GCR Class 9N

The Great Central Railway Class 9N, classified A5 by the LNER, was a class of 4-6-2 tank locomotives designed by John G. Robinson for suburban passenger services. They were fitted with superheaters, piston valves and Stephenson valve gear.
== Construction and numbering==
The GCR built 21 locomotives at Gorton Works in three batches between 1911 and 1917. They ordered a fourth batch of ten from Gorton, but this was not built until after the 1923 Grouping, under which GCR became part of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). The LNER then ordered a fifth batch of 13 to a modified design, incorporating reduced boiler mountings and detail differences, and these were built by the outside contractors Hawthorn, Leslie & Co. during 1925–26 (works numbers 3616–28).
Year 	GCR Nos. 	LNER Nos. 	LNER 1946 Nos.
1911 	165–170, 23–24, 447–448	5165–70, 5023–24, 5447–48	9800–07, –, 9808
1912 	449–452, 128–129 	5449–5452, 5128–5129 	9809–9814
1917 	371–374, 411 	5371–5374, 5411 	9815–9819
1923 	3, 6, 7, 30, 45,
46, 88, 154, 156, 158	5003, 5006, 5007, 5030, 5045,
5046, 5088, 5154, 5156, 5158	9820–9829
1925–26	— 	1712/19, 1738, 1750/56,
1760/66–68, 1771,
1782/84, 1790	9830–9842
No. 5447 was withdrawn in 1942 because its frames were badly cracked. In 1943, the remaining engines were allocated new numbers in the 9800–42 block, but these were not applied until 1946. Forty-three locomotives passed to British Railways in 1948, and between 1948 and 1951 their numbers were increased by 60000. The class was divided into two parts in December 1948 as follows:
*A5/1, 69800-69829: Built at Gorton to Robinson's design
*A5/2, 69830-69842: Built by Hawthorn, Leslie with modifications by Gresley
None have been preserved.
Table of withdrawals
Year	Quantity in service at start of year	Quantity withdrawn	Locomotive numbers
1942	44 	1 	5447
1957	43 	2 	69815/33
1958	41 	23 	69802/04/07/10–11/18–19/22/24/26/28/30–32/34–42
1959	18 	8 	69800/03/05/09/12/16/25/27
1960	10 	10 	69801/06/08/13–14/17/20–21/23/29
==Modelling==
A 7 mm scale kit is available from MSC models.
In 2023, Sonic Models released a ready-to-run OO scale model in GCR, LNER, and BR variants.
==Further reading==
*Ian Allan ABC of British Railways Locomotives, 1948 edition, part 4, page 55.
==Gallery==
File:Marylebone Station geograph-2358841-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg|A5/1 No. 9828 outside Marylebone station 1947
==External links ==
*The Robinson A5 (GCR Class 9N) Pacific Tank Locomotives
*Class A5/1 Details at Rail UK
*Class A5/2 Details at Rail UK 
Category:Great Central locomotives
Category:4-6-2T locomotives
Category:4-6-2T steam locomotives
Category:Tank locomotives
Category:Scrapped steam locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:Scrapped locomotives
Category:Great Central Railway (original)
Category:Passenger locomotives
Category:4-6-2 locomotives
Category:4-6-2 steam locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Gorton Works locomotives
Category:Hawthorn Leslie locomotives
Category:Standard gauge locomotives
Category:Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain
Category:Built in 1911
Category:Built in 1912
Category:Built in 1917
Category:Built in 1923
Category:Built in 1925
Category:Built in 1926
Category:LNER locomotives