 | This articlerelies largely or entirely on asingle source. Relevant discussion may be found on thetalk page. Please helpimprove this article byintroducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "GER Class N31" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2015) |
| GER Class N31 LNER Class J14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Great Eastern Class N31 locomotive 998 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TheGER Class N31 was a class of eighty-two0-6-0steam locomotives designed byJames Holden for theGreat Eastern Railway. Eighteen passed to theLondon and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at the1923 grouping and received the LNER classificationJ14.
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 atStratford Works between 1893 and 1898.
| Year | Order | Quantity | GER Nos. | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1893 | N31 | 1 | 999 | |
| 1893 | H33 | 10 | 979–988 | |
| 1894 | L33 | 10 | 989–998 | |
| 1894 | E34 | 10 | 969–978 | |
| 1896 | N37 | 10 | 959–968 | |
| 1897 | H40 | 10 | 949–958 | |
| 1897 | O41 | 10 | 602–608, 946–948 | |
| 1898 | G42 | 10 | 542–551 | |
| 1898 | K43 | 10 | 562–571 |
In addition, when theClass 127 locomotive was rebuilt from compound to simple in 1895, it was then included into Class N31.[1]
They were not particularly successful locomotives. Although nicknamedSwifts, they were sluggish locomotives, due to the placement of the valve chests underneath the cylinders.[1][2]
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.
| Year | Quantity in service at start of year | Quantity withdrawn | Locomotive numbers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1908 | 82 | 1 | 971 |
| 1909 | 81 | 18 | 546, 549, 565, 566, 570, 571, 602, 605, 608, 950, 953–955, 957, 966, 969, 972, 975 |
| 1910 | 63 | 14 | 542, 550, 563, 568, 569, 603, 606, 956, 962, 974, 982, 989, 990, 991 |
| 1911 | 49 | 9 | 547, 551, 562, 567, 958, 960, 961, 988, 997 |
| 1912 | 40 | 6 | 544, 949, 952, 967, 968, 996 |
| 1913 | 34 | 3 | 607, 979, 935 (ex-127) |
| 1914 | 31 | 3 | 0545, 0564, 947 |
| 1915 | 28 | 1 | 946 |
| 1916 | 27 | 1 | 994 |
| 1920 | 26 | 2 | 0543, 999 |
| 1921 | 24 | 1 | 965 |
| 1922 | 23 | 5 | 548, 948, 986, 992, 995 |
| 1923 | 18 | 6 | 959, 970, 976, 980, 985, 993 |
| 1924 | 12 | 5 | 951, 963, 964, 977, 978 |
| 1925 | 7 | 7 | 604, 973, 981, 983, 984, 987, 998 |
