These locomotives were able to haul loads of 275 ton loads at an average speed of 50mph with a top speed on lighter trains of 85mph. It is interesting to note that the first allocation of a locomotive to Kings Cross did not occur until 1875. In 1880 the first 27 locomotives constructed were – The operating lives were quite short with the first being withdrawn in 1899 and the last in 1916. Despite the standardisation policy that Stirling had introduced the production period of twenty-five years meant that there were many differences between individual members of the class. The problems with the steam on No 1 was rectified in the later locomotives which were built in the autumn of 1870.Ī total of 53 engines were built between 18 with only two or three being completed each year. No 1 had a cylinder volume 30% more than earlier engines but had smaller diameter tubes in a longer boiler which was the cause of the problem.ĭespite the steaming issues the locomotive covered 32,000 miles in its first eight months in service. It is considered that there was a considerable amount of guesswork involved in sizing the first boiler used on the locomotive. The real trouble with No 1 was that it would not steam. There was also less movement on the trailing wheels when rounding a curve in the rails. As a result of this the weight on the bogie wheels was distributed so that the weight built up gradually to the greater weight of the driving wheels. The bogie centre, for example, was pitched 3ft 6in in the rear of the leading axle-centre but only 3ft ahead of the bogie wheels so distributed as to lead on the hind axle. The mechanical features which Stirling was pioneering appear to have been completely successful at the outset. The engines were indeed capable of hauling heavier trains of 275 tons at 50 mph and even 85mph when in charge of lighter loads. It should be remembered that in 1870 there were no continuous brakes and the running speed had to provide a much more considerable margin slowing down with the automatic vacuum brake that was adopted on the Great Northern twenty years later. Stirling was experimenting with a single prototype with the aim of working express trains of 150 tons at average speeds of 50mph. It was not a successful engine initially but this was hardly surprising considering the number of novelty embodied in it. The locomotive which was the fiftieth locomotive to be built at Doncaster cost £2,000 (excluding the tender). Two years later in 1870 GNR locomotive 1 was built as a prototype of the distinctive Stirling 8ft 4-2-2 engines built at Doncaster until 1895. In 1868 Stirling built two 2-2-2 engines with 7ft 1in diameter wheels. When he started with the GNR at Doncaster he instigated a policy of standardisation but he also borrowed a single-wheeler with a 7ft diameter driving wheel from the Great Eastern Railway. Stirling joined the GNR in 1866 having previously been Locomotive Superintendent of the Glasgow & South Western Railway since 1853. Stirling built his engines for speed and power, in order to handle some of the continuous gradients on the main York-London GNR line, and to compete against the Midland Railway and L&NWR in the Races to the North. 1870 & 1884 engines – Outside – 18in x 28inĭuring the early years of Stirling’s tenure, many new engines were required for the many new routes which were still being built.