Jazza

**Josiah**, aka **"Jazza"**, is a Great Eastern Railway (GER) tank locomotive that operates on the Moorland Steam Railway. He is one of a few pre-Grouping locomotives the MSR operates.

## Biography

Josiah was built at Stratford Works of London in 1921 for suburban duties on the London suburban network of Great Eastern Railway (GER). He kept his service when the GER was grouped to form the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER), which stepped up the services soon after the Railway Act of 1921, aka the "Grouping Act", took its affect, instead of electrification the service. The service ran with other members of his class, even LNER Gresley-constructed members of the N7s (LNER classification of the GER L77) became known as the "Jazz Service".

By the time newer and more powerful locomotives arrived, Josiah was pushed out to serve on suburban secondary routes around the network in East Anglia, Great Eastern territory. One such line in East Anglia he worked on was the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (M&GNJR), which he described as a "key battleground between the London, Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS) and LNER during the golden age of railway rivalry, until when the War broke out." From 1944 to 1946, Josiah was oddly numbered '7989', which did seem odd for the LNER numbering system, but was replaced by '9611' by 1946. During that time, he still worked on the M&GNJR.

In 1948, his number was changed again after the Transport Act 1947 made the "Big Four" private railway companies with a whole, government-controlled railway, British Railways. Being an ex-LNER locomotive, the prefix '6' was added to his number, making his BR number '69611', but again stayed on the M&GN. When the line closed in 1959, Josiah had served the line for around two decades and described as a line that will be "Missed & Greatly Needed" line, since it lead to his survival. He was withdrawn from Stratford sheds only a year after the M&GN was closed and sent to for scrapping at his birthplace. Josiah was actually stored instead of being scrapped and became one of sixteen steam locomotives brought to the Moorland Steam Railway in 1966, and spent around two decades in storage before restoration work began.

Restored to his first LNER livery and number in 1985, Josiah was restored alongside the railway's resident Australian 4-6-0, Clyde. Clyde gave Josiah's nickname (which mostly stuck and he likes being called that) "Jazza" from his Aussie slang, which he liked it when he first heard it. He handled traffic from Northampsmith to Dentin stations, reflecting his work on the M&GN, being the only locomotive on the MSR that worked the route.

## Livery

Jazza is painted in the standard LNER unlined black (1923-1946) with the letters 'LNER' and his first LNER number '8011' in gold leaf with red, white and black shadowing. Jazza also carries a small red LNER identification plate on the sides of his bunker.

## Basis or real locomotive

   Jazza is based on the real No. 8011. It was one of 134 L77s (N7s) built from 1915 to 1928 by the Great Eastern Railway (GER) and the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) for suburban service. They were placed in Sir Herbert Nigel Gresley's steam program to prove the effectiveness of steam over diesel and electric locomotives or multiple units. six subclasses were produced over 13-year-long construction with the original N7s built between 1915 to 1924. Withdrawals began following electrification of the ex-GER London network in 1957 to 1962 with one being preserved.

No. 8011 was built at Stratford works in 1921 as GER No. 1011. It was withdrawn from service and scrapped in 1960 as a N7/4.

## Trivia

Josiah/ Jazza is named after Josiah Alan Brooks, better known as "Jazza", an Australian artist and YouTuber who publishes tutorials on drawing and other craft on his YouTube channel 'Jazza' formerly 'Draw with Jazza'.

* Josiah's nickname could also refer to the "Jazz Service", which was a commuter train that the N7s were well-known for hauling it in their service years.

   Jazza's model is a standard Oxford Rail model.

Jazza's work on the M&GNJR could be a reference to the N7s being moved country areas and secondary routes around East Anglia following the introduction of more powerful steam locomotives and diesel multiple units (DMUs) by the LNER and BR. It could also refer to the sole survivor operating on the North Norfolk Railway (NNR), which is on the last surviving part of the M&GN.

Jazza is the second locomotive on the MSR which is a pre-Grouping LNER engine. The first being Raven.