LNER Class O4

Specifications
Specifications
Configuration:;
• Whyte	2-8-0
• UIC	1′D h2
Gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Leading dia.	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Driver dia.	4 ft 8 in (1,422 mm)
Tender wheels	4 ft 4 in (1,321 mm)
Wheelbase	51 ft 2.5 in (15.608 m)
• Engine	25 ft 5 in (7.75 m)
• Tender	13 ft (4.0 m)
Length	61 ft 8.5 in (18.809 m)
Loco weight	72.5–74.65 long tons (73.66–75.85 t; 81.20–83.61 short tons)
Fuel type	Coal
Fuel capacity	6 long tons 0 cwt (13,400 lb or 6.1 t)
Water cap.	4,000 imp gal (18,000 L; 4,800 US gal)
Firebox:
• Type	Belpaire (some engines were fitted with round top fireboxes when the GCR was grouped into the LNER)
• Grate area	26.24 sq ft (2.438 m2)
Boiler:;
• Tube plates	15 ft (4,600 mm)
Boiler pressure	180 psi (1.24 MPa)
Heating surface:
• Firebox	153 sq ft (14.2 m2)
• Tubes	1,348 sq ft (125.2 m2)
• Total surface	1,756 sq ft (163.1 m2)
Superheater:;
• Type	Robinson
• Heating area	225 sq ft (20.9 m2)
Cylinders	Two, outside
Cylinder size	21 in × 26 in (533 mm × 660 mm)
Valve gear	Stephenson
Valve type	Piston valves

Type and origin
Type and origin
Power type	Steam
Designer	John G. Robinson
Build date	1911–1918
Total produced	421

LNER Class O4
LNER Class O4
	Preserved No. 63601 at Doncaster Works.
Power type
Type and origin
Power type	Steam
Designer	John G. Robinson
Build date	1911–1918
Total produced	421
Configuration:;
Specifications
Configuration:;
• Whyte	2-8-0
• UIC	1′D h2
Gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Leading dia.	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Driver dia.	4 ft 8 in (1,422 mm)
Tender wheels	4 ft 4 in (1,321 mm)
Wheelbase	51 ft 2.5 in (15.608 m)
• Engine	25 ft 5 in (7.75 m)
• Tender	13 ft (4.0 m)
Length	61 ft 8.5 in (18.809 m)
Loco weight	72.5–74.65 long tons (73.66–75.85 t; 81.20–83.61 short tons)
Fuel type	Coal
Fuel capacity	6 long tons 0 cwt (13,400 lb or 6.1 t)
Water cap.	4,000 imp gal (18,000 L; 4,800 US gal)
Firebox:
• Type	Belpaire (some engines were fitted with round top fireboxes when the GCR was grouped into the LNER)
• Grate area	26.24 sq ft (2.438 m2)
Boiler:;
• Tube plates	15 ft (4,600 mm)
Boiler pressure	180 psi (1.24 MPa)
Heating surface:
• Firebox	153 sq ft (14.2 m2)
• Tubes	1,348 sq ft (125.2 m2)
• Total surface	1,756 sq ft (163.1 m2)
Superheater:;
• Type	Robinson
• Heating area	225 sq ft (20.9 m2)
Cylinders	Two, outside
Cylinder size	21 in × 26 in (533 mm × 660 mm)
Valve gear	Stephenson
Valve type	Piston valves
Tractive effort
Performance figures
Tractive effort	31,325 lbf (139.34 kN)
Operators
Career
Operators	Great Central Railway; Railway Operating Division; London and North Eastern Railway; British Railways;
Class	GCR: 8K; LNER: O4;
Power class	BR: 7F
Numbers	LNER (from 1946): 3500–3920; BR: 63570–63920
Axle load class	LNER/BR: Route Availability 6
Withdrawn	December 1958 - April 1966
Disposition	One preserved, remainder scrapped

The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class O4 initially consisted of the 131 ex-Great Central Railway (GCR) Class 8K 2-8-0 steam locomotives acquired on grouping in 1923. The engines were designed by John G. Robinson and built at the GCR's Gorton Locomotive Works, Manchester.

O4 History post 1923

The O4s were added to when the LNER purchased 273 ex-Railway Operating Division ROD 2-8-0s to the same design between 1923 and 1927. Meanwhile, the 19 GCR Class 8M (LNER Class O5) were rebuilt as O4 standard during the 1920s and 1930s. 92 O4 locomotives were requisitioned by the War Department during World War II and shipped during late 1941 for operation in the Middle East.

The O4 class were used to haul heavy freight trains throughout the LNER system. 329 engines remained in operation at 1 January 1948.^[1]

Sub-classes

The LNER rebuilt many, allotting them into eight subclasses. Sub-class details:^[2]

O4/1, Introduced 1911. Robinson GCR design with small boiler, Belpaire firebox, steam and vacuum brakes and water scoop.
O4/2, Introduced 1925. O4/3 with cabs and boiler mountings reduced.
O4/3, Introduced 1917. ROD locos with steam brake only and no water scoop.
O4/4, Rebuilt with O2 boiler, extended rear frames and side window cab, since rebuilt again.
O4/5, Rebuilt with shortened O2-type boiler (Diagram 15A). Retained GCR style cab
O4/6, Introduced 1924. Rebuilt from O5 retaining higher cab. 63914-20 with side windows. All cabs eventually reduced in height.
O4/7, Introduced 1939. Rebuilt with shortened O2-type boiler (Diagram 15D), retaining GCR smokebox.
O4/8, Introduced 1944. Rebuilt with B1 boiler (Diagram 100A) and B1 style side window cab.

In 1944, 58 O4s were rebuilt with 100A boiler, Walschaerts valve gear and new cylinders at Gorton Works, then classified O1.

British Railways

Westbound freight struggling up Worsborough Bank approaching West Silkstone Junction headed by an ex-LNER Class O4, ex-GCR Class 8K

The surviving 329 Class O4 locomotives passed to British Railways (BR) on 1 January 1948. They were then widely operated on freight trains throughout the Eastern and North Eastern regions of BR. The locomotives were given BR numbers in the range 63570-63920 but this range included 58 locomotives which had been rebuilt as Class O1. Withdrawal of O4 engines by BR commenced in 1959 and the last was taken out of service in the Doncaster area in April 1966.

Preservation

An O4/1, GCR No. 102, BR No. 63601, is part of the extensive National Collection. Since 1996, this locomotive has been kept at the preserved Great Central Railway at Loughborough, Leicestershire. The locomotive was overhauled in the late 1990s and returned to working use in January 2000. A further three Robinson 2-8-0s were exported and survive in preservation in New South Wales, Australia.^[3]

References

^ Casserley, H.C., Locomotives at the Grouping - 2 - London and North Eastern Railway, 1974, Ian Allan Ltd, ISBN 0-7110-0553-2
^ Ian Allan ABC of British Railways Locomotives, summer 1961 edition, part 4, pp 36-37
^ Green-Hughes, Evan (July 2010). "The Robinson 'O4' 2-8-0s". Hornby Magazine. No. 37. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. pp. 72–75. ISSN 1753-2469. OCLC 226087101.