LNER A1 Class

The Peppercorn A1 Pacifics were powerful locomotives with the same classification, 8P6F, as the A4s. There were fifty in the class, when including Thompson’s rebuilt No. 60113 Great Northern, which headed the list. New build No. 60163 Tornado was subsequently added in recent time, as none of the original engines had escaped scrapping. Designed in 1945 for the LNER, the A1s were not turned out from Doncaster works until 1948 and 1949, by which time BR had taken over from the Big Four companies.

My most distinct memory of an A1 on the ECML was at dusk on Bawtry viaduct in the spring of 1963. Northbound No. 60157 Great Eastern had been stopped for a signal check some way south of the viaduct. We had climbed up to the edge of the ballast from the swing park adjacent to the line. Great Eastern accelerated right past us. Her firebox door must have been open as the whole cab area was glowing brightly, as was the smoke and steam that temporarily enshrouded her, as she gradually gained speed from a standing start. As darkness had descended by then, we wandered back to Bawtry youth hostel for a good night’s sleep, prior to a bus trip to Retford the next day, for a few hours spotting on the station.

John Dyer photographed No. 60125 Scottish Union at York in the summer of 1956 and Nos. 60128 Bongrace and No. 60157 Great Eastern, both in Doncaster sheds, in August 1964. The A1s carrying the names of the former companies that made up the LNER in 1923 had particularly attractive nameplates, incorporating the old company crests.