61572_1608_Sheringham1
London and North Eastern Railway B12 4-6-0 8572 stands in the station at Sheringham, North Norfolk Railway having arrived from Holt, 3rd August 2016.
Locomotive History
With increasing traffic at the beginning of the 20th Century, the Great Eastern Railway found it needed more powerful locomotives, but with a light axle loading and a short wheelbase. These restrictions resulted in a 4-6-0 design which was notably smaller than most other British 4-6-0s. Although design work started in 1908, construction of the first locomotive would not start until 1911. The Great Eastern Railway built a total of 70 locomotives in eight batches before the 1923 Grouping. The London and North Eastern Railway would give them the classification of B12, and would find the combination of low axle loading and short wheelbase very useful attributes. In the late 1920sthere was a desperate need for additional power for express passenger services in East Anglia and as a short term solution until a new design was introduced (B17 Class) a final batch of ten B12s were ordered. These differed from the originals with the addition of Lentz oscillating cam poppet valve gear and these ten engines were given the classification of B12/2. Between 1932 and 1944, all ten B12/2 locomotives and forty four of the original B12/1s were rebuilt with larger diameter round top boilers and long-travel Stephenson piston valves. B12 class withdrawals commenced in 1945 with the last engine withdrawn in 1961. 8572 is from the final 1928 batch built by Beyer Peacock, Manchester and was the last of the class in service being withdrawn as 61572 from Norwich in September 1961.
61572_1608_Sheringham1
London and North Eastern Railway B12 4-6-0 8572 stands in the station at Sheringham, North Norfolk Railway having arrived from Holt, 3rd August 2016.
Locomotive History
With increasing traffic at the beginning of the 20th Century, the Great Eastern Railway found it needed more powerful locomotives, but with a light axle loading and a short wheelbase. These restrictions resulted in a 4-6-0 design which was notably smaller than most other British 4-6-0s. Although design work started in 1908, construction of the first locomotive would not start until 1911. The Great Eastern Railway built a total of 70 locomotives in eight batches before the 1923 Grouping. The London and North Eastern Railway would give them the classification of B12, and would find the combination of low axle loading and short wheelbase very useful attributes. In the late 1920sthere was a desperate need for additional power for express passenger services in East Anglia and as a short term solution until a new design was introduced (B17 Class) a final batch of ten B12s were ordered. These differed from the originals with the addition of Lentz oscillating cam poppet valve gear and these ten engines were given the classification of B12/2. Between 1932 and 1944, all ten B12/2 locomotives and forty four of the original B12/1s were rebuilt with larger diameter round top boilers and long-travel Stephenson piston valves. B12 class withdrawals commenced in 1945 with the last engine withdrawn in 1961. 8572 is from the final 1928 batch built by Beyer Peacock, Manchester and was the last of the class in service being withdrawn as 61572 from Norwich in September 1961.