Beyer Peacock Locomotives for the - A brief summary by Dennis Wilcock

No.215 built in 1865 was one of a batch of four locomotives originally intended for the Sardinian Railways. They were the first locomotives Beyer Peacock supplied to the MS&LR. Note the brass makers nameplate on the forward splasher. ANDREW DOW COLLECTION

In Main Line No.161 I looked at Beyer Peacock, enabled the combined company to adopt the name the company. In this issue, I will look at the of the MS&LR (incorporated on 27th July, 1846) locomotives that company built for the GCR and coming into general use on 1st January, 1847. The its antecedents. new company was thus able to link the manufacturing powerhouse and port of Before embarking on an examination of the with (and ultimately locomotives, it is worth looking at how the in 1912), New Holland and the North railway company, as we recognise it, came to exist. Sea. In doing so they were able to transport goods and passengers from the Atlantic to the North Sea The origins of the Great Central Railway (GCR) and onwards to Continental Europe and vice versa. can be traced back through the Manchester, The products of the Manchester cotton mills and and Railway (MS&LR) to the coal from the Yorkshire coalfields thus gained the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and access to these markets. Were the pioneers men Manchester Railway (SA&MR - incorporated on of enterprise and vision? In 2014 a high speed 5th May, 1837) and prior schemes some of which route linking Liverpool with Hull, HS3, was failed to come to fruition. However, it was the proposed. Did someone say MS&LR? amalgamation of the SA&MR with the Great Grimsby and Sheffield Junction Railway (GG&SJR - incorporated on 30th June, 1845), the Grimsby Docks Company (incorporated on 8th August, 1845) and the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway (S&LJR - incorporated on 3rd August, 1846) which

The elegant Class 23 designed by Charles Sacré. No.246 of 1867 rests on the turntable at Hayfield. This outside framed design was the most numerous of the 0-6-0 goods locomotives designed by Sacré. ANDREW DOW COLLECTION It was on 1st August, 1897, as the London the control of traffic well beyond the bounds of Extension was being built, that the company the railway and thus benefited from the increased adopted the more fitting title of Great Central revenue that it brought. Railway, reflecting its new status as a trunk route into London. The railway companies’ ambitions were not limited to land and sea. In the 1930s the Great Throughout this time and up to the Grouping in Western Railway established air services. In 1923, the company had to equip itself with the March, 1934, the GWR combined with the LNER, locomotives to operate its ever-expanding LMS, SR and Imperial Airways to form Railway services. In stark contrast to today’s fragmented Air Services (RAS). In 1946, the government railway system, the railway companies, right up fearing that the railway companies were to the demise of in 1991, had a totally becoming transport conglomerates with different philosophy. They sought to own every monopolistic powers, formed the state owned aspect of their business right from the land on British European Airways Corporation (BEA) which the railway ran, the track and infrastructure and the services of RAS were absorbed into that and the carriages, wagons and locomotives. They company. further wished to own the track and infrastructure maintenance facilities and the means of Concentrating now on the locomotives, manufacturing, repairing and maintaining their independent builders were involved in two own carriages, wagons and locomotives. The periods of construction - that before and that after GCR and others went further by acquiring a fleet the railway companies had established their own of steamers that plied up and down the English manufacturing facilities. In the case of the coast and across to Europe. As a result, they had MS&LR Gorton Works, the Gorton Tank, had

