LNER Class B17

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The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class B17, also known as "Sandringham" or "Footballer" class was a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive designed by Sir Nigel Gresley for hauling passenger services on the Great Eastern Main Line. In total 73 were built.

The final B17 design borrowed many features from a batch of A1 Pacifics which the North British Locomotive Company had built in 1924. The cab, cylinders, and motion had all been copied directly or slightly modified. Most of the boiler design was taken from the LNER Class K3 2-6-0 and LNER Class O2 2-8-0 designs. The LNER quickly ordered some modifications, including an increase in cylinder size from 17in to 17½in, and a lengthening of the firebox by 5in. It was impossible for all three cylinders to drive the middle coupled axle, so the middle cylinder powered the leading axle and was positioned forward above the front bogie.

[edit] Sub-classes

The first B17 was delivered on 30th November 1928. Between 1930 and 1936, Darlington Works would produce 52 B17s in five batches. A final batch of eleven would be built by Robert Stephenson and Company in 1937; resulting in a total of 73 B17s built. Small modifications were made to successive batches, resulting in six class parts (B17/1 to B17/6). The B17/5s, 61659 East Anglian and 61670 City of London were streamlined in the manner of the LNER Class A4s. However, the streamlining was cladding for show purposes only and had little real effect on the overall speed of the locomotive. By 1951 both engines were stripped of the streamlining altogether.

• B17/1, Introduced 1928
• B17/2, Variant of B17/1, later merged with B17/1
• B17/2, Variant of B17/1, later merged with B17/1
• B17/4, Introduced 1936
• B17/5, Introduced 1937
• B17/6, Introduced 1943, rebuilt with 100A boiler and increased pressure

[edit] Rebuilding

Some B17s were rebuilt with the 100A boiler, retaining the original cylinders, and became Class B17/6. Others had a more drastic rebuild, including 100A boiler and conversion to 2-cylinder layout, and became Class B2.

[edit] Summary table

[edit] Preservation

Several were named after football clubs. None of the class has survived into preservation but a few of the football clubs were presented with the name plates after the locomotives were scrapped.

However in Steam Railway Magazine 349 a new build project to build 2 B17's is under way. One will be named after a football club of which negotiations and the other will be 61600 Sandringham however one will be a static exhibit at a East Anglian location while the other will be main line registered.

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[edit] External links

• LNER encyclopedia
• Railuk B17/1 B17/2, B17/3, B17/4, B17/5 and B17/6