GER Class N31

GER Class N31
LNER Class J14
Great Eastern Class N31 locomotive 998
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerJames Holden
BuilderStratford Works
Build date1893–1898
Total produced81 (+1 rebuilt from Class 127)
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte0-6-0
 • UICC n2
Gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Driver dia.4 ft 11 in (1.499 m)
Wheelbase35 ft 5 in (10.80 m)
Length47 ft 3 in (14.40 m) over buffers
Loco weight38 long tons 18.5 cwt (87,200 lb or 39.5 t)
Fuel typeCoal
Firebox:​
 • Grate area18.0 sq ft (1.67 m2)
Boiler pressure160 lbf/in2 (1.10 MPa)
Heating surface1,199.5 sq ft (111.44 m2)
CylindersTwo, inside
Cylinder size17.5 in × 24 in (444 mm × 610 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort16,942 lbf (75.36 kN)
Career
OperatorsGER » LNER
ClassGER: N31
LNER: J14
NicknamesSwifts
Withdrawn1908–1925

The GER Class N31 was a class of eighty-two 0-6-0 steam locomotives designed by James Holden for the Great Eastern Railway. Eighteen passed to the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at the 1923 grouping and received the LNER classification J14.

History

These goods locomotives had 17.5-by-24-inch (444 mm × 610 mm) cylinders, 4-foot-11-inch (1.499 m) driving wheels, and a 160-pound-force-per-square-inch (1,100 kPa) boiler. Eighty-one were built at Stratford Works between 1893 and 1898.

Table of orders and numbers

Table of orders and numbers[1]
Year Order Quantity GER Nos. Notes
1893 N31 1 999
1893 H33 10 979–988
1894 L33 10 989–998
1894 E34 10 969–978
1896 N37 10 959–968
1897 H40 10 949–958
1897 O41 10 602–608, 946–948
1898 G42 10 542–551
1898 K43 10 562–571

Class 127

In addition, when the Class 127 locomotive was rebuilt from compound to simple in 1895, it was then included into Class N31.[1]

Performance

They were not particularly successful locomotives. Although nicknamed Swifts, they were sluggish locomotives, due to the placement of the valve chests underneath the cylinders.[1][2]

Withdrawals

Withdrawals started in 1908, and by the end of 1922, only eighteen were left in service. The LNER allocated numbers 7000 higher than the locomotives' GER numbers, but withdrawals continued, and by 1925 the class was extinct.

Table of withdrawals[3]
Year Quantity in
service at
start of year		 Quantity
withdrawn		 Locomotive numbers
1908 82 1 971
1909 81 18 546, 549, 565, 566, 570, 571, 602, 605, 608, 950, 953–955, 957, 966, 969, 972, 975
1910 63 14 542, 550, 563, 568, 569, 603, 606, 956, 962, 974, 982, 989, 990, 991
1911 49 9 547, 551, 562, 567, 958, 960, 961, 988, 997
1912 40 6 544, 949, 952, 967, 968, 996
1913 34 3 607, 979, 935 (ex-127)
1914 31 3 0545, 0564, 947
1915 28 1 946
1916 27 1 994
1920 26 2 0543, 999
1921 24 1 965
1922 23 5 548, 948, 986, 992, 995
1923 18 6 959, 970, 976, 980, 985, 993
1924 12 5 951, 963, 964, 977, 978
1925 7 7 604, 973, 981, 983, 984, 987, 998

References

  1. ^ a b c Aldrich 1969, p. 77
  2. ^ Aldrich 1969, p. 75
  3. ^ Aldrich 1969, pp. 77, 134, 138–139
  • Aldrich, C. Langley (1969). The Locomotives of the Great Eastern Railway 1862–1962 (7th ed.). Wickford, Essex: C. Langley Aldrich. OCLC 30278831.
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