NER Class E1

The North Eastern Railway Class E1, classified as Class J72 by the London and North Eastern Railway, is a class of small steam locomotives designed by Wilson Worsdell for shunting. They had inside cylinders and Stephenson valve gear.
They were a development of the earlier NER Class E designed by T.W. Worsdell who was Wilson Worsdell's brother.

History

Build dates

A total of 113 locomotives were built:

1898–1899, 20 locos built by NER at Darlington Works
1914, 20 locos built by NER at Darlington Works
1920, 10 locos built by NER at Darlington Works
1922, 25 locos built for NER by Armstrong Whitworth & Co
1925, 10 locos built by LNER at Doncaster Works
1949–1951, 28 locos built by British Railways at Darlington Works

This is a rare, possibly unique, example of a locomotive class which was built, completely unchanged, under pre-grouping, post-grouping and British Railways administration.

Numbering

British Railways numbers were:68670-68754

'''69001-69028'''

Preservation

No. 69023 was purchased by Mr. R. Ainsworth. It is owned by the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group. It has worked on several List of British [heritage and private railways|preserved railway]s. In contrast to the normal black paint finish, this loco operates in a hybrid NER/LNER/BR apple green paint scheme. It re-entered service in 2010 and visited many heritage railways. No. 69023 is now based on the Wensleydale Railway but returns to the NELPG's base at Hopetown Carriage Works, Darlington for winter maintenance.