Class 'N7' 0-6-2T No. 69665 climbs Bethnal Green bank with the 12.12 p.m. Liverpool Street—Enfield Town

suburban train on February 28, 1960. [R. C. Riley Obituary for an outstanding suburban tank—the L.N.E.R. 'N7' by "BALMORE" THE 0-6-2Ts of L.N.E.R. Class 'N7', now extinct because of electrification did a great deal of fine, hard work. Through practical experience, I became extremely fond of the class as a whole and certain individual Locomotives in particular — hence this brief tribute. Other people have dealt with the history of these locomotives far more ably than I could do. In the Liverpool Street District, we thought of 'N7s' merely in two categories — 'short travel' and 'long travel' ; additionally, one had to remember that the first 12 engines were ‘single-pipers’ and therefore no use except on the 'Jazz' and the Woolwich—Palace Gates services. For a more detailed survey of the class you must consult other and better informed authors. The first two 'N7s', Nos. 1000 and 1001, were turned out of as Class ‘L77’ in 1915. One was wet steam and the other was fitted with a 12-element . These locomotives must have been a delight to those people who had had to scheme for steam on the 'Gobblers', 'Buckjumpers' and ‘1100’ tank engines, which, though very small machines, had previously dealt with the suburban services so successfully. The advantages of superheating were not immediately realized, for when the class was enlarged after the war, the next ten, Nos. 1002-1011, were wet steam (Class `K85'). Only when the 990-999 batch was built in 1923 was it finally decided to fit the 18- element super-heaters, which then became standard. The first Class 'N7', No. 1000, which emerged from Stratford works as G.E.R. Class 'L77' in 1915.

The coupled wheels were 4 ft 10 in., the cylinders were 18 in. by 24 in. and the piston valves were 9 in. diameter, whilst the piston valve spindles were 2 in. in diameter, a point which normally is of little general interest. These original dimensions were basically the same on all the subsequent engines built over the years 1925-1928. The Walschaerts gear was fitted and the valve travel on the first 22 engines was the 15 relatively short one of 3 /32 in. Now, the 'N7' was really a small locomotive and this had to be fitted into a pretty small space. The connecting rod centres were 6 ft apart and the distance from the centre of the cylinders to the centre of the driving wheels was but 10 ft. This led to the one real defect in the 'N7's which plagued the maintenance staff over the years, particularly at Stratford, and which I will explain later on. However, these 22 locomotives were really good — strong, sharp off the mark, fast and reasonably light on maintenance. In 1925-6, Gresley had a further 50 locomotives built. These were very similar, but were fitted with left-hand drive and had slight detail alterations in the cab — for example, the firehole door, which followed the standard L.N.E.R. practice; and the position and type of reversing screw and rack. The 3 valve travel was very slightly reduced to 3 /8 in., but the design of the valve gear was exactly the same.

A Class 'N7' 0-6-2T in L.N.E.R. days — No. 828.

