GER Class C53

GER Class C53 LNER Class J70
J70 68222 at Upwell in 1952
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer James Holden Builder Stratford Works Build date 1903 – 1921 Total produced 12
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 0-6-0T  • AAR Co  • UIC C n2t Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Coupled dia. 3 ft 1 in (0.940 m) Wheelbase 6 ft 8 in (2.032 m) Length 20 ft 8+3⁄8 in (6.309 m) Axle load 11 long tons 7 cwt (25,400 lb or 11.5 t) Loco weight 27 long tons 1 cwt (60,600 lb or 27.5 t) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 15 long cwt (1,700 lb or 800 kg) Water cap. 625 imp gal (2,840 L; 751 US gal) Firebox: ​  • Type Round-top  • Grate area 9.2 sq ft (0.9 m2) Boiler: ​  • Diameter 2 ft 10.5 in (0.9 m)  • Tube plates 6 ft 10 in (2.1 m)  • Small tubes 102 x 1.625 in (41.3 mm) Boiler pressure 180 lbf/in2 (1.24 MPa) Heating surface: ​  • Firebox 42.08 sq ft (3.9 m2)  • Tubes 306 sq ft (28.4 m2)  • Total surface 348.08 sq ft (32.3 m2) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 12 in × 15 in (305 mm × 381 mm) Valve gear Walschaerts
Performance figures Tractive effort 8,931 lbf (39.73 kN) at 85%
Career Operators Great Eastern Railway London and North Eastern Railway British Railways Class GER: C53 LNER: J70 Power class BR: 0F Axle load class LNER/BR: RA 2 Withdrawn 1942 (1), 1949–1955 Disposition All original C53s scrapped, one Toby the Tram Engine replica built at East Anglian Railway Museum.
Most specifications from[1]

The GER Class C53 was a class of 12 0-6-0T 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.

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.^[2] 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 0-4-0T that had a similar appearance.

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.^[3]

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

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.^[7]

• GER Class G15

• Aldrich, C. Langley (1969). The Locomotives of the Great Eastern Railway 1862–1962 (7th ed.). Wickford, Essex: C. Langley Aldrich. OCLC 30278831.
• Allen, D. W.; Boddy, M. G.; Brown, W. A.; Fry, E. V.; Hennigan, W.; Manners, F.; Neve, E.; Proud, P.; Roundthwaite, T. E.; Tee, D. F.; Yeadon, W. B. (November 1970). Fry, E. V. (ed.). Locomotives of the L.N.E.R., part 8A: Tank Engines - Classes J50 to J70. Kenilworth: RCTS. ISBN 0-901115-05-3.

• Awdry, Chris (September 1983). "Toby The Tram Engine & Other Stories...". Rail Enthusiast. EMAP National Publications. pp. 10–11, 13–14. ISSN 0262-561X. OCLC 49957965.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to GER Class C53 / LNER Class J70.

• [1] — Great Eastern Railway Society
• The J70 0-6-0 (GER Class C53) Tram Engines — LNER Encyclopedia

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