Wikipedia

GNR Stirling 4-2-2

TheGreat Northern Railway(GNR) No. 1 classStirling Singleis a class of steam locomotive designed forexpresspassenger work. Designed byPatrick Stirling,they are characterised by a single pair of large (8 ft 1 in)driving wheelswhich led to thenickname"eight-footer".Originally the locomotive was designed to haul up to 26 passenger carriages at an average speed of 47 miles per hour (76 km/h).[1]They could reach speeds of up to 85 mph (137 km/h).[2]

GNR No. 1 class 4-2-2
Stirling Single
GNR 1008
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerPatrick Stirling
BuilderDoncaster Works
Build date1870-1895
Total produced53
Specifications
Configuration:
​
•Whyte4-2-2
Gauge4 ft8+1⁄2in(1,435 mm)standard gauge
Leading dia.3 ft 11.5 in (1.207 m)
Driverdia.8 ft 1 in (2.464 m)
Trailing dia.1870 series: 4 ft 1 in (1.245 m)
1884 and 1894 series: 4 ft 7.5 in (1.410 m)
Length50 ft 7 in (15.42 m)
Loco weight1870 series: 39.45 long tons (40.08 t; 44.18 short tons)
1884 series: 45.15 long tons (45.87 t; 50.57 short tons)
1894 series: 48.75 long tons (49.53 t; 54.60 short tons)
Fuel typeCoal
Water cap.2,500 imp gal (11,000 L; 3,000 US gal)
Boiler pressure1870 series: 140 psi (970 kPa)
1884 series: 160 psi (1,100 kPa)
1894 series: 170 psi (1,200 kPa)
Cylinderstwo, outside
Cylinder size1870 and 1884 series: 18 in × 28 in (457 mm × 711 mm)
1894 series: 19.5 in × 28 in (495 mm × 711 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort1870 series: 11,129 lbf (49.50 kN)
1884 series: 12,719 lbf (56.58 kN)
1894 series: 15,680 lbf (69.75 kN)
Career
OperatorsGreat Northern Railway
ClassA1, A2, A3
Nicknames
  • Stirling Single
  • Eight–footer
Withdrawn1899-1916
PreservedNo. 1
Current ownerNational Collection
DispositionOne preserved, remainder scrapped

Development

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On his arrival at GNR, Stirling set out to standardise the railway's rolling stock. He also borrowed a 'single-wheeler' from theGreat Eastern Railwayand, in 1868, designed two versions of a2-2-2arrangement with 7 ft 1 in (2.159 m) driving wheels.[3]

The outcome in 1870 was a locomotive with 8 ft 1 in (2,460 mm) driving wheels, designed specifically for high-speed expresses betweenYorkandLondon.The British norm at the time were inside cylinders. However, not only were there frequent failures of the cranked axle shafts, with such large driving wheels they would have set the boiler too high. Stirling therefore used outside cylinders, with a four-wheeledbogiefor lateral stability at the front end. According to Hamilton Ellis's description, entitled 'Pat Stirling's masterpiece,' the design was a version of a 2-2-2 built by Stirling for theGlasgow and South Western Railway,"considerably enlarged, and provided with a leading bogie."[4]

A total of 53 were built atDoncaster Worksbetween 1870 and 1895, in three series introduced in 1870, 1884, and 1894.[5]George Frederick Bird referred to the three series as "G, G2 and G3 classes" in 1910,[6]and this classification has been used in other sources[7]but it does not appear to have been used officially by the GNR.

The GNR did not number its locomotives sequentially, instead using numbers freed up by withdrawing older locomotives. Thus the 1870 series was numbered between GNR No. 1 and 671, the 1884 series 771-8 and 1001-2, and 1894 series 1003-8.

Performance

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No. 544 with a domed boiler

These locomotives were able to haul 275-long-ton (279 t; 308-short-ton) trains at an average of 50 miles per hour (80 km/h), with a top speed on lighter trains of 85 miles per hour (137 km/h).[8]When taking part in the 1895Race to the North,GNR Stirling No. 775 made the 82 miles (132 km) from Grantham to York in 1 hour 16 minutes. This translates to an average speed of 64.7 mph (104.1 km/h).

Members of the 1894 series were originally built weighing 49.55 long tons (50.35 t) but following two high-speed derailments in 1895/6 the weight was reduced by 1% to 48.755 long tons (49.537 t; 54.606 short tons).[9]

Accidents and incidents

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  • On 10 November 1895, an overnight Scottish express hauled by locomotive No. 1006derailed at St Neotswhen it encountered a broken rail. One person was killed. The accident report byHer Majesty's Railway Inspectoratecommented on the abnormally heavy axle loading of the locomotive: nearly 20 tons on the driving axle.[10]
  • On 7 March 1896, a passenger train hauled by locomotive No. 1003 was derailed atLittle Bytham,Lincolnshiredue to the premature removal of a speed restriction after track renewal. Two people were killed.[11]

Withdrawal and preservation

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With the arrival of theIvatt Atlanticsafter 1898, the class started being displaced from the most prestigious express services. Several examples were rebuilt byHenry Ivattafter 1898 with adomedboiler, but withdrawals of the 1870 series began in 1899. The last examples of the class were in use on secondary services until 1916.