In 1927-8, a further 62 locomotives were built, the '2600s' — 10 at Gorton, 20 by Beardmore's and the final 32 at Doncaster with round-top boilers, as opposed to the Belpaire type previously fitted. All 62 locomotives had pony trucks in place of radial axle- boxes under the bunkers, but the principal alteration lay in the valve gear. Gresley decided that this was still to be Walschaerts gear with the much longer travel 23 of 5 /32 in. What engines these were! For G.E. suburban work they have never been beaten; locomotives of great character, they were capable of great feats of haulage, speed, acceleration, and economy – but at a price. The defects in the valve gear forced on the designers of the original locomotives were even more implacably forced on those responsible for the design of the long-travel engines. In a , the pin most heavily loaded is the bottom end pin of the combination lever. The valve gear on the original engines was inevitably cramped and, with a short eccentric rod and a long motion link the forces in the gear were increased. Despite special methods of lubrication, the wear on the combination lever pins was considerable, but the anchor bracket bolts were constantly trying to work loose. Sometimes, looseness led to shearing and then the combination lever would run free and tie itself in knots. Those who have seen a motion failure on an ‘N7' will know what I mean. Originally, two bolts held the anchor brackets to the crosshead, then a centre dowel was added, then a check plate to hold all three, then lugs were fitted to hold the specially fitted anchor bracket castings - but all without success. It was not until during the war that the anchor -brackets were welded to the crosshead and this particular trouble with the bolts was eliminated, though not, of course, the wear on the pins. But with long-travel engines, things were considerably more difficult. With a 9½ in. eccentric throw as against a 6½ in., the movement at the top of the combination lever was obviously much greater. On these locomotives, the valve spindles and guides themselves were subject to very severe stress when the travel of the valve was below, say, 40 per cent. The weakest part in this gear was in the spindles and guides, which were of the same dimensions as on the short-travel locomotives; as a result, in addition to the anchor bracket troubles, the valve spindles themselves would frequently bend not only downwards but upwards, according to the direction of the stresses in action at the moment of failure. Until the early 1930s, it was traditionally the practice on the G.E. Section, to coast with the gear in full gear on all locomotives, whether slide valve or piston valve. The acceleration of the combination lever when the gear was altered quickly from, say, 20 to 70 per cent travel can be imagined. Nearly all the valve spindle failures were due to the gear being dropped down or moving itself down. Consequently, Gresley's technical staff, together with the late L. P. Parker, at that time District Locomotive Superintendent at Stratford, started a drive to ensure that the lever on these locomotives was put near the centre when coasting. Over the years, most enginemen realized the benefits of this practice on the 'N7s', but quite a few did not. Even then, valve spindle failures still continued to occur occasionally, sometimes through the reversing wheel (which was supposed to be held in position by a chain) running out, when coasting, into the opposite gear, sometimes inexplicably with steam on, and sometimes explicably with steam off and the lever well down. When No. 69721, for some reason a frequent offender, fell to bits at 60 m.p.h. near Ingatestone on a passenger train in 1956, all the long travel locomotives were fitted with much thicker valve spindles, heavier valve guides, reversing wheel catches and toothed sectors, and notices in the cab instructing enginemen to coast in mid-gear. As a result, failures were certainly reduced, although not eliminated. It all demonstrated that you cannot get a quart into a pint pot. In the shed, some strange things used to happen to the long-suffering 'N7s', particularly during the war. The lubrication of the small-ends was effected from a small brass oil box studded to the crosshead and a copper pipe to the small- end pin. These boxes frequently worked loose and disappeared and on many occasions demand got well ahead of supply. To keep the service running somehow, the copper pipe was `injected' with oil from a syringe by a fitter just before the engine left the shed. This either did the trick for one 'round' on the Gidea Parks or it didn't, resulting in a very hot small-end. On the long-travel engines, the reversing wheel carrier casting was bolted to the step at the end of the water tank inside the cab. The reversing wheel had a white metal sleeve which quickly wore out when any wear developed in the valve gear. Motion was quickly transmitted to the reversing wheel carrier casting and some of the holding bolts would work, break and fall into the tank. When this happened and the engines had a well-filled tank, any sharp stop when travelling bunker first would fill the driver's boots with water. I knew the 'N7s' best during their last six years. Despite what people have said about their wonderful capabilities when new, my contention is that when in good order they were as good over this final period as ever before. In the 1920s and 1930s, the 2600s were taken everywhere and Liverpool Street to Colchester with an excursion train on a tank of water was a normal feat. Generally speaking, they were worked on the first port of the regulator on light trains and with full regulator on the heavy ones. A level fire suited them best; for only when really thrashed did they pull the fire. Very rarely did I find one that would not steam and then it was probably due to carbonization of the front end or dirty tubes and tubeplate. The fuel and water consumption, particularly on the long-travel engines, was always extraordinarily light. Most of the engines were regularly manned and their cabs lent themselves to spit and polish. Two things kept the 'Jazz' services running punctually and efficiently right up to electrification. One was that many of the locomotives were reprieved when they became due for scrapping and were given a light repair in works. The other was that quite a few of the `Jazz' engines had been in the hands of the same drivers for twelve to fifteen years and many of these men were determined that their engines should go with electrification and not before it. When No. 9664, one of the best of the Enfield engines, finished its career in November, 1960, it was rattling and banging; but it had done over 140,000 miles since its last extensive works repair, with only a very light repair in the interim. It had been run by Drivers W. Robinson, F. Bannister and J. Paull for many years; Jack Paull retired in 1959, but the other two kept No. 9664 going and it was only in the last weeks that it really began to go downhill. The regular Enfield and Wood Street engines very rarely used their vacuum equipment, but the Westinghouse brake valves were always in perfect condition. There was not the slightest difficulty in leaving the brake application until the end of the platform was reached, or, when travelling more slowly, until the train was well into the platform. It was always fascinating to watch many of the Enfield, Wood Street and Stratford drivers when working the Westinghouse brake. Some men would stop precisely and with tremendous deceleration with the minimum of air. To do this with a 10-coach train which just fitted the platform was extremely difficult. A full release of the brake might result in a compartment or two going by before the next application took effect. Not everybody could always do it perfectly. Another well-kept engine was No. 9668. Two of the men on this 'N7' handled it quite differently. S. Harrison never used the second valve of the regulator even on a o- coach train but could keep time. R. Outton never used the first valve of the regulator and would frequently start with the full-open regulator and wind the lever down from mid-gear until the most suitable position was found. Most of the regular 'N7s' on the Jazz' in the latter years were short-travel engines, and the 'single-pipers' were all at Wood Street. Up to 1958 the long-travel engines were kept primarily for the outer suburban services; only when some of the regular Enfield and Wood Street engines went to the scrap heap did the long-travel engines get allocated to these two out-stations. Naturally, they had the edge of the short travel engines and when worked hard their acceleration was extraordinary, particularly with the heavy trains. Additionally, they would always move the first time and I never remember seeing one reverse to start. This happened on a few occasions on the heavy trains with such engines as No. 9670. A disadvantage of the long-travel 'N7s' was that when running bunker-first in cold weather you could never get out of the wind; this made them a little unpopular, but only amongst those men who felt the cold. I must not forget to mention the much- polished No. 9614, West side pilot at Liverpool Street after 1956. Arrangements were made to paint this engine specially and the bright work was also burnished. The enginemen on the middle turn were given an allowance to clean her if they were prepared to do so — and many did so. The results are well known. At her best, she looked very beautiful; all the drivers in the 'N7' link at Stratford had done many years cleaning and had not forgotten how to carry on a once very considerable art; most of their firemen, however, had done little or none and had to learn a lot from their drivers. Towards November, 1960, No. 9614's paint went down and she was in use pretty regularly on diagrams due to shortages or failures, but she was a good engine and generally acquitted herself well. I remember very vividly that one occasion she worked a special from Fenchurch Street to Watford and a main steampipe joint went early in the proceedings. After a terrible trip, she had to be left at Watford — a sad advertisement for the Great Eastern. Over the years, hard coal has been used in the Stratford District, except from November, 1955 to January, 1959, when Welsh coal was used on the 'jazz' to eliminate the smoke nuisance. Strange and weird wagon labels, such as Ocean Parc, Penrikyber, Deep Navigation and Avon, replaced the conventional Blidworth and Rossington (not to mention the Pas de Calais of 1955). For a time, it seemed as if hot water would replace steam on some of the locomotives, for Welsh is very difficult to work with when one is not used to it, especially in a comparatively small and shallow firebox. We had what might be called a tottering time for a week or so until drivers and firemen had mastered the art, which they did very quickly. I shall never forget an evening in November, 1955, when I was advised at about 5 p.m. that an up Chingford train had stopped for steam at Hackney Downs and was going to be there for quite a time. I went up to London and found that the train had eventually arrived, the engineman had taken water and that the engine (No. 9620) was attached to a crowded down 10-coach train. When I reached the cab, I found two very warm gentlemen in their shirtsleeves and the dart in the fire, which looked very dirty and unpromising. The driver was a man for whom I have a very considerable respect, but with whom I had disagreed on several occasions. I looked at the fire, ‘George’; I said to him, 'you've always wanted to take it out on me, haven't you?' He grinned. 'O.K.', I said, 'now is your chance — we'll get some water in the boiler, then we'll go and you needn't bother about pulling the wheel up.' We set off when we had got some steam and water in the boiler. The suburban tunnels outside Liverpool Street were like daylight and by the time we passed Bethnal Green (we were first stop St. James' Street), the fire was a beautiful mass of tremendous heat. A sprinkle here and there of the best Welsh dust kept things just right and George appeared to be delighted with the result — perhaps because he had had the opportunity to make me bend my back!

