The Great Northern Railway No. 1 class Stirling Single is a class of steam locomotive designed for express passenger work. Designed by Patrick Stirling, they are characterized by a single pair of large driving wheels which led to the nickname "eight-footer".
Performance[]
These locomotives were able to haul 275-long-ton (279 t; 308-short-ton) trains at an average of 50 miles per hour (80 km/h), with a top speed on lighter trains of 85 miles per hour (137 km/h). When taking part in the 1895 Race to the North, GNR Stirling No. 775 made the 82 miles (132 km) from Grantham to York in 1 hour 16 minutes. This translates to an average speed of 64.7 mph (104.1 km/h).
Members of the 1894 series were originally built weighing 49.55 long tons (50.35 t) but following two high-speed derailments in 1895/6 the weight was reduced by 1% to 48.755 long tons (49.537 t; 54.606 short tons)
Accidents and incidents[]
- On 10 November 1895, an overnight Scottish express hauled by locomotive No. 1006 derailed at St Neots when it encountered a broken rail. One person was killed. The accident report by Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate commented on the abnormally heavy axle loading of the locomotive: nearly 20 tons on the driving axle.
- On 7 March 1896, a passenger train hauled by locomotive No. 1003 was derailed at Little Bytham, Lincolnshire due to the premature removal of a speed restriction after track renewal. Two people were killed.
Withdrawal and preservation[]
With the arrival of the Ivatt Atlantics after 1898, the class started being displaced from the most prestigious express services. Several examples were rebuilt by Henry Ivatt after 1898 with a domed boiler, but withdrawals of the 1870 series began in 1899. The last examples of the class were in use on secondary services until 1916.
The first of the class, No. 1 is the only engine to be preserved. It is exhibited at the National Railway Museum, York. It was restored to running order during the 1930s for the fiftieth anniversary of the Race to the North and steamed again during the 1980s.
The locomotive remains in good mechanical condition, though it has not steamed since 1985. It was used recently to act as a centrepiece in York Theatre Royal's performance of The Railway Children play, in which it was seen to move into a stage set of a period station, created initially at the National Railway Museum in 2008-9, and then in the redundant Waterloo International railway station in 2010-11. For the later Toronto and Kings Cross performances, LSWR T3 class No. 563 was used instead.
The locomotive appeared to be in steam for its 'performances' but was not, using fog machine-generated smoke to mimic escaping steam while being shunted during the performance using a British Rail Class 08 shunter that was hidden from the main stage.
In fiction[]
- Emily from Thomas & Friends is based on this class.