METROPOLITAN RAILWAY ‘G’ 0-6-4T

Designer: .................................................................................................................... Charles Jones

Builder: .................................................... Yorkshire Engine Company – Nos. 94-97 (1915-1916)

Driving wheel diameter: ...................................................................................................... 5ft 9in

Cylinders: ....................................................................................................................... 20in by 26in

Boiler pressure: ............................................................................................................ 160lbs/sq in

Tractive effort: .................................................................................................................... 20,498lb

Aside from the first 18 ‘A’ 4-4-0Ts, the only ‘namers’ the Metropolitan Railway had were Charles Jones’ massive ‘G’ 0-6-4Ts. Whereas the Victorians chose names connected with Greek mythology, the 20th-century Met made some rather questionable choices. No. 96 Charles Jones was named after its designer, a not unusual choice but odd in this case as Jones was still in office, while No. 97 was christened Brill, the village being connected to the Metropolitan main line by the antiquated Wotton Tramway!

Charles Jones himself joined the Met in 1903 as an electrical engineer and became chief resident electrical and mechanical engineer three years later. At this time, the Met was expanding its electric train services; by the middle of the Great War, it felt the need to improve services in the more rural stretches of its network, which is why Jones penned these chunky 0-6-4Ts.

Although designed for passenger work, the ‘Gs’ were predominantly used on goods traffic. They were not a great success for they were arguably too long for some of the Met’s curves, and frame breakages were not uncommon. That said, they were some of the longest lasting ‘main line’ Met locomotives. They became ‘M2’ Nos. 6154-6157 under LNER ownership and although withdrawals started in 1943, two were issued with BR numbers. However, Nos. 6155/56 never received the numbers 69076 and 69077.

Can I see one? Both ‘Gs’ that made it into BR ownership were withdrawn on October 22 1948 and scrapped.

Can I model them? There are no kits available for this locomotive.