III

The last London suburban duty of an 'N7' — No. 69725 accelerates the 6.10 p.m. North Woolwich— Stratford Low Level out of Canning Town on June 1 5 , 1 9 6 2 . [G. D. K i n g

There are many little things that make a good engine, and there are many points of view to consider. The 'N7s' fitted the bill in so many ways. The idea of using the 'Li' 2-6-4Ts on the 'Jazz' (and it might have come to that had the 'N7s' not been reprieved) caused consternation. The bunker of the 'N7' was the right height for hand coaling; it was light on coal and water; it did not slip; it had a perfect brake; it fitted neatly — but not too neatly — into the run-rounds at Enfield and Chingford; and its motion, for all its faults, could be kept in good order if watched carefully by an examining fitter. In the shed, the tubes were relatively simple to clean, the boilers easy to wash out and of good straightforward design, and the tubes rarely leaked. In other words, the engines suited everybody and it was the general esteem in which they were held that, amongst other things, kept the 'Jazz' services running so well right up to the end. It may not he generally realized how difficult it is to operate a service that is running down prior to electrification. Everybody on the locomotive side naturally feels that they have only a limited time to go before either their job changes or ceases to exist. In consequence, it is not easy to retain the younger men. In the last months of the 'Jazz' services, there were many vacancies for firemen which had to be filled by men from the main depot at Stratford on a daily basis. It is to the credit of the engines as well as to the Supervisory, Footplate and Maintenance staff, that this service ran well right up to electrification. With engines less ideally suited in every way to their work, an intensive and concentrated suburban service can go to pieces so easily: morale would be lowered, whereas in fact the men on the suburban services were determined to show what could be done right up to the finish. The end of steam working came. Having seen that all was well with the motormen for electric working on the morrow, I made a last journey on the Sunday evening on a long- travel 'N7', No. 69674, from Rectory Road to White Hart Lane. It was the same as most of the other trips — good enginemen, a good engine, very little coal and water used, quick acceleration and a perfect brake. What happened on the morrow and subsequently on the electric services is now history.

Class 'N7 0-6-2T No. 69604 heads the 1.3 p.m. Liverpool Street— Chingf o r d p a s t Hackney Downs on March 21, 1959. K.L. C ook

Below: Class 'N7' 0- 6-2T No. 69622 at Liverpool Street, heading a Chingford train on September 14, 1959. [G. Smith

A brightly polished ‘N7’, No. 69614, on Liverpool Street pilot duty on June 23, 1959; in the background are Brush Type 2 diesel No. D5527 and class ‘J68’ 0-6-0T No. 68484. D.J. Ma idment