GER Classes S46, D56 and H88
The GER Classes S46, D56 and H88 were three classes of similar 4-4-0 steam locomotive designed by James Holden and A. J. Hill for the Great Eastern Railway.
They were given the nickname Claud Hamilton after the pioneer engine of the class, named after Lord Claud Hamilton the chairman of the Great Eastern Railway. The D56 class of 1903-4 evolved the design to include a square-topped Belpaire firebox. The H88 class of 1923 featured a larger superheated boiler, leading them to be known as Super Clauds. Many earlier members of the class were rebuilt during their working life.
During the Edwardian era, they were the flagship express locomotive on the Great Eastern Main Line, and although displaced on the heaviest express trains by the larger S69 class from 1911, members of the class were used on passenger and goods services throughout the Eastern Region until 1960. No locomotives of the three classes survived to preservation.
Design
The Claud Hamilton, particularly in its original GER blue livery, is widely considered one of the most elegant locomotive designs of the pre-grouping era.In his 1955 history of the Great Eastern Railway, Cecil J. Allen devotes a whole chapter to the class and noted that
Of all the locomotive designs that emerged from Stratford Works during the reign of James Holden, the one destined to achieve the greatest fame, beyond question, was his Claud Hamilton type 4-4-0, of which the pioneer example, No. 1900 Claud Hamilton, took the rails in 1900.
Although credited to James Holden, the Locomotive Superintendent of the Great Eastern, Frederick Vernon Russell is thought to have contributed substantially to the design of the Claud Hamiltons; while researching his Some Classic Locomotives of 1949, C.H. Ellis was informed by Russell that during the process of designing the locomotive "Mr Holden, by then a valetudinarian was making a long recuperative stay in Egypt."
The 4-4-0 inside cylinder locomotive included a number of features that were to appear on later Great Eastern locomotive classes, including a circular polished steel smokebox door surround and decorative splashers. Class pioneer No 1900 Claud Hamilton featuring red lining and connecting rods, copper chimney cap and GER coat of arms was much admired when it was exhibited at the 1900 Paris Exposition.
The original S46 boiler had of heating surface, with a grate. The cylinders were 19 x 26 in. with flat valves placed below, operated by Stephenson's motion. The coupled wheels were in diameter.
As built, the S46s were all fired by oil, using Holden's patented oil-burning apparatus which used a bed of fire brick, a supply of air fed from a pre-heater in the smokebox and steam-powered injectors which sprayed atomised oil onto the firebed. The firebox was heated, and steam for the injectors initially generated, by burning coal before switching to oil. The oil burnt was a waste product of the GER's gasworks that produced Pintsch gas for lighting its carriages. The GER had previously been fined for discharging this waste product into the River Lea, and the railway was thus able to fuel its oil-burning locomotives at little extra cost.
The first ten of the D56 types were also built as oil-burners, but during the 1900s the increasing use of electric lighting in carriages and growing industrial demand for fuel oil meant that it was no longer cost-effective to use it as a locomotive fuel. Holden had always intended that his oil-burning system would allow locomotives so fitted to be easily converted to burn coal if required, and all the S46s and D56s had been switched to coal-burning by the end of 1911. When oil prices were low or coal was in short supply due to strike action some examples were re-fitted to burn oil for short periods but this was not done past 1927.
Allen reports that Claud Hamiltons in their original state were capable of taking around 350 tons from Liverpool Street to North Walsham in under the booked time. No. 1882 with round-top boiler ran the in 156 min 60 sec. Even heavier trains were managed in the up direction: No. 1809 took 400 tons up in 157 minutes 24 seconds.
The S46 design was substantially modified in later incarnations, particularly with the introduction of a larger superheated boiler on the H88 designed by Alfred John Hill. Most earlier members of the class were substantially modified by Hill or during the tenure of Sir Nigel Gresley as CME of the LNER from 1923.
Two separate classes were also developed from the design of the Claud Hamilton; Holden's Class F48 was essentially an 0-6-0 goods version of the S46 and the Class S69 was a larger 4-6-0 version using many of the same design cues as the H88, built to replace the Clauds on the heaviest express trains.
