The GER Class E72 was a class of ten 0-6-0 steam locomotives designed by S. D. Holden for the Great Eastern Railway. They all passed to the London and North Eastern Railway at the 1923 grouping and received the classification J18.

GER Class E72
LNER Class J18
0-6-0 GER Class E72 No. 1240 fitted with Weir feed pump and heater about 1915
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerS. D. Holden
BuilderStratford Works
Order numberE72
Build date1912
Total produced10
Specifications
Configuration:
 • Whyte0-6-0
 • UICC h
Gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
Driver dia.4 ft 11 in (1.499 m)
Wheelbase38 ft 7 in (11.76 m)
Length53 ft 8+12 in (16.37 m) over buffers
Loco weight47 long tons 7.5 cwt (106,100 lb or 48.1 t)
Fuel typeCoal
Firebox:
 • Grate area21.6 sq ft (2.01 m2)
Boiler pressure160 lbf/in2 (1.10 MPa)
Heating surface1,501.1 sq ft (139.46 m2)
SuperheaterSchmidt
CylindersTwo, inside
Cylinder size20 in × 28 in (508 mm × 711 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort25,817 sq ft (2,398.5 m2)
Career
OperatorsGER » LNER » BR
ClassGER: E72
LNER: J18
Withdrawn1958–1961
DispositionAll scrapped

History

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These locomotives had 20-by-28-inch (508 mm × 711 mm) inside cylinders driving 4-foot-11-inch (1.499 m) wheels. They had a distinctive front overhang, not possessed by any other GER 0-6-0 class. This was needed to clear the cylinder tail rods.[1] Locomotive 1240 was fitted for a time with a Weir feedwater heater and pump, with the heater component mounted on the boiler between the dome and chimney.[1]

Table of orders and numbers[1]
Year Order Manufacturer Quantity GER Nos. LNER Nos. 1946 Nos. Notes
1912 E72 Stratford Works 10 1240–1249 8240–8249 4640–4649

All were still in service at the 1923 grouping; the LNER adding 7000 to the numbers of nearly all the ex-Great Eastern locomotives, including the Class E72 locomotives. Between 1935 and 1936, the LNER rebuilt them in line with its standards, and reclassified them as class J19/2, the same as the rebuilt GER Class T77 (which had been LNER class J19, later J19/1, before rebuilding).

At nationalisation in 1948, British Railways added 60000 to their LNER numbers. They all continued in service until 1958, when the first was withdrawn; all were gone by the end of 1961.[2]

Table of withdrawals[3]
Year Quantity in
service at
start of year
Quantity
withdrawn
Locomotive numbers Notes
1958 10 1 64645
1959 9 4 64640/44/48–49
1960 5 3 64641–42/47
1961 2 2 64643/46

References

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  1. ^ a b c Aldrich 1969, pp. 71–72.
  2. ^ Aldrich 1969, p. 143.
  3. ^ Baxter 2012, p. 101.
  • Aldrich, C. Langley (1969). The Locomotives of the Great Eastern Railway 1862–1962 (7th ed.). Wickford, Essex: C. Langley Aldrich. OCLC 30278831.
  • Baxter, Bertram (2012). Baxter, David; Mitchell, Peter (eds.). British Locomotive Catalogue 1825–1923, Volume 6: Great Eastern Railway, North British Railway, Great North of Scotland Railway, Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway, remaining companies in the LNER group. Southampton: Kestrel Railway Books. ISBN 978-1-905505-26-5.
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