Beyer Peacock works photographs. Top: An un-numbered Class 15 2-4-0 of 1865 originally intended for Sardinian Railways. Left: Class 23 0-6-0 No.247 of July, 1867 in Works Grey without its tender. BOTH: MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY/ SCIENCE & SOCIETY PICTURE LIBRARY Left: GCR Class 9F (LNER N5) 0-6-2T No.542 of February, 1894 stands outside Gartsides (Brookside Brewery) Ltd at Gorton c1920. Below: Classmates No.532 (December, 1893) and 519 (September, 1893) outside Manchester London Road c1920. The two locomotives were part of a batch of 66 built over the period 1893/94. BOTH: P F COOKE/RAIL ARCHIVE STEPHENSON

been established in 1848 by Richard Peacock but and where Charles Frederick Beyer became was fully engaged in the repair and maintenance Engineer. of locomotives, carriages and wagons. It was not 1846 - Fenton Craven where Richard Peacock until 1858 that Gorton manufactured its first served an apprenticeship locomotives - two Class 5 0-6-0s to be followed in 1859 by a further two members of the class. So 1847 - Fossick & Hackworth for the period from 1841, when the first - W J & J Garforth locomotive, a 0-4-2, was built by Kirtley for the - Tulk & Ley SA&MR, to 1858, locomotive building was in the 1848 - Rayne & Burn hands of the independent builders. During that period a total of 125 locomotives were built for - E B Wilson the SA&MR, GG&SJR and MS&LR. 1849 - R & W Hawthorn Table 1 shows the locomotive builders for the - William Fairburn & Sons MS&LR/GCR. Up to 1858 it reads like a veritable 1853 - Sharp Stewart the company that Who’s Who of early locomotive builders. In order emanated from Sharp Bros when John Sharp of first locomotive built the companies were as retired in 1852 and Charles Patrick Stewart took follows: over and the year that Beyer left the company. 1841 - Kirtley 1856 - George - Robert Stephenson Many of the names will be familiar but some less 1842 - Sharp Roberts so. Fenton Craven & Co is perhaps one of the 1843 - Sharp Bros the company formed when lesser known companies. It had its origins in the the partnership at Sharp Roberts was dissolved Railway Foundry in Hunslet, and was GCR 9H Class (LNER J10) No.832 built in February, 1897. This Pollitt design was the forerunner of the famous Pom Pom and continued in production until that design emerged in 1901. ANDREW DOW COLLECTION formed in 1846 but was taken over and became Crampton locomotives which had the single E B Wilson later in the same year. driving axle behind the firebox, enabling them to have very large driving wheels. The two Another of the lesser known companies is Tulk locomotives purchased by the MS&LR were of and Ley. An iron mining company, in 1843 they that design. They were not successful. established an engineering works at Lowca near Whitehaven. They are best known for building Rayne & Burn were agents and almost certainly sub-contracted the building of the Table 1 - Locomotive Builders for the MS&LR locomotive credited to them. and GCR Builder Build Period Number Built 1820 to 1850 was a period of very rapid industrialisation and companies MS&L/MS&L(S)/GCR 1858-1922 926 with some engineering expertise Beyer Peacock 1865-1922 282 became involved in locomotive Neilson & Co/Neilson, Reid 1865-1902 171 building. Some were successful but many were not. Steam technology had Kitson & Co. 1859-1912 130 to be mastered as did the machinery North British 1905-1913 62 and processes required to build a Sharp Stewart 1853-1903 60 working locomotive. It is quite Sharp Bros 1843-1850 52 remarkable how much success was achieved in the embryonic industry. Vulcan Foundry 1903-1921 47 In 1846, Charles Frederick Beyer Burnham, Williams 1900 20 reported that one of his locomotives, R & W Hawthorn 1849-1850 18 No.25, a precursor of the famous Sharp Goods, had hauled 101 wagons Yorkshire Engine Co 1904-1906 15 weighing 597 tons over a distance of William Fairburn & Sons 1849-1859 12 29 miles at an average speed of Robert Stephenson 1841-1853 11 13.7mph. In the period between May, E B Wilson 1848-1865 9 1846 and October, 1847, the locomotive ran 40,222 miles with an W J & J Garforth 1847-1849 8 average coke consumption (early Manning Wardle 1876-1883 6 steam locomotives used coke and not Fossick & Hackworth 1847-1848 5 coal) of 39.74 lbs per mile. These were prodigious feats from the earliest Sharp Roberts 1842 3 days of steam and no doubt gave the Kirtley 1841 3 SA&MR the confidence to buy so Tulk & Ley 1847-1848 2 many of the Sharp products in its Fenton Craven 1846 1 earliest days. George England 1856 1 Of course, not everything was so Rayne & Burn 1848 1 successful. The