Class A1/1, and a new class of Peppercorn A1s ordered.

The locomotives were designed to cope with the heaviest passenger trains in the post-war period on the East Coast Main Line (London – York – Newcastle – Edinburgh – Aberdeen) which consisted normally of trains with up to 15 coaches and up to 550 tons. The Peppercorn A1s were able to pull such a train on the flat at a speed of 60–70 mph (95-110 km/h). The class used a double Kylchap chimney system and, like previous LNER Pacifics, had a 3-cylinder arrangement.

Original locomotives

Construction

The new A1s were ordered by the LNER but delivered after that company had been nationalised to form part of British Railways at the start of 1948. The 49 engines were built at the Eastern Region's Doncaster and Darlington works between 1948 and 1949.

Withdrawal

By summer of 1966, all 49 class members had gone for scrap. The last to be withdrawn from stock was No. 60145 Saint Mungo, after a working life of just 17 years. 60145 Saint Mungo was planned to be preserved by Geoff Drury; however, this ultimately was unsuccessful and none of the original locomotives were preserved. [2]

List of original locomotives

Below is a list of original Peppercorn A1 Locomotives[3][4][5][6]^{[page needed]}[7]^{[page needed]}[8][9]

Notes on names

The names of the A1s[10] were an eclectic mix including:

• Racehorses: Bois Roussel, Silurian, Scottish Union, Bongrace, Pommern, Foxhunter, Alcazar, Boswell, King's Courier, Aboyeur, Amadis, Willbrook, Flamboyant
• Names of people: W. P. Allen (an LNER locomotive driver who became a member of the Railway Executive in 1948), Archibald Sturrock, Patrick Stirling, H. A. Ivatt, Sir Vincent Raven, Wilson Worsdell, Edward Fletcher (Locomotive Superintendents of pre-grouping railways), Sir Walter Scott, Saint Mungo
• Names related to the works of Sir Walter Scott: Meg Merrilies, Hal o’ the Wynd, Kenilworth, Guy Mannering, Marmion, Borderer, Madge Wildfire, Redgauntlet, Bonnie Dundee. Some of these names had previously been used on NBR J class locomotives
• Pre-grouping railway companies: North Eastern, Great Central, Great Eastern, North British
• Birds: Kittiwake, Curlew, Kestrel, Osprey, Sea Eagle, Peregrine
• Place-related names: Balmoral, Abbotsford (Sir Walter Scott's house), Midlothian, Holyrood, Bon Accord (motto of Aberdeen), Auld Reekie (a soubriquet for Edinburgh), Saint Johnstoun (an old name for Perth), Aberdonian

No. 60163 Tornado

None of the original production run of 49 Peppercorn A1s survived the scrapyard to be preserved. However, in 2008, a brand new 50th A1 based on the original Peppercorn patterns, 60163 Tornado, was completed as the evolved member of the class.[11]

Accidents and incidents

• On 5 June 1950, locomotive No. 60153 Flamboyant was hauling an express passenger train which was derailed at Tollerton, North Yorkshire due to heat buckled track.[12]
• On 7 September 1962, No. 60123 H.A. Ivatt suffered harsh collision damage after running into a train at Offord. Four people were injured in the incident. It was withdrawn a month later and scrapped at Doncaster.[13][14][15]
• On 16 January 1964, No. 60120 Kittiwake collided with the rear end of a goods train in North Otterington. It was shortly withdrawn after the incident.[16]
• On 14 April 2018, locomotive No. 60163 Tornado was hauling an excursion train named "The Ebor Flyer" from London King's Cross to York. While traveling at 90mph around Sandy, south of Peterborough, the locomotive's inside motion failed.[17][18]

Models

Bachmann Branchline and Hornby make models in OO gauge, Graham Farish produce a model in N gauge and Accucraft (UK) make a live steam model in Gauge 1.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to LNER Peppercorn Class A1.

• A1 Steam Locomotive Trust