GER 552 Class
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerMassey Bromley
BuilderKitson and Company
Build date1882
Total produced10
Specifications
Configuration:
  Whyte0-6-0
Gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Career
OperatorsGreat Eastern Railway
Numbers552-561
Withdrawn1904–1906
DispositionAll scrapped

The GER 552 Class was a class of ten 0-6-0 tender locomotives introduced in 1882, all ten of them were built by Kitson and Company for the Great Eastern Railway.[1][2]:48

History

The 552 Class was in-fact, the most unusual 0-6-0 tender engines ever, having their foot-plating raised entirely clear of the driving wheels, which had left the driving wheels exposed for everyone to see.[1] Massey Bromley was replaced as Locomotive Superintendent by T. W. Worsdell at the same time as these 10 engines were being built, and Worsdell produced his own 0-6-0 design which was the Y14 class/J15 class, the latter of which had smaller driving wheels, giving a higher tractive effort, and larger boilers.[2]

Later, under James Holden, the 552 Class were given larger cylinders and newer boilers. By this time, they were mostly relegated to ballast train duties.The entire class was withdrawn from service on the Great Eastern Railway between 1904 and 1906, and not a single locomotive had lasted into the days of the London and North Eastern Railway, nor the days of British Railways. All ten of them were scrapped.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 "No.552". www.gersociety.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  2. 1 2 3 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.
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