first three Table 2 - Locomotives built by Beyer Peacock for the the GCR was absorbed into the MS&LR and the GCR LNER at the Grouping. From the total of 1845 locomotives built it Year GCR LNER Designer Wheel Number is notable that the total of Class Class Arrangement Built locomotives built at the Gorton 1865 15 Sacré 2-4-0 4 Tank was 915 with a further 11 1867 23 Sacré 0-6-0 20 being built at the company’s 1893 9F N5 Parker 0-6-2T 17 Sheffield locomotive shed (MS&LR(S)). The period over 1894 9F N5 Parker 0-6-2T 25 which the companies built the 1896 9F N5 Parker 0-6-2T 2 locomotives is also given in the 1896 9H J10 Pollitt 0-6-0 39 table. From 1923 onwards the LNER concentrated locomotive 1897 9H J10 Pollitt 0-6-0 27 building at Darlington and 1898 11A D6 Pollitt 4-4-0 2 Doncaster and Gorton was 1898 9F N5 Parker 0-6-2T 12 relegated to a repair and maintenance facility. 1898 9G F2 Pollitt 2-4-2T 10 1898 9O N5 Parker 0-6-2T 1 Most notable for the purposes of 1899 11A D6 Pollitt 4-4-0 18 this item is the fact that Beyer 1900 9F N5 Parker 0-6-2T 16 Peacock heads the list of locomotives built by the 1901 9F N5 Parker 0-6-2T 6 independent builders at 282; far 1903 8B C4 Robinson 4-4-2 2 in excess of the nearest rival, the 1903 8C B1 Robinson 4-6-0 1 Neilson companies at 171. 1903 9J J11 Robinson 0-6-0 10 In the case of Beyer Peacock, 1904 8 B5 Robinson 4-6-0 8 who first built locomotives in 1904 8B C4 Robinson 4-4-2 5 1855 for the Great Western 1904 8C B1 Robinson 4-6-0 1 Railway, the first locomotives for the MS&LR, four Class 15 2-4- 1904 9J J11 Robinson 0-6-0 15 0s designed by Locomotive 1906 8F B4 Robinson 4-6-0 10 Superintendent Charles Reboul 1906 8G B9 Robinson 4-6-0 10 Sacré (the son of a Huguenot refugee), were not built until 1907 8H S1 Robinson 0-8-4T 2 1865. (Note: These were not the 1907 9L C14 Robinson 4-4-2 12 same class as the Class 15s built 1908 8H S1 Robinson 0-8-4T 2 by Burnham, Williams & Co in 1922 9Q B7 Robinson 4-6-0 5 1900 at the Baldwin Works in Philadelphia, USA. The locomotives purchased in 1841 from Kirtley were MS&LR/GCR practice of re-using vacant class not a success. and locomotive numbers has been mentioned in these pages before). From that point on, orders As was seen in the first part of this series, from from the MS&LR and GCR were intermittent 1858 onwards the independent builders fulfilled with the pattern generally representing the periods the role of building, repairing and maintaining of famine and feast for the independent builders. locomotives when Gorton was full to capacity. The full list of locomotives built by Beyer Table 1 shows the list of locomotive builders and Peacock for the ML&SR and the GCR is given the number they built for the MS&LR/GCR from in Table 2 in date order. Manufacture covered the beginning in 1841 to the end of 1922 when locomotive design right from the earliest days of Pollitt designed GCR Class 11A (LNER D6) No.871 built by Beyer Peacock in February,1899 at Manchester Central c1908, as rebuilt by Robinson. The locomotives were intended for the London Extension expresses. JOHN QUICK COLLECTION Sacré through to the first and second periods of Robinson’s designs. The MS&LR/GCR used various titles for its engineers in charge of locomotive matters. For completeness they are listed below. 0-6-0 designs. 98 were built over the period from 1859 to 1867 with Beyer Peacock building a batch 1841 - 1848 - Richard Peacock of 20 in 1865. It was a period of rapid increase in 1848 - 1859 - William Grindley Craig the railway’s locomotive stock. The double frame 1859 - 1886 - Charles Reboul Sacré design was much favoured by early locomotive 1886 - 1893 - Thomas Parker builders including Richard Peacock. The frames 1894 - 1899 - Harry Pollitt were of the sandwich type with the two ½” plates 1900 - 1922 - John George Robinson either side of a 3½” wooden plank. It is not intended to discuss every design as that would take rather more space than is available but By the time Beyer Peacock built another to concentrate on the more significant designs. locomotive for the MS&LR the year was 1893 Notable are the two designs of Sacré neither of and locomotive design had moved on which lasted into the LNER period. The Class 15 considerably. The class was the GCR 9F which, was an inside-framed locomotive. The four in its various