NER Class R1


The NER Class R1 was a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives of the North Eastern Railway. The class was designed by Wilson Worsdell and built from 1908 to 1909.

Design

The design was similar to that of the NER Class R but a larger boiler was used. Boiler pressure was initially.

Modifications

Boiler pressure was reduced to 180 psi at an unknown date. Superheaters were fitted between 1912 and 1915 and, at the same time, boiler pressure was further reduced to. It was standard NER practice to reduce boiler pressure when fitting a superheater. At some time before the 1923 Grouping, boiler pressure was increased to.

Use

The R1s were initially used on the Glasgow-Newcastle and York-Newcastle services. However, as loads increased, they were replaced by more powerful locomotive types and relegated to secondary duties.

Withdrawal

They were withdrawn between 1942 and 1946 and none were preserved.

In fiction

Although Edward the Blue Engine, from the Thomas the Tank Engine books, is regularly described as bearing "a quite striking similarity" to the Furness Railway 'Larger Seagulls'., Edward is recognisable as an NER Class R1. The Edwardian 4-4-0 type is a fairly common design pattern in British steam locomotives, although at the time of the Seagulls they still had low-set small diameter boilers with tall chimneys. Edward, in particular, differs in having a cab with dual glazed side windows, a much more characteristic feature of North Eastern railway locomotives, the tapered non-circular spectacle plate windows and also the larger boiler diameter and higher boiler line are distinctively those of the NER R1, by then the LNER D21.