London and North Eastern Railway's (LNER) Peppercorn Class A1 is a class of "Pacific" steam locomotives largely built between 1948 and 1949 at Doncaster and Darlington Works to a design of Arthur Peppercorn. Forty-nine were built for hauling express passenger services on the East Coast Main Line owned by LNER's successor, British Railways' North Eastern Region. None of the original 49 Peppercorn A1s survived into preservation, with the last being scrapped in 1966. The 50th Peppercorn A1, 60163 Tornado, was completed in 2008 as an evolved member of its class.

Background

Most of the former LNER Class A1 locomotives designed by Sir Nigel Gresley had been rebuilt as LNER Class A3 locomotives prior to this class being conceived. The few straggling LNER Class A1 locomotives that remained unrebuilt during the tenure of Peppercorn's predecessor, Edward Thompson, were redesignated by him as Class A10s in preparation for the construction of his new Class A1 locomotives. Thompson rebuilt the pioneer LNER Pacific Great Northern in 1945; originally this was the new Class A1, but the rebuild was not repeated. Instead, initiated by Thompson but largely taken forward by his successor Arthur Peppercorn, Great Northern was designated Class A1/1, and a new class of Peppercorn A1s ordered.

The locomotives were designed to cope with the heaviest passenger trains in the post-war period on the East Coast Main Line (London – York – Newcastle – Edinburgh – Aberdeen) which consisted normally of trains with up to 15 coaches and up to . The Peppercorn A1s were able to pull such a train on the flat at a speed of . The class used a double Kylchap chimney system and, like previous LNER Pacifics, had a 3-cylinder arrangement.

Original locomotives

Construction

The new A1s were ordered by the LNER but were delivered after the LNER had been nationalised to form part of British Railways at the start of 1948. The 49 engines were built at the Eastern Region's Doncaster and Darlington works between 1948 and 1949.

Construction details

Withdrawal

By summer of 1966, all 49 class members had gone for scrap. The last to be withdrawn from stock was No. 60145 Saint Mungo, after a working life of just 17 years. 60145 Saint Mungo was planned to be preserved by Geoff Drury; however, this ultimately was unsuccessful and none of the original locomotives were preserved.

List of original locomotives

Below is a list of original Peppercorn A1 Locomotives

Notes on names

The names of the A1s were an eclectic mix including:

• Racehorses: Bois Roussel, Silurian, Scottish Union, Bongrace, Pommern, Foxhunter, Alcazar, Boswell, King's Courier, Aboyeur, Amadis, Willbrook, Flamboyant

• Names of people: W. P. Allen (an LNER locomotive driver who became a member of the Railway Executive in 1948), Archibald Sturrock, Patrick Stirling, H. A. Ivatt, Sir Vincent Raven, Wilson Worsdell, Edward Fletcher (Locomotive Superintendents of pre-grouping railways), Sir Walter Scott, Saint Mungo

• Names related to the works of Sir Walter Scott: Meg Merrilies, Hal o’ the Wynd, Kenilworth, Guy Mannering, Marmion, Borderer, Madge Wildfire, Redgauntlet, Bonnie Dundee. Some of these names had previously been used on NBR J class locomotives

• Pre-grouping railway companies: North Eastern, Great Central, Great Eastern, North British

• Birds: Kittiwake, Curlew, Kestrel, Osprey, Sea Eagle, Peregrine. Some of these names had previously been used on LNER Class A4 locomotives.

• Place-related names: Balmoral, Abbotsford (Sir Walter Scott's house), Midlothian, Holyrood, Bon Accord (motto of Aberdeen), Auld Reekie (a soubriquet for Edinburgh), Saint Johnstoun (an old name for Perth), Aberdonian

No. 60163 Tornado

None of the original production run of 49 Peppercorn A1s survived the scrapyard to be preserved. However, in July 2008, a brand new 50th A1 Pacific based on the original Peppercorn patterns, 60163 Tornado, was completed as the evolved member of the class.

Accidents and incidents

• On 5 June 1950, locomotive No. 60153 Flamboyant was hauling an express passenger train which was derailed at Tollerton, North Yorkshire due to heat buckled track.

• On 7 September 1962, No. 60123 H.A. Ivatt suffered harsh collision damage after running into a train at Offord. Four people were injured in the incident. It was withdrawn a month later and scrapped at Doncaster.

• On 16 January 1964, No. 60120 Kittiwake collided with the rear end of a goods train in North Otterington. It was withdrawn shortly after the incident.

• On 14 April 2018, locomotive No. 60163 Tornado was hauling an excursion train named "The Ebor Flyer" from London King's Cross to York. While traveling at 90mph around Sandy, south of Peterborough, the locomotive's inside motion failed.

Models

Bachmann Branchline and Hornby make models in OO gauge, Graham Farish produce a model in N gauge and Accucraft (UK) make a live steam model in Gauge 1.

References

External links

• A1 Steam Locomotive Trust