London and North Eastern Railway's (LNER) Peppercorn Class A1 is a class of "Pacific" steam locomotives largely built between 1948 and 1949 at Doncaster and Darlington Works to a design of Arthur Peppercorn. Forty-nine were built for hauling express passenger services on the East Coast Main Line owned by LNER's successor, British Railways' North Eastern Region. None of the original 49 Peppercorn A1s survived into preservation, with the last being scrapped in 1966. The 50th Peppercorn A1, 60163 Tornado, was completed in 2008 as an evolved member of its class.

Background Most of the former LNER Class A1 locomotives designed by Sir Nigel Gresley had been rebuilt as LNER Class A3 locomotives prior to this class being conceived. The few straggling LNER Class A1 locomotives that remained unrebuilt during the tenure of Peppercorn's predecessor, Edward Thompson, were redesignated by him as Class A10s in preparation for the construction of his new Class A1 locomotives. Thompson rebuilt the pioneer LNER Pacific Great Northern in 1945; originally this was the new Class A1, but the rebuild was not repeated. Instead, initiated by Thompson but largely taken forward by his successor Arthur Peppercorn, Great Northern was designated Class A1/1, and a new class of Peppercorn A1s ordered.

The locomotives were designed to cope with the heaviest passenger trains in the post-war period on the East Coast Main Line (London – York – Newcastle – Edinburgh – Aberdeen) which consisted normally of trains with up to 15 coaches and up to . The Peppercorn A1s were able to pull such a train on the flat at a speed of . The class used a double Kylchap chimney system and, like previous LNER Pacifics, had a 3-cylinder arrangement.

Original locomotives Construction The new A1s were ordered by the LNER but were delivered after the LNER had been nationalised to form part of British Railways at the start of 1948. The 49 engines were built at the Eastern Region's Doncaster and Darlington works between 1948 and 1949.

+ Construction detailsNosDate builtWorksOrder no.Notes60114-22 1948 Doncaster 382 60123 1949 Doncaster 60124-9 1949 Doncaster 383 60130-43 1948 Darlington — 60144-52 1949 Darlington — 60153-7 1949 Doncaster 388 Built with Timken roller bearings on all axles60158-62 1949 Doncaster

Withdrawal

By summer of 1966, all 49 class members had gone for scrap. The last to be withdrawn from stock was No. 60145 Saint Mungo, after a working life of just 17 years. 60145 Saint Mungo was planned to be preserved by Geoff Drury; however, this ultimately was unsuccessful and none of the original locomotives were preserved.

Year Quantity inservice atstart of year Quantitywithdrawn Locomotive numbers Notes 1962 49 6 60115/22–23/35/37/53 1963 43 6 60136/44/59–62 1964 37 11 60114/19–20/25/39/41/43/47/49–50/58 1965 26 24 60116–18/21/26–34/38/40/42/46/48/51–52/54–57 1966 2 2 60124/45 60145 was subject to preservation attempt.

List of original locomotives

Below is a list of original Peppercorn A1 LocomotivesLongworth (not including Tornado) (not including Tornado) (not including Tornado) (not including Tornado)A1LST history section (not including Tornado) Names of 60114-60162 are given but it also includes the LNER Thompson Class A1/1 60113 Great Northern in the list, making 50 locomotives.