Preserved No. 1

The first of the class, No. 1 is the only engine to be preserved. It is exhibited at theNational Railway Museum,York.[12]It was restored to running order during the 1930s for the fiftieth anniversary of theRace to the Northand steamed again during the 1980s.

The locomotive remains in good mechanical condition, though it has not steamed since 1985. It was used recently to act as a centrepiece inYork Theatre Royal's performance ofThe Railway Childrenplay, in which it was seen to move into a stage set of a period station, created initially at theNational Railway Museumin 2008-9, and then in the redundantWaterloo International railway stationin 2010-11. For the laterTorontoandKings Crossperformances,LSWR T3 classNo. 563 was used instead.

The locomotive appeared to be in steam for its 'performances' but was not, usingfog machine-generated smoke to mimic escaping steam while being shunted during the performance using aBritish Rail Class 08shunter that was hidden from the main stage.

Modelling

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An 18-inchminimum gaugemodel of No. 1 was built in 1898, at theRegent Street Polytechnic,from a set of parts supplied byW. G. Bagnall.Amongst the students at Regent Street who worked on the model wasHenry Greenlywho later became a celebrated miniature locomotive builder and supplied locomotives for theRomney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway.The locomotive was initially sold to Mr. E.F.S. Notter, theGreat Northern RailwayDistrict Locomotive Superintendent atKings Cross,who between 1910 and 1914 operated it at Alexander Park (London) and later kept it in King Cross 'Top Shed', the home of the full size Stirling Singles.[citation needed]In 1926 this locomotive was bought by theFairbourne Miniature Railway[citation needed]and in 1936 it was sold to theJaywickMiniature Railway,[13]which ran it until 1939. It then passed through the hands of a number of private owners until it was bought by the World of Country Life Museum at Sandy Bay,Exmouth,Devon, in 1986.[citation needed]

Bagnall had earlier in 1893 supplied a similar model (works number 1425) to Lord Downshire ofEasthampstead Park,CrowthorneBerkshire.This engine was later preserved by Mr Hoare in the Boys Reading Room at theTraining ShipMercuryatHamble.It was subsequently sold to a private owner in Southampton in 1946. Its current whereabouts is unknown.[citation needed]

Nuremberg toymakerGeorges Carette's range included a 2.5 inch-gauge model of Stirling Single 776, in around 1900. It was marketed in the UK byBassett-Lowke,appearing in their 1904 catalogue.[citation needed]

An unpowered 5-inch gauge model of a Stirling Single locomotive, engineered by Dennis Hefford, is on display at the entrance to Arch Two ofBrighton Toy and Model Museum.[citation needed]

A 1/12 scale model of No. 93, built by 'R Jackson' around 1888, is displayed atWorthing Museum and Art Gallery.

Kitmaster produced an injection moulded plastic kit of the Stirling Single in the 1950s. David Boyle, founder of Dapol Model Railways, recalls seeing the moulds being destroyed in the early 1980s, leading him to purchase the tooling for and reissue the remaining Kitmaster kits.[citation needed]

Aster Hobby introducedGauge1live steam model in 1996.[14][15]

In April 2015, Rapido Trains announced that a forthcoming OO gauge model would be exclusively available from Locomotion Models.

In fiction

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Notes

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  1. ^Maw, W. H.;Dredge, J.,eds. (24 February 1871)."Express Locomotive G. N. R."Engineering.XI:140.
  2. ^Black, Stuart (23 February 2017).Loco Spotter's Guide.Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 19.ISBN9781472820495.Retrieved20 October2020.
  3. ^Herring, Peter (2004).Classic British steam locomotives.Wigston: Abbeydale Press. pp. 22–23.ISBN1-86147-138-6.
  4. ^Ellis, Hamilton (1949).Some classic locomotives.London: George Allen & Unwin. p. 78.
  5. ^Casserley, H.C. (1960).Historic locomotive pocket book.London: Batsford. pp. 12–13.
  6. ^Bird, George Frederick (1910).The Locomotives of the Great Northern Railway 1847–1910.London:Locomotive Publishing Company.
  7. ^Herring, p.23.
  8. ^Herring, p. 23.
  9. ^Ellis, pp.79-80.
  10. ^Rolt, L.T.C. (2009).Red for Danger: The Classic History of British Railways.Stroud: The History Press Ltd.
  11. ^Trevena, Arthur (1981).Trains in Trouble: Vol. 2.Redruth: Atlantic Books. p. 8.ISBN0-906899-03-6.
  12. ^"Great Northern Railway locomotive Stirling Single".National Railway Museum.Retrieved19 September2024.
  13. ^"The forgotten railway".Archived fromthe originalon 10 August 2007.Retrieved2 December2007.
  14. ^Great Northern Railway Stirling Single[permanent dead link‍]
  15. ^"Collecting Aster Locomotives".Archived fromthe originalon 20 April 2010.Retrieved28 October2010.
  16. ^"Emily".Gullane (Thomas) Ltd.Retrieved22 July2018.

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toGNR Stirling Single.
  • Groves, Norman (1987).Great Northern Locomotive History: Volume 2 1867-95 The Stirling Era.RCTS.ISBN0-901115-62-2.
  • Herring, P., (2000)Classic British Steam LocomotivesLeicester: Abbeydale Press
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