developed forms, was classified N5 purchased in 1865 were originally destined for by the LNER. It was designed by Thomas Parker the Sardinian Railways. They were put to work and was a development of his GCR 9A Class on the North Lincolnshire lines. No more of the (LNER N4) of 1889. The 9Fs differed principally class were purchased by the MS&LR. from the 9As by having Stephenson link motion instead of Joy and a Belpaire firebox The Class 23 was a double-framed goods instead of the previous round top design. In fact locomotive and was the most numerous of Sacré’s this was the first British locomotive design to adopt the Belpaire boiler and represented a major innovation by the ML&SR. This type of boiler was very widely adopted by the GCR and GCR Class 11A No.875 built by Beyer Peacock in March, 1899 at Trafford Park Shed c1918. Seen with a superheated boiler and a cast numberplate on the cabside as opposed to the painted version on No.871 above. REAL PHOTOGRAPHS GCR Class 8B (C4) 4-4-2 “Jersey Lily” No.194, built by Beyer Peacock on 23rd December, 1903 leaves Brackley Viaduct with an Up express c1905. LGRP12176/JOHN QUICK COLLECTION but continued the production of former Parker designs. It was not until 1896 that he produced locomotives of his own design; one of the first being the 0-6-0 goods locomotive of Class 9H (LNER J10). Beyer Peacock were heavily involved in the all British main line railways throughout the 20th production of these locomotives, 39 being century. It is interesting to speculate how much produced in 1893 and 27 in 1894. As with the 9Fs Beyer Peacock influenced the choice of the the company built a high proportion of the total Belpaire boiler as they had been building such class numbers of 106. boilers for the overseas market for the previous 20 years. 1893 and 1894 represented the peak in Beyer Peacock production for the ML&SR/GCR. After The 9Fs were the most numerous of the GCR that, when locomotives were built for the railway, classes built by Beyer Peacock. From 1893 to the numbers were at a much more modest level. 1901 129 were built, 79 by Beyer Peacock. However, production did continue and in 1898/99 Along with the earlier 9A class, 55 of which were they built 20 locomotives of the 11A (D6) class. built, the 9Fs were designed for short goods The class was part of a long line of GCR workings and shunting duties and spent much of development of the 4-4-0 for express passenger their early years on coal and steel trains in the use which culminated in 1919 with the Robinson Sheffield area. After the Grouping in 1923, they Class 11F Improved Director. The development were increasingly used on local passenger trains. had begun in 1887 when Thomas Parker They were essentially a tank engine version of the introduced his Class 2. It was the first GCR 0-6-0 Class 9H (J10) goods locomotive with both express locomotive to have inside frames. classes of locomotive being built in a large Readers will be familiar with the project to build acceleration of locomotive building to cope with a brand new Class 2, No.567 and thus see a the increased goods traffic on the railway and the shortfall of suitable locomotives.

Harry Pollitt became ML&SR Locomotive Engineer in 1894 GCR Class 9J (LNER J11) No.222 built in March, 1904 at Whetstone on 26th March, 1910. It is working a Down Class A goods; a London to Grimsby empty fish train. Whetstone station is behind the camera. KEN NUNN /LCGB Edwardian elegance at its best. GCR Class 8F (LNER B4) 4-6-0 No.1096 in pristine condition at Victoria with an up train c1923. T G HEPBURN/RAIL ARCHIVE STEPHENSON significant point in the history of GCR locomotive GCR were desperate to have sufficient development.. locomotives to operate the London Extension but unfortunately at the time, Beyer Peacock was The Class 2 was followed in 1895 when Harry embroiled in a long strike. The GCR put in place Pollitt introduced his Class 11. It was the first plans to start the building of some of the express locomotive in Britain to use a Belpaire locomotives to be handed over to Beyer Peacock boiler which had been developed by Beyer when the strike was settled. It is not clear how far Peacock and had 7’ 0’’ driving wheels as opposed this progressed as all 20 locomotives bore the to the 6’ 9’’ wheels of the Class 2. Beyer Peacock works plate.

