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GER Class D81 LNER Class J20
J20 No. 4697 rests along with numerous other freight engines at March Locomotive Depot on Sunday 14 July 1946
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer A. J. Hill Builder Stratford Works Build date 1920–1922 Total produced 25
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 0-6-0  • UIC C h2 Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Driver dia. 4 ft 11 in (1.499 m) Wheelbase 40 ft 11 in (12.47 m) Length 54 ft 6 in (16.61 m) over buffers Loco weight 54 long tons 15 cwt (122,600 lb or 55.6 t) Fuel type Coal Firebox: ​  • Grate area 26.5 sq ft (2.46 m) Boiler pressure 180 lbf/in (1.24 MPa) Heating surface 1,834.2 sq ft (170.40 m) Cylinders Two, inside Cylinder size 20 in × 28 in (508 mm × 711 mm)
Performance figures Tractive effort 29,044 lbf (129.19 kN)
Career Operators Great Eastern Railway → London and North Eastern Railway → British Railways Class GER: D81 LNER: J20 Power class BR: 5F Axle load class LNER/BR: RA 5 Withdrawn 1959–1962 Disposition All scrapped

The GER Class D81 was a class of twenty-five 0-6-0 steam locomotives designed by A. J. Hill for the Great Eastern Railway. The all passed to the London and North Eastern Railway at the 1923 grouping and received the classification J20.

History

These locomotives were fitted with 20-by-28-inch (508 mm × 711 mm) cylinders and 4-foot-11-inch (1.499 m) wheels, while the Belpaire firebox-fitted boiler was identical to that fitted to the Class S69 4-6-0s. They were the most powerful 0-6-0 tender locomotive in Britain until the arrival of Oliver Bulleid's Q1 class for the Southern Railway in 1942.

All were still in service at the 1923 grouping, the LNER adding 7000 to the numbers of nearly all the ex-Great Eastern locomotives, including the Class D81 locomotives. Between 1943 and 1956 the class was rebuilt with round-top fireboxes, and reclassified as J20/1.

At nationalisation in 1948, British Railways added 60000 to their LNER numbers. They all continued in service until 1959, when the first was withdrawn; all were gone by the end of 1962.

References

1. ^ Aldrich 1969, p. 73.
2. ^ Baxter 2012, pp. 102–103.

• Aldrich, C. Langley (1969). The Locomotives of the Great Eastern Railway 1862–1962 (7th ed.). Wickford, Essex: C. Langley Aldrich. OCLC 30278831.
• Baxter, Bertram (2012). Baxter, David; Mitchell, Peter (eds.). British Locomotive Catalogue 1825–1923, Volume 6: Great Eastern Railway, North British Railway, Great North of Scotland Railway, Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway, remaining companies in the LNER group. Southampton: Kestrel Railway Books. ISBN 978-1-905505-26-5.

External links

• – Great Eastern Railway Society
• The Hill J20 (GER Class D81) 0-6-0 Locomotives – LNER Encyclopedia

• Great Eastern Railway locomotives
• 0-6-0 locomotives
• Railway locomotives introduced in 1920
• Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain
• Freight locomotives
• Scrapped locomotives