Factfile: LNER ‘N7’ 0‑6‑2T
A. J. Hill designed an 0- 6-2T for the Great Eastern Railway’s intensive suburban services. He broke away from a long-standing tradition of building 2- 4-2Ts and combined a 180lb/sq in boiler, 4ft 10in driving wheels and inside Walschaerts valve gear and piston valves. The result was a powerful and speedy locomotive that was no larger than the 2- 4-2Ts it replaced. Nos. 1000 and 1001 were built in 1915, with No. 1001 having a Robinson superheater. Nos. 10021011 emerged from Stratford in 1921, followed by Nos. 900-999 (under LNER auspices) in 1923/24. Superheating was later fitted, along with other tweaks, and these locomotives became ‘N7/4’ from 1940 when fitted with Diagram 101 boilers with round-topped fireboxes. The LNER ordered a further 50 in 1924/25. Production was shared between Gorton Works and Robert Stephenson & Co. They were 2½in longer, fitted with left-hand drive and reduced in height to fit the Metropolitan loading gauge. These became ‘N7/1’. Thirty more were built by Gorton and W. Beardmore & Co. in 1927/28. These had long-travel valves and became ‘N7/2’. At the same time, Doncaster Works turned out another 32 with the long-travel valves as well as roundtopped, rather than Belpaire, fireboxes. These were ‘N7/3s’. Having started fitting round-topped fireboxes to the GER ‘N7s’, ‘N7/1s’ and ‘N7/2s’ followed suit from 1943. ‘N7/2s’, with their long-travel valves simply became ‘N7/3’ but a further subclass was created for the ‘N7/1s’ – they became ‘N7/5’! For what was a pre- Grouping design, withdrawals did not start until 1957. The cull was swift and the final eight survived until the last day of Great Eastern steam (south of March) on September 9 1962. ‘N7/4’ No. 69621 was saved, a happy coincidence as it was the last locomotive built at Stratford Works. It is currently on display at the East Anglian Railway Mwwuswe. euamrm.co.uk). (
There’s also a pipe that emerges from the driver’s side corner of the firebox that runs to the smokebox. It doesn’t appear on any photographs of the 1921 batch of ‘L77s’. Has the superheater header cover (fitted in 1929) been misinterpreted as a pipe? Reader Paul Goldsmith, with a copy of Yeadon’s to hand, kindly pointed out that the rear bunker handrail is a post-1929 addition and that there should be a lamp iron top centre on the bunker. The ‘N7’ is redeemed by its price. A full retail price of £109.95 is a bargain in this day and age, especially as some online retailers are offering the ‘N7’ for under £90. The benefit of such a price is that you might be more inclined to fix some of the problem areas yourself. The ‘N7’ IS a big step forward for Oxford Rail in terms of fidelity and finesse. But the pursuit of e( Rxfce) llence continues…