No. Name Built Works Withdrawn Notes 60114 AllenW. P. Allen August 1948Doncaster December 1964 60115 Meg Merrilies September 1948Doncaster November 1962 60116 Hal o' the Wynd October 1948Doncaster June 1965 60117 Bois Roussel October 1948Doncaster June 1965 60118 SturrockArchibald Sturrock November 1948Doncaster October 1965 60119 StirlingPatrick Stirling November 1948Doncaster May 1964 60120 Kittiwake December 1948Doncaster January 1964 60121 Silurian December 1948Doncaster October 1965 60122 Curlew December 1948Doncaster December 1962 60123 IvattH.A. Ivatt February 1949Doncaster October 1962 60124 Kenilworth March 1949Doncaster March 1966 60125 Scottish Union April 1949Doncaster July 1964 60126 RavenSir Vincent Raven April 1949Doncaster January 1965 60127 WorsdellWilson Worsdell May 1949Doncaster June 1965 60128 Bongrace May 1949Doncaster January 1965 60129 ManneringGuy Mannering June 1949Doncaster October 1965 60130 Kestrel September 1948Darlington October 1965 60131 Osprey October 1948Darlington October 1965 60132 Marmion October 1948Darlington June 1965 60133 Pommern October 1948Darlington June 1965 60134 Foxhunter November 1948Darlington October 1965 60135 Madge Wildfire November 1948Darlington November 1962 60136 Alcazar November 1948Darlington May 1963 60137 Redgauntlet December 1948Darlington October 1962 60138 Boswell December 1948Darlington October 1965 60139 Sea Eagle December 1948Darlington June 1964 60140 Balmoral December 1948Darlington January 1965 60141 Abbotsford December 1948Darlington October 1964 60142 FletcherEdward Fletcher February 1949Darlington June 1965 60143 ScottSir Walter Scott February 1949Darlington May 1964 60144 King's Courier March 1949Darlington April 1963 60145 Saint Mungo March 1949Darlington June 1966 Preservation attempt failed 60146 Peregrine April 1949Darlington October 1965 60147 North Eastern April 1949Darlington August 1964 60148 Aboyeur May 1949Darlington June 1965 60149 Amadis May 1949Darlington June 1964 60150 Willbrook June 1949Darlington October 1964 60151 Midlothian June 1949Darlington November 1965 60152 Holyrood July 1949Darlington June 1965 60153 Flamboyant August 1949Doncaster November 1962 60154 Bon Accord September 1949Doncaster October 1965 60155 Borderer September 1949Doncaster October 1965 60156 Great Central October 1949Doncaster May 1965 60157 Great Eastern November 1949Doncaster January 1965 60158 Aberdonian November 1949Doncaster December 1964 60159 Bonnie Dundee November 1949Doncaster October 1963 60160 Auld Reekie December 1949Doncaster December 1963 60161 North British December 1949Doncaster October 1963 60162 Saint Johnstoun December 1949Doncaster October 1963

Notes on names The names of the A1s were an eclectic mix including: Racehorses: Bois Roussel, Silurian, Scottish Union, Bongrace, Pommern, Foxhunter, Alcazar, Boswell, King's Courier, Aboyeur, Amadis, Willbrook, Flamboyant Names of people: W. P. Allen (an LNER locomotive driver who became a member of the Railway Executive in 1948), Archibald Sturrock, Patrick Stirling, H. A. Ivatt, Sir Vincent Raven, Wilson Worsdell, Edward Fletcher (Locomotive Superintendents of pre-grouping railways), Sir Walter Scott, Saint Mungo Names related to the works of Sir Walter Scott: Meg Merrilies, Hal o’ the Wynd, Kenilworth, Guy Mannering, Marmion, Borderer, Madge Wildfire, Redgauntlet, Bonnie Dundee. Some of these names had previously been used on NBR J class locomotives Pre-grouping railway companies: North Eastern, Great Central, Great Eastern, North British Birds: Kittiwake, Curlew, Kestrel, Osprey, Sea Eagle, Peregrine. Some of these names had previously been used on LNER Class A4 locomotives. Place-related names: Balmoral, Abbotsford (Sir Walter Scott's house), Midlothian, Holyrood, Bon Accord (motto of Aberdeen), Auld Reekie (a soubriquet for Edinburgh), Saint Johnstoun (an old name for Perth), Aberdonian

No. 60163 Tornado

None of the original production run of 49 Peppercorn A1s survived the scrapyard to be preserved. However, in July 2008, a brand new 50th A1 Pacific based on the original Peppercorn patterns, 60163 Tornado, was completed as the evolved member of the class.

Accidents and incidents On 5 June 1950, locomotive No. 60153 Flamboyant was hauling an express passenger train which was derailed at Tollerton, North Yorkshire due to heat buckled track. On 7 September 1962, No. 60123 H.A. Ivatt suffered harsh collision damage after running into a train at Offord. Four people were injured in the incident. It was withdrawn a month later and scrapped at Doncaster. On 16 January 1964, No. 60120 Kittiwake collided with the rear end of a goods train in North Otterington. It was withdrawn shortly after the incident. On 14 April 2018, locomotive No. 60163 Tornado was hauling an excursion train named "The Ebor Flyer" from London King's Cross to York. While traveling at 90mph around Sandy, south of Peterborough, the locomotive's inside motion failed.https://www.a1steam.com/2018/04/14/the-ebor-flyer-update/ Tornado motion failurehttps://www.a1steam.com/2018/04/17/tornado-repair-update/ Repairs update

Models Bachmann Branchline and Hornby make models in OO gauge, Graham Farish produce a model in N gauge and Accucraft (UK) make a live steam model in Gauge 1.

References

External links

A1 Steam Locomotive Trust