GER Class C53
Class of British locomotives
The GER Class C53 was a class of 12 0-6-0 T steam tram locomotives designed by James Holden for the Great Eastern Railway. They passed to the London and North Eastern Railway at the grouping and received the LNER classification J70.
01History
The locomotives had 12-by-15-inch (305 mm × 381 mm) outside cylinders driving 3-foot-1-inch (0.940 m) wheels, all enclosed by skirting. They were the first locomotives on the Great Eastern to use Walschaerts valve gear. From the 1930s to the 1950s, they were used on the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway and the ports of Great Yarmouth and Ipswich. They replaced earlier GER Class G15 0-4-0 T that had a similar appearance.
| Year | Order | Builder | Quantity | GER No. | LNER No. | LNER 1946 No. | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1903 | C53 | Stratford Works | 2 | 135-136 | 7135-7136 | 8216-8217 | |
| 1908 | C64 | Stratford Works | 3 | 137-139 | 7137-7139 | 8218,, , 8219 | GER No.138 was withdrawn in 1942 |
| 1910 | I67 | Stratford Works | 1 | 130 | 7130 | 8220 | |
| 1914 | P75 | Stratford Works | 3 | 127-128, 131 | 7127-7128, 7131 | 8221-8223 | |
| 1921 | D85 | Stratford Works | 3 | 125-126, 129 | 7125-7126, 7129 | 8224-8226 |
The first withdrawal was in 1942. The remaining 11 locomotives were renumbered 8216-8226 in 1944 and passed to British Railways in 1948 on nationalisation, after which the prefix "6" was added to their numbers. Withdrawals restarted in 1949, slowly at first, then more quickly. The last went in 1955.
| Year | Quantity in service at start of year | Quantity withdrawn | Locomotive numbers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1942 | 12 | 1 | 7138 |
| 1949 | 11 | 1 | 68218 |
| 1951 | 10 | 1 | 68221 |
| 1952 | 9 | 1 | 68224 |
| 1953 | 8 | 4 | 68216-7/19-20 |
| 1955 | 4 | 4 | 68222-3/25-6 |
02Individual locomotives
| GER number | LNER number | 1946 number | BR number | Build date | Withdrawal date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 135 | 7135 | 8216 | 68216 | 31/10/1903 | 31/12/1953 |
| 136 | 7136 | 8217 | 68217 | 30/11/1903 | 31/03/1953 |
| 137 | 7137 | 8218 | 68218 | 30/09/1908 | 30/09/1949 |
| 138 | 7138 | N/A | N/A | 30/09/1908 | 31/01/1942 |
| 139 | 7139 | 8219 | 68219 | 31/10/1908 | 31/08/1953 |
| 130 | 7130 | 8220 | 68220 | 30/04/1910 | 31/03/1953 |
| 127 | 7127 | 8221 | 68221 | 30/06/1914 | 21/05/1951 |
| 128 | 7128 | 8222 | 68222 | 30/06/1914 | 28/02/1955 |
| 131 | 7131 | 8223 | 68223 | 30/06/1914 | 19/07/1955 |
| 125 | 7125 | 8224 | 68224 | 31/03/1921 | 30/04/1952 |
| 126 | 7126 | 8225 | 68225 | 31/03/1921 | 31/03/1955 |
| 129 | 7129 | 8226 | 68226 | 31/03/1921 | 02/08/1955 |
Note: The data above is according to the website RailUK. Another website, BRDatabase, gives some different dates:
- GER No. 135 was withdrawn on 30 November 1953
- GER No. 136 was withdrawn on 9 March 1953
- GER No. 130 was withdrawn on 23 February 1953
- GER No. 128 was withdrawn sometime in January 1955
- GER No. 125 was withdrawn on 24 March 1952
- GER No. 126 was withdrawn on 8 March 1955
03In fiction
J70 68221 was the inspiration for the character Toby the Tram Engine in The Railway Series by the Rev. W. Awdry, and its television series adaptation, Thomas & Friends.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “GER Class C53”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- J70 No. 68222 at Upwell (1952) 01.jpg by Lamberhurst, CC BY-SA 4.0
- AVR Thomas 7.JPG by Original uploader was Felixcatuk at en.Wikipedia, Public domain
Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.
