Class N2

The Great Northern Railway (GNR) class N2 is an 0-6-2T side tank steam locomotive designed by Nigel Gresley and introduced in 1920.

The Great Northern Railway (GNR) class N2 is an 0-6-2T side tank steam locomotive designed by Sir Nigel Gresley as a development of the Ivatt class N1 and introduced in 1920. Sixty locomotives were built between 1920 and 1921, and these were followed by forty-seven Group Standard class N2s between 1925 and 1929 from Doncaster Works and outside contractors. They had superheaters and piston valves driven by Stephenson valve gear. Some locomotives were fitted with condensing apparatus for working on the Metropolitan Railway Widened Lines between King’s Cross and Moorgate.

The class N2s were designed for suburban passenger operations, and worked most of the duties out of King’s Cross and Moorgate, hauling quad-art sets of articulated suburban coaches. These ran to places such as New Barnet and Gordon Hill on the Hertford loop. They also hauled some empty coaching stock trains between King’s Cross and Ferme Park carriage sidings. The class were also a common sight in and around Glasgow and Edinburgh operating suburban services, mainly on what is today known as the North Clyde Line.

The LNER created four sub-classes:

Class N2/1: built 1920–21, GNR locomotives with condensing apparatus

Class N2/2: built 1925, LNER locomotives without condensing apparatus and with left-hand drive for Scotland

Class N2/3: built 1925 & 1928–29, LNER locomotives without condensing apparatus and with air brakes

Class N2/4: built 1928–29, LNER locomotives with condensing apparatus

British Railways numbers were: No. 69490-69596.

The first withdrawal was in 1955, and another the following year, but mass withdrawals didn’t start until 1957. Many of their later duties included standing-in for diesel failures and station pilots. The last thirteen class N2s were withdrawn in 1962.

One class N2 survives into preservation. GNR No. 1444 (LNER No. 4744 and BR No. 69523) was built in the 1920-21 batch by the North British Locomotive Co. for the GNR. Saved by the Society in 1963, No. 1744 can be found on North Norfolk Railway. No. 1744 is also a film star, having played the part of ‘The Scotch Flyer’ in the film The Railway Children.

To find out more about the Gresley class O2s, visit LNER.info or wikipedia. Volume 9A of the RCTS ‘Locomotives of the LNER’ and volume 25 of ‘Yeadon’s Register of LNER Locomotives’ covers the class in detail.