GER Class N31

The GER Class N31 was a class of eighty-two 0-6-0 steam locomotives designed by James Holden for the Great Eastern Railway. Eighteen passed to the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at the 1923 grouping and received the LNER classification J14.

GER Class N31
LNER Class J14
Great Eastern Class N31 locomotive 998
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerJames Holden
BuilderStratford Works
Build date1893–1898
Total produced81 (+1 rebuilt from Class 127)
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte0-6-0
 • UICC n2
Gauge4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Driver dia.4 ft 11 in (1.499 m)
Wheelbase35 ft 5 in (10.80 m)
Length47 ft 3 in (14.40 m) over buffers
Loco weight38 long tons 18.5 cwt (87,200 lb or 39.5 t)
Fuel typeCoal
Firebox:
 • Firegrate area		18.0 sq ft (1.67 m2)
Boiler pressure160 lbf/in2 (1.10 MPa)
Heating surface1,199.5 sq ft (111.44 m2)
CylindersTwo, inside
Cylinder size17.5 in × 24 in (444 mm × 610 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort16,942 lbf (75.36 kN)
Career
OperatorsGER » LNER
ClassGER: N31
LNER: J14
NicknamesSwifts
Withdrawn1908–1925

History

These goods locomotives had 17.5-by-24-inch (444 mm × 610 mm) cylinders, 4-foot-11-inch (1.499 m) driving wheels, and a 160-pound-force-per-square-inch (1,100 kPa) boiler. Eighty-one were built at Stratford Works between 1893 and 1898.

Table of orders and numbers
Table of orders and numbers[1]
YearOrderQuantityGER Nos.Notes
1893N311999
1893H3310979–988
1894L3310989–998
1894E3410969–978
1896N3710959–968
1897H4010949–958
1897O4110602–608, 946–948
1898G4210542–551
1898K4310562–571

Class 127

In addition, when the Class 127 locomotive was rebuilt from compound to simple in 1895, it was then included into Class N31.[1]

Performance

They were not particularly successful locomotives. Although nicknamed Swifts, they were sluggish locomotives, due to the placement of the valve chests underneath the cylinders.[1][2]

Withdrawals

Withdrawals started in 1908, and by the end of 1922, only eighteen were left in service. The LNER allocated numbers 7000 higher than the locomotives' GER numbers, but withdrawals continued, and by 1925 the class was extinct.

Table of withdrawals[3]
YearQuantity in
service at
start of year		Quantity
withdrawn		Locomotive numbers
1908821971
19098118546, 549, 565, 566, 570, 571, 602, 605, 608, 950, 953–955, 957, 966, 969, 972, 975
19106314542, 550, 563, 568, 569, 603, 606, 956, 962, 974, 982, 989, 990, 991
1911499547, 551, 562, 567, 958, 960, 961, 988, 997
1912406544, 949, 952, 967, 968, 996
1913343607, 979, 935 (ex-127)
19143130545, 0564, 947
1915281946
1916271994
19202620543, 999
1921241965
1922235548, 948, 986, 992, 995
1923186959, 970, 976, 980, 985, 993
1924125951, 963, 964, 977, 978
192577604, 973, 981, 983, 984, 987, 998

References
  1. Aldrich 1969, p. 77
  2. Aldrich 1969, p. 75
  3. Aldrich 1969, pp. 77, 134, 138–139
  • Aldrich, C. Langley (1969). The Locomotives of the Great Eastern Railway 1862–1962 (7th ed.). Wickford, Essex: C. Langley Aldrich. OCLC 30278831.
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