The “Puffing Billy” and her two sisters can be described as the first adhesion locomotives that were in commercial service for several years. Richard Trevithick's “Pen-y-Darren” was the first working steam engine, but after a short trial it was converted back into a stationary steam engine. Although John Blenkinsop had the idea of transporting coal on rails with a rack system as early as 1812, this system did not catch on at the time due to the high additional costs for the rails. William Hedley, the owner of Wylam Colliery, therefore experimented with a vehicle that was powered by a hand lever and could move without cog wheels. As this was a success, he designed a locomotive with Timothy Hackworth.

This vehicle stood on two axles, between which was a crankshaft, which was driven by two vertical cylinders via long levers. The crankshaft transmitted power to the axles via gears. Since the first rails had a U-shaped profile with a gauge of five feet, the wheels could be designed without wheel flanges. The cylinders were connected to the boiler's hot water to prevent the steam from condensing. This made maintenance much easier than on other early steam locomotives where the cylinders were inside the boiler. The early boiler did not yet have tubes, but a single, U-shaped flue. Because of this arrangement, the chimney was next to the fire door and the fireman stood at this end of the locomotive, where the tender was also attached. The engine driver stood at the other end and operated the engine from there, which made operation in both directions possible without any problems.

Schematic drawing

Railway and Locomotive Engineering, January 1903

The three engines now hauled 50-ton coal trains the five-mile route to the port of Lemington, which took them about an hour. They remained in service for several decades and have been rebuilt several times in the meantime. The first, somewhat bizarre conversion concerned the “Puffing Billy”, which was used to drive a steamship for a while and was later dismantled again for use on rails. For a time the locos had four powered axles with smaller wheels and a single-axle tender. From 1830 the trains ran on rails with a modern profile and the locomotives were fitted with flanged wheels. The “Puffing Billy” was loaned to the Museum of Patents in London in 1962 and a few years later ended up in the Science Museum in the same city, where it still stands today. The “Wylam Dilly” was sold to the Royal Museum in Edinburgh in 1868 and can still be found there today. Only the whereabouts of the “Lady Mary” are unknown. A functional replica was built in Bavaria in 1906 and another in England in 2006.

The “Locomotion” was the first locomotive to transport paying passengers. Orders for them and a second locomotive came from the Stockton and Darlington Railway on 16 September, 1824 at a cost of £550 each. George Stephenson and his son Robert had already gained experience in building the so-called Killingworth locomotives, which were used in the mine of the same name. Based on these locomotives, number 1, which was initially called “Active”, was delivered in September 1825. On September 26, it ran under its own power for the first time as a test, and the route was officially opened the following day. In order to prove their efficiency, the inaugural run was completed with a load of eleven coal wagons, the first real passenger wagon called “Experiment” and 20 other wagons with passengers. Even with this 120 meter long train weighing about 80 tons, a speed of 12 mph could be reached.

The locomotive itself was apparently no more than a wood-lined boiler on wheels, complete with a chimney and connecting rods. The crew stood on the towed tender. The two cylinders were placed inside the boiler to prevent the steam from condensing. For the first time ever, the axles were connected via coupling rods, which prevented the wheels from slipping. Only a single flame tube served as a heating surface, but the locomotive already had an induced draft to fan the fire with the exhaust steam from the cylinders. After three years in service, the “Locomotion” suffered a boiler explosion due to human error, which claimed the life of the driver. After reconstruction, it was quickly overshadowed by newer locomotives and was used until about 1850. It was still used as a stationary steam engine until 1857, and then it was the first locomotive ever to be preserved as a functioning museum piece. In the years that followed, it made several special trips, the last of which was in 1881. It has been on display in Darlington since 1892, where it changed locations several times.

The North Eastern Railway ran two individual tank locomotives under the name “Aerolite”, the second of which survived the decades in different forms. They were developed to pull the “Mechanical Engieer's saloon”. The first “Aerolite” was actually built by Kitson, Thompson & Hewitson for the Leeds Northern Railway in 1851 and was a 2-2-2T tank engine with water storage between the side rails and six feet driving wheels. It was shown at the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace that same year and was destroyed in an accident in 1868.

The first Aerolite from 1851

Locomotive Magazine, October 1911

This was followed in 1869 by the second “Aerolite” built by the North Eastern workshops in Gateshead. It also had the same basic design as its predecessor, but received additional side tanks in 1886 for a larger water supply. While it previously only bore its name, it was now given the number 66 as well.

The second Aerolite from 1869

Locomotive Magazine, July 1926

In 1892 a rebuild took place, which corresponded to almost a complete new building. The resulting locomotive now had a leading bogie and carried its entire water supply in side tanks. The power plant was now a two-cylinder compound engine based on the Worsdell-Von Borries system with cylinders of 13 and 18.5 inches in diameter.

Another conversion took place in 1902, in which the wheel arrangement changed again. The bogie was now at the rear, while at the front there was only one axle. The cylinder configuration remained unchanged. The locomotive continued to serve the purpose that the first version had already served. Even after 1923, it remained in service with the LNER as the X1 class, where its braking system was adapted to the standards of the LNER. The last mechanical engineer A.C. Stamer used the machine until his retirement in 1933, after which it was retired. It was soon brought to the National Railway Museum in York and can still be seen there today.

The Class 1001 were 0-6-0 wheel arrangement goods locomotives designed by William Bouch and purchased by the North Eastern beginning in 1852. They were of the long boiler design popular in the 1840s, designed to lower the center of gravity. The long and thin boiler protruded completely with the smoke box and firebox to the front and rear, but this was less limiting for a slow goods locomotive. The small firebox was also well suited for operations where high power was only required for short periods of time. The steam supply of the boiler could be used up when accelerating and then refilled.

