LNER Class A2

The first London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class A2 was a class of 4-6-2 steam locomotive designed by Vincent Raven for the North Eastern Railway (as NER class 4.6.2). Two were built by the NER in 1922 before the grouping and another three by the LNER in 1924. Their LNER numbers were 2400–2404. All five locomotives were named by the LNER.
==Origins==
The NER was the largest and most prosperous of the railway companies that would make up the LNER from 1923 and provided the general manager of the new railway company. However the chief mechanical engineer of the NER, Sir Vincent Raven was at retirement age and the new post was eventually offered to Nigel Gresley of the Great Northern Railway. He had introduced a powerful new A1 Class Pacific in April 1922, and Raven was anxious to show that the NER could keep up with the race for increased power. Raven's rival design was authorized at the same time as the introduction of the A1 class publicized in the railway press in July 1922 although the first two examples did not appear from Darlington Railway Works until late December, and only one of them ran before the beginnings of the LNER.
==Design==
The new class was an enlarged version of the successful Z class Atlantics (later LNER C7 class) with a larger boiler, larger cylinders and wide firebox. The boiler pressure was also increased to 200 psi (1.38 MPa). They shared with the Gresley K3 class the record for the largest diameter boiler in Britain, at 6 ft (1.83 m). Also, because of the great length of their parallel boilers, the locomotives earned the nickname 'Skittle-alleys'.
Components for three further examples of the class had been prepared by Darlington works, and construction of these was authorized in February 1923. This was the same month that Nigel Gresley took up office and may have been ordered without his knowledge. These locomotives appeared in March 1924. However, comparative trials between the first two examples of the A1 and A2 classes conducted in the summer of 1923 showed that the A1 was a more technically advanced machine and no more Raven A2s were built. Thus the A1 was chosen as the LNER's standard express passenger locomotive.
==Performance==
The performance of the locomotives was adequate for the needs of their intended use on the East Coast Main Line between York and Edinburgh but disappointing and with higher coal consumption compared to the A1 class. They also suffered from a long wheelbase 40 ft 5 in (12.32 m) which limited their route availability elsewhere.
In an attempt to improve the steaming of the class Gresley rebuilt No. 2404 with an A1-style taper boiler in 1929, reducing the boiler pressure to 180 psi (1.24 MPa) but no noticeable improvement was achieved. Therefore, once the locomotives came due for heavy repair during 1936-37 they were all withdrawn from service and scrapped.
==Assessment==
According to the Railway Correspondence and Travel Society survey of the Locomotives of the L.N.E.R. 'the design was an unhappy swan-song to the North Eastern locomotive development - it was their biggest, but somewhat below the best that Darlington could do.' In the opinion of Allen, 'prestige rather than real need was the predominant consideration; in the design.
==Stock list==
LNERNo.	Name 	Built 	Withdrawn 	Notes 	Image
2400 	City of Newcastle 	December 1922	April 1937 	Was converted to a stationary boiler at Darlington Works in 1937, scrapped in May 1939	Frameless
2401 	City of Kingston upon Hull	December 1922	July 1936 	 	Frameless
2402 	City of York 	March 1924 	July 1936 	 	Frameless
2403 	City of Durham 	March 1924 	May 1937 	 	Frameless
2404 	City of Ripon 	March 1924 	February 1937	Fitted with modified A1 boiler in September 1929 	Frameless
== See also ==
* Gallery
==External links==
*LNER Encyclopedia
Category:4-6-2 locomotives
Category:4-6-2 steam locomotives
Category:Scrapped locomotives
Category:LNER locomotives
Category:Raven Locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:Built in 1922
Category:Built in 1924
Category:Darlington Works locomotives
Category:Standard gauge locomotives
Category:Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain
Category:Scrapped steam locomotives