Classification and numbering
The classification of the Claud Hamiltons is complex but is summarised here:- GER Class S46, 4 ft 9 in diameter boiler, round-top firebox
- GER Class D56, 4 ft 9 in diameter boiler, Belpaire firebox
- * LNER Class D15/1, D15 as built with short smokebox, some with superheater
- * LNER Class D15/2, D15 with superheater and long smokebox
- GER Class H88, "Super Claud" with superheater, larger boiler and Belpaire firebox
- * LNER Class D16/1, D16 as built
- * LNER Class D16/2, as D16/1 but with extended smokebox
- * LNER Class D16/3, Gresley rebuild of D15 and D16 with round-top firebox, some with piston valves
| Year | Order | Quantity | GER Nos. | LNER Nos. | 1942 Nos. | 1946 Nos. | Notes |
| 1900 | S46 | 1 | 1900 | 8900 | 7770 | 2500 | |
| 1900 | L47 | 10 | 1890–1899 | 8890–8899 | 7760–7769 | 2501–2510 | |
| 1901 | M51 | 10 | 1880–1889 | 8880–8889 | 7750–7759 | 2511–2520 | |
| 1902 | F53 | 10 | 1870–1879 | 8870–8879 | 7740–7749 | 2521–2530 | |
| 1903 | L55 | 10 | 1860–1869 | 8860–8869 | 7730–7739 | 2531–2540 | |
| 1903–04 | D56 | 10 | 1850–1859 | 8850–8859 | 7720–7729 | 2541–2550 | Belpaire boiler |
| 1906–07 | G61 | 10 | 1840–1849 | 8840–8849 | 7710–7719 | 2551–2560 | |
| 1908 | A64 | 10 | 1830–1839 | 8830–8839 | 7700–7709 | 2561–2570 | |
| 1909 | B66 | 10 | 1820–1829 | 8820–8829 | 7690–7699 | 2571–2580 | |
| 1910 | D67 | 10 | 1810–1819 | 8810–8819 | 7680–7689 | 2581–2590 | |
| 1910 | P67 | 10 | 1800–1809 | 8800–8809 | 7670–7679 | 2591–2600 | |
| 1911 | E69 | 10 | 1790–1799 | 8790–8799 | 7660–7669 | 2601–2610 | |
| 1923 | H88 | 10 | 1780–1789 | 8780–8789 | 7650–7659 | 2611–2620 | Never carried GER numbers in service |
The Railway Magazine of November 1923 includes the log of a run from Liverpool Street to Ipswich with 4-4-0 number 1780, so this loco at least must have carried a GER number.
Appearance
Claud Hamiltons were originally painted in GER Royal Blue with red lining, red side rods, brass highlights, and "G E R" in shaded letters on the tender; the standard livery for GER passenger locomotives at the time.Starting in 1915 due to World War I, the GER was forced to keep all its locomotives in a grey undercoat with minimal black lining, with large, unshaded yellow locomotive numbers painted on the tenders in 1921. GER Royal Blue would never return to the railway, and the grey livery was kept as late as the 1930s with certain engines.
With the 1923 Grouping, the GER amalgamated with other railways to create the London and North Eastern Railway, and the Claud Hamiltons were progressively painted in the company's standard Apple Green livery, with "L & N E R" in shaded letters on the tender and the locomotive number underneath as well as on the cab. Side rods were polished steel. The fitting of larger boilers and Belpaire fireboxes across subclasses resulted in changing cab window shapes as well.
However, in 1929, the Claud Hamiltons were demoted to the LNER Lined Black livery with red lining and cab-side numbers only in the interests of economy. Only three locomotives retained LNER Apple Green post-1929: "Royal Clauds" Nos. 8783 and 8787, being kept in immaculate condition with copper-capped chimneys and white cab roofs as dedicated Royal locos for hauling the Royal Train from King's Cross to Wolferton ; and class pioneer No. 8900 Claud Hamilton when it was rebuilt as a D16/3 in 1933.
During World War II, all the Claud Hamiltons were repainted into unlined black livery from 1941. 1942 saw a mass locomotive renumbering scheme across the LNER, and the letters on the tender were shortened to "N E". "L N E R" would return in 1946 alongside another mass renumbering scheme, but this time both were in unshaded Gill Sans font. The unlined black livery was kept, with the only exception being No. 8783, returning to LNER Apple Green.
After the formation of British Railways in 1948, the Claud Hamiltons were renumbered for a final time, with a prefix of 6- added to their 1946 locomotive number and numberplates fastened onto the smokebox door. Most D16/2s and D16/3s were repainted into the BR Lined Black livery with red and white lining, whereas the remainder joined all but one of the D15/2s in unlined black. In 1949, No. 62618 rejoined its "Royal Claud" sister No. 62614 in being painted apple green with retrofitted BR numbers, number plates, and early BR crests. Both locomotives would revert to BR Lined Black in 1951 and 1952, respectively. "BRITISH RAILWAYS" was painted on the tender from 1948, followed by the early BR crest from 1949 and the late BR crest from 1956. Many locomotives had their decorative valances removed in later years as well, though they still retained their distinctive character.