NBR 2-2-2
This unique and surprisingly successful 2-2-2 was constructed under Thomas Wheatley’s superintendency at St Margaret’s Works, Edinburgh and completed in August 1867. It inherited the number of, and employed some parts from, the original N. B. R. No. 55, a Crampton 2-2-2-0 built by E. B. Wilson and Co., makers of the famous ‘Jenny Lind’, some two decades earlier. Notably, the 1867 rebuild included the carrying wheels and the distinctive carrying wheel springs of the Wilson original. It also had Allan straight-link valve gear, which was most unusual on the N. B. R. and may have been derived from the original Crampton. Like many of the earlier N. B. locomotives it was driven from the right-hand side. Reboilered in 1897 It received a Drummond boiler probably of 1877 vintage (the date given on the works plate) and a Holmes cab. It retained however the decorative paddlebox driving wheel splasher from the 1867 rebuilding and other details such as the sandboxes as well as the mainframes and valve gear. A new iron-framed tender, as shown here, replaced the ancient wooden-framed four-wheel original. This replacement tender came from a Dübs & Co. 2-4-0 of the 341 class, dating from 1865 and recently scrapped. The engine was renumbered as 1009 on the duplicate list in 1901. No. 55 was reputed to be very fast, and must have been popular and successful enough to be worth rebuilding at such a great age. It ran until c. 1909 especially in west Fife and to Perth.
Size: 5530px × 3448px
Location: Unknown
Photo credit: © Niall Ferguson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 2-2-2, 55, 1009, british, engine, locomotive, nbr, north, railway, scottish, steam
