GCR Class 8

Great Central Railway Class 8

300px Ex-Great Central 'Fish' class 4-6-0 at Mexborough Locomotive Depot. LNER Class B5 No. 1689 was one of the earlier Robinson 4-6-0s, built February 1904, became LNER No. 5186 and was withdrawn in October 1949, six months after this photograph. It looks ready to retire, having been relegated to banking up to Dunford Bridge following exhausting work during the war: here it is still in—extremely dirty—LNER livery.

Type and origin Power type Steam Designer John G. Robinson Builder Neilson & Co. (6), Beyer, Peacock & Co. (8) Build date 1902 (6), 1904 (8) Total produced 14

Specifications Configuration 4-6-0 UIC class 2′C Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Leading dia 3 ft 6 in (1.067 m) Driver diameter 6 ft 1 in (1.854 m) Loco weight 64.15 long tons (65.18 t) Boiler pressure 180 psi (1.24 MPa) Firegrate area 23.5 sq ft (2.18 m2) Heating surface 1,795 sq ft (166.8 m2) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 19 in × 26 in (483 mm × 660 mm) Valve gear Stephenson Valve type Slide valves

Performance figures Tractive effort 19,672 lbf (87.51 kN)

Career Operators Great Central Railway → London & North Eastern Railway → British Railways Class GCR: 8 LNER: B5 Numbers GCR: 1067–1072, 180–187 LNER: 6067–6072, 5180–5187; later 1678–1682 BR: 61678–61682 Nicknames Fish engines Retired 1939–1950 Disposition All scrapped

The Great Central Railway Class 8 - London North Eastern Railway Class B5 - was a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotives. They were nicknamed "Fish Engines" on delivery, due to their use on the fast fish deliveries from Grimsby to places like London, the duty they were designed for. The last was withdrawn in 1950.

Models

A 1/5 scale, 10.25 in gauge model of number 181 has been made by Andrew Simkins. This model is externally faithful to Robinson's design but cleverly uses a footwell to conceal most of the driver in the tender. It was showcased and won an award at the Model engineering exhibition in 2003. It has since been seen on several of the 10.25 in gauge railways around Britain.

External links

• LNER Encyclopedia