© Don Marshall 2008
ELEGANT STEAM
London & North Eastern Railway
-City-of-York.jpg)
Sir Vincent Raven designed this class of 4 Pacific locomotives for the North Eastern Railway (NER) after World War 1 but the first two didn't appear until the eve of the Grouping in 1923; the other two still being in workshops. This one, No 2402 City of York, was actually completed after the NER had disappeared. They were good locomotives for what they were designed for, ie, the NER main lines, but Sir Nigel Gresley had introduced the first GNR Pacific, No 1470 Great Northern, at the same time. It is little wonder that the newly formed LNER, with a strong GNR lobby, preferred Gresley's design over Ravens. The class of 4 Raven Pacifics, Class A2, were used primarily on the York - Newcastle service but were not developed further while, as is well known, Gresley's design went from strength to strength.
The illustration depicts City of York when newly repainted from Darlington upon grouping. Darlington Works were a bit of a law to themselves and always painted the cylinder covers green contrary to official LNER policy. I shall probably redraw the locomotive in NER livery but as No 2401.
The illustration depicts City of York when newly repainted from Darlington upon grouping. Darlington Works were a bit of a law to themselves and always painted the cylinder covers green contrary to official LNER policy. I shall probably redraw the locomotive in NER livery but as No 2401.
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