LNER Route: Leicester to Marylebone

Rugby Central Station: gcrcs194

An unidentified ex-LNER Class B1 4-6-0 locomotive is seen working hard as it heads an up express passing over the West Coast main line. The B1 were a class of steam locomotive designed for medium mixed traffic work. It was designed by Edward Thompson. It was the LNER's equivalent to the highly successful GWR Hall Class and the LMS Stanier Black Five, a two-cylinder mixed traffic 4-6-0. However, they had the additional requirement of having to be cheap, as due to wartime and post-war economies, the LNER, never the richest railway company, had to make savings. Introduced in 1942, the first of the class, No 8301, was named Springbok in honour of a visit by Jan Smuts. The first 40 of the class were named after breeds of antelopes etc, and they became known as bongos after No 8306 Bongo. A total of 274 were built by the LNER followed by a further 136 being built by British Railways after nationalisation in 1948. The total number in stock at any one time however was only 409 as No 61057 which crashed in 1950 was deemed too damaged and was therefore scrapped. The B1s operated throughout LNER territory; the first batch was distributed among depots on the former Great Eastern Railway section: Ipswich, Norwich, and Stratford in London. They were an immediate success and were soon working the Liverpool Street - Harwich boat trains, the Hook Continental and the Day Continental. The B1s were also a familiar sight on other top-link workings such as The East Anglian, The Broadsman and The Fenman. During the 1950s over 70 B1s were stationed on ex-GE lines. They enjoyed similar popularity on ex-Great Northern and Great Central territory with engines based at Darnall, Sheffield, regularly rostered for the Master Cutler and South Yorkshireman expresses. Elsewhere there were substantial allocations in Scotland, West Yorkshire and on Humberside.

back