The Class 11A (D6) was introduced in 1897 and In any review of GCR locomotives it would be differed from the Class 11 in having piston difficult not to mention the ubiquitous 9J (J11) instead of slide valves. They were intended for Pom Pom, 174 examples of which were built. the fast lightweight expresses on the London Extension. The previous 4-4-0s had been used on the Manchester - King’s Cross expresses working to Grantham before being taken over by GNR locomotives. 33 locomotives were built with the first 13 built in the GCR workshops at Gorton. Beyer Peacock were contracted to build the last 20. The GCR 8G (LNER B9) 4-6-0, a small wheeled version of the Class 8F, at Lincoln shed on 19th July, 1924 with its LNER No.6108 and with GCR style numberplate on its cabside. It was built in September, 1906 and numbered 1108. A W CROUGHTON/RAIL ARCHIVE STEPHENSON Since much has be said about this class in Main class much more clearly a goods locomotive. Also Line, suffice to say that Beyer Peacock built 25. reduced was the length of the firebox coming down 9’’ to 7’ 9’’. Even with their smaller wheels One of the most famous of GCR classes was the they were still employed on fast goods trains. 8B (LNER C4) of which Beyer Peacock built two in 1903 and a further five in 1904. The 4-4-2 The GCR Class 8H (S1) was a brute of a machine Atlantic wheel arrangement was used in perhaps intended for hump-shunting in the new J G Robinson’s most celebrated design, noted for marshalling yard at Wath on Dearne in South its exceptional aesthetic appearance. At the same Yorkshire. They were based on the GCR’s Class time Beyer Peacock built two 4-6-0 locomotives 8A (Q4) 0-8-0 but had three cylinders to smooth of GCR Class 8C (LNER B1) for direct out shunting moves and a wider boiler. They were comparison with the 8Bs which could, if found also fitted with power reversers because of the necessary, be converted to 4-6-0s. This never frequent changes in direction inherent in shunting transpired, the 4-4-2s being very successful. duties. Beyer Peacock built all four of the original locomotives in 1907/08 with Gresley building a The next class to come under the spotlight is the further two, with modifications, in 1932. The Class 8F (B4). These 4-6-0 locomotives were Wath yard had two humps and the Wath Bankers introduced with the cutting of first sod for the new as locomotives became known, shunted in pairs dock at Immingham and the first was named as with two to each hump. In 1930, Gresley fitted a such; the whole class being known by that port’s booster to one of the locomotives but the results name. All ten were built in a two month period in were not entirely successful. 1906 by Beyer Peacock so it might be interesting to debate how much it was a Beyer Peacock as It is sometimes said that there was petty friction opposed to a GCR design. They were certainly a between the GCR and Beyer Peacock but there very elegant design. They were intended for the was always close liaison between the companies. fish trade from Grimsby and fast goods services Together, they produced some very fine from Immingham to London and were regular locomotives. The friction was no doubt that of performers on the London Extension. They two companies in such close proximity recruiting appear very similar to the Class 8 (B5) Fish staff from the same area and no doubt staff engines, eight of which had been built by Beyer moving across the tracks as opportunities in the Peacock in 1904 but were in fact a smaller two companies opened and closed. The friction wheeled version of the Class 8C (B1). Although cannot have been that serious as evidenced by the the Imminghams did perform on fish and goods number of locomotives produced by Beyer trains, they were more often seen on passenger Peacock for the ML&SR/GCR over a 57 year work. period. On the Grouping both Sir and John George Robinson themselves moved across Also in 1906, again in a two month period, Beyer the tracks. Peacock built all 10 locomotives of the 8G (B9) class. These were indeed a small wheeled version of the Class 8F the diameter of the driving wheels being reduced from 6’ 7’’ to 5’ 4’’ making the

GCR Class 8H (LNER S1) 0-8-4T No.6170, a Wath Banker, at Mexborough shed on 13th April, 1925. Originally numbered 1170 it was built in December, 1907. A W CROUGHTON/RAIL ARCHIVE STEPHENSON