No. 1275 in National Railway Museum in York

Tony Hisgett

The production ran for a period of 23 years. The total of 192 examples came partly from North Eastern's own workshops in Darlington and Shildon, others were sourced from several companies. The first locomotives were built without a driver's cab and later retrofitted with one. As part of further modernization, larger tenders were also attached. The last engines built in the 1870s were retired by 1923.

Between 1886 and 1894 the North Eastern Railway had 171 class C goods locomotives built with compound engines. However, these had an insufficient reliability and excessive consumption. At the same time, 30 class C1 locomotives were built, which had a simple engine. Ultimately, between 1901 and 1913, all class C locomotives were rebuilt to class C1 and the entire class was then renamed C.

In 1923 all locomotives came to the LNER and became class J21. The first few locomotives were retired in 1929, but most were still in use in 1943. British Railways took over 81 in 1948, the last of which were retired in 1962. Today only the locomotive with the BR number 65033 still exists, which is being restored to operational condition in Loughborough for several years.

The North Eastern Railway's class D was developed by Vincent Raven for rural passenger trains. In order to achieve equally good running characteristics in both directions of travel, he chose a tank locomotive with a 4-4-4T wheel arrangement. Three cylinders ensured smoother acceleration. Although there were only two axles available for traction, the coefficient of adhesion of more than four indicated that there was enough traction for starting without slipping.

In 1913 the first 20 were built in Darlington. Another 25 followed after the war in the years 1920 to 1922. The LNER took over the locomotives as class H1. Between 1931 and 1936, all were rebuilt to a 4-6-2T wheel arrangement. These were designated class A8 and were retired between 1957 and 1960.

Worsdell had 20 class M1 locomotives built from 1892, which, unlike previous express locomotives, did not have a compound engine. From 1896, 30 more of the class Q followed, which had a smaller boiler and slightly larger cylinders. With their more than seven-foot wheels, they were used in front of the fastest trains. At the LNER they became classes D17/1 and D17/2. Most were retired by 1945. Only two D17/2s came to British Railways and were retired in February 1948.

The North Eastern Railway class O was designed by Wilson Worsdell to supplant the 2-4-2T suburban tanks of his brother Thomas. Between 1894 and 1901, 110 were completed at Darlington. They now had the 0-4-4T wheel arrangement and a higher tractive effort than their predecessors with a symmetric wheel arrangement. Although they had no leading axle, they were good for 60 mph between stations with a longer distance.

In 1923, they became LNER class G5. In the following decades they got no major rebuilds, but all survived until the founding of British Railways in 1948. The first one was withdrawn in 1949, but larger numbers only followed in 1955. By 1958, all were gone and scrapped. At Shildon, the Class G5 Locomotive Company Ltd. is now building a replica that will be numbered 1759.

The North Eastern Railway classes P through P3 comprised a total of 355 0-6-0 wheel arrangement locomotives that were produced between 1894 and 1923. They were created by William Worsdell, who had been employed as chief engineer at the Great Northern since 1890 and were primarily intended as mineral engines, i.e. for the transport of heavy, slow coal and ore trains. From 1923, the individual variants were classified by the LNER in classes J24 to J27 when the railway companies were grouped.

It all started with the P class, which was built a total of 70 times in the Great Northern workshops in Gateshead and Darlington between 1894 and 1898. The cylinders were 18 inches in diameter and 24 inches in stroke and operated at a steam pressure of 160 psi. Between 1914 and 1920, 20 locomotives were converted to superheated steam, the cylinder diameter was increased by half an inch and the slide valves were replaced with piston valves. In 1948, when British Railways was founded, a total of 34 units could be taken over, but they soon disappeared.

British Railways P3 No. 65804 brings a Brake Van back to the coal mine in May 1965

Ben Brooksbank / Engine & brakevan at Winning, near North Blyth

Immediately following the production of the P class, the P1 class followed, in which the cylinders now had a diameter of 18.25 inches and a stroke of 26 inches. In addition, the boiler barrel and the firebox were lengthened and the wheelbase adjusted accordingly. The 120 pieces were made again in Gateshead and Darlington, with Gateshead again taking over the main part. For the last 20 pieces, the cylinder diameter was increased to 18.5 inches. During the Second World War, the LNER, which meanwhile operated the locomotives as class J25, lent 40 units to the Great Western. The British Railways took over 76 units in 1948 and retired them between 1950 and 1953.

In the years 1904 and 1905, a total of 50 examples of the P2 followed, which were again manufactured in the same works. They had the same cylinder dimensions as the last series of P1s and had a significantly larger boiler, which also now operated at a pressure of 200 psi. This not only increased the starting tractive effort and steaming capacity, but also resulted in an adhesive weight that was more than five tons higher. British Railways took over the entire stock and retired it between 1952 and 1966.

Between 1906 and 1909, initially 75 pieces of the P3 followed, of which only some were built in the company's own workshops in Darlington. The rest was divided among several commercial manufacturers. The biggest change was the higher-mounted boiler, which featured a deeper firebox with a less steep grate. Twelve years after the end of production, two more series totaling 35 pieces were commissioned. These were factory-fitted with a Schmidt-type superheater. In 1948, British Railways also took over all the P3 units. Their decommissioning began in 1959 and was completed in 1967.

Developed by Wilson Worsdell, the Class R was a 4-4-0 with larger dimensions than had previously been the norm for this wheel arrangement in Britain. From 1899 30 were built and another 30 in 1906 and 1907. During World War I they were rebuilt with a superheater. At the LNER they became the D20. After some received new piston valves in 1936, the rebuilt ones became the D20/2 class and the remainder the D20/1. The British Railways received 49 of the original 60 locomotives, these disappeared by 1957.