GCR ‘9J’ 0-6-0
Before the war: The ‘9J’ was J.G. Robinson’s first design for the Great Central Railway. It was a larger boilered version of an earlier Pollitt six-coupled goods locomotive. At the start of the Great War, the ‘9J’ was the most numerous GCR locomotive class. Superheaters were fitted to the whole class from 1913. Call-up: Despite the large number of ‘9Js’ on its books, the GCR provided a paltry 18 for the ROD in 1917: Nos. 204/08/11/22/48/55/56/81/88, 303/06/09/26, 951/52, 1043/46/80.
Theatre of operations: Often too heavy for military lines, the ‘9Js’ were largely confined to northern British Expeditionary Force railways, hauling supplies from the docks at Calais, Audruicq and Dunkirk to St Omer and Poperinghe.
Demobilisation: All 18 ‘9Js’ returned safely to the GCR between April and August 1919, although No. 1043’s tender had been written off. The class spread its wings after the Grouping, working on LNER lines to Norfolk and Lincolnshire. Thompson had created the ‘J11/3’ sub-class by fitting ‘J11s’ with piston valves. This would have formed the basis of a new LNER standard locomotive and 115 were to have been built, albeit with round-topped boilers, between 1945-1950. However, this programme never materialised.
Withdrawals started in 1954. No. 64377 was the last ex-ROD ‘J11’ to be withdrawn, in July 1962.
Survivors: None.