The 91st Platoon

**The 91st Platoon** is a platoon of the Steam Reserve Corps formed of seven locomotives. It is known as the "North Eastern Force" due to it being made of engines with a background with the North Eastern Railway (NER).

## City of York

### Designer

Sir Vincent Litchfield Raven KBE

**City of York** is a large withdrawn LNER A2 4-6-2 that served in the Steam Reserve Corps during WWII. He is the commander of the 91st Platoon "The North Eastern Force".

#### Bio

City of York was the first of the LNER Raven A2s to be built by the LNER at Darlington Works in 1924. He was also the first with a LNER Cartazzi truck fitted instead of the standard one fitted to the originals. He was used in trials against Gresley A1s No. 4470 'Great Northern' and 4471 'Sir Fredrick Banbury' along with the other two A2s built by the LNER and found himself with high coal consumption. In 1936, City of York was withdrawn from service but was placed in storage for possible future usage when the time called for it.

When WWII broke out and Britain declared war on Germany on 3rd September 1939, City of York was taken out of storage and painted in the future wartime black but was later acquisitioned by the military in late-1939. In 1940, he joined the Steam Reserve Corps as a way to redeem his class' reputation of being one of Darlington's worst products.

#### Livery

City of York is painted in LNER Wartime Black.

#### Basis or real locomotive

City of York is based off the real locomotive. It was one of five Raven 4-6-2/A2 Pacifics built by the North Eastern Railway (NER) and the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Darlington Works with two in 1922 and an extra three in 1924. They were introduced in the wake of the GNR Gresley A1s that same year and the design became based upon the Z class (LNER C7) 4-4-2s by simply extending their length. All were named by the LNER and were put into trials against their Gresley rivals which revealed their high coal consumption. Withdrawals of the class occurred between 1936 and 1937 with all being scrapped.

No. 2402 'City of York' was built in 1924 as one of the extra three built by the LNER (without Grelsey knowing) was withdrawn from service in July 1936 and was scrapped a month later at Doncaster.

#### Trivia

City of York's model is built using an old Hornby LNER Gresley A1 4-6-2 'Flying Scotsman' and reuses its chassis and tender. The body was a composite of 3D-printing, brass and card.

* The model's chassis was modified to match the new body, including removing some rods and changing the cylinder design.
* Originally, Shane was going to use a DJH model kit but because there was only a limited run (173 kits), it made it harder to find.

City of York is named after the city of York, capital of Yorkshire. This explains his strong Yorkshire accent despite being built in County Durham.

## Wilson

### Designer

Wilson Worsdell

**Wilson** is an old tender engine that served in the Steam Reserve Corps during WWII. He is the tactical and weapons officer of the 91st Platoon "North Eastern Force".

#### Bio

Wilson was built in 1908 at Darlington for the North Eastern Railway (NER) on goods duties. Much of his past before joining the SRC in 1940 is unknown but it's known that he was renumbered in 1923 following the Grouping Act. In 1940, Wilson thought that it was time to fight for the United Kingdom as he wasn't given the chance in the last Great War and joined the Steam Reserve Corps. He trained as a tactical officer and was given extra training as a weapons officer before being allocated to the 91st Platoon.

In December 1944, he, along with the rest of his platoon and the 119th Platoon, was involved in a "blitzkrieg"-style attack on Kreendonk Death Camp in order to capture the facility and "break the back of the Wehrmacht and end this bulge." Following the successful capture, Wilson went out to act as a scout for both platoons for further raids. He was presumed to have left the SRC after Germany's defeat in 1945 and lived a quiet life hauling coal trains in his native County Durham before being withdrawn and scrapped in 1962.

#### Basis or real locomotive

Wilson is based off the real locomotive. It was one of 115 members of the NER Class P3 0-6-0s built by Darlington Works, the North British Locomotive Company (NBL), Beyer, Peacock & Company and Robert Stephenson & Company from 1906 until the end of the NER in 1923. They were based on the Class P2 designed by Wilson Worsdell in 1904 only with a deeper firebox for improved drafting. They became known as the "J27 class" under the LNER classification scheme and were allocated to coal traffic in County Durham, in the north east of England. Withdrawals began in 1959 and the last retiring from service in 1967, the end of North Eastern Region steam. One has been preserved and is normally based on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR).

No. 1010 was built at Darlington Works in 1908 and was withdrawn from service in 1962. It was scrapped at its Darlington birthplace later that year.

#### Trivia

Wilson's model is a standard Oxford Rail model.

Wilson was originally going to be LNER No. 1159/5738 but it turned out that number was actually carried by a J26 (NER Class P2), resulting in a number change.

Wilson is named after his designer.

Wilson's number is similar to Jazza's GER number.

## Archie

### Class

NER D (LNER H1) (as built)LNER A8 (rebuilt)

### Built for

North Eastern Railway (as built)London & North Eastern Railway (rebuilt)

### Designer

Sir Vincent Litchfield Raven KBE (as built)Sir Herbert Nigel Gresley (rebuilt)

**Archie** is a suburban tank engine that served in the Steam Reserve Corps during World War Two. He is one of the four main gunners of the 91st Platoon.

#### Bio

Archie was originally built as a 4-4-4T at Darlington under the North Eastern Railway (NER) in 1920 and was rebuilt to a LNER A8 class 4-6-2T in 1933. In 1940, he joined the Steam Reserve Corps to prove to everyone that he was a strong and capable locomotive like his brothers and sisters, training as a gunner before being assigned to the 91st Platoon. He was involved with shelling Kreendonk Death Camp under a combined 91st-119th Platoon raid to capture the facility in December 1944.

Not much has been heard from Archie since but it can be confirmed that he was was scrapped at Darlington the day he was withdrawn by BR in 1958.

#### Basis or real locomotive

Archie is based off the real locomotive. They were introduced in 1914 as 4-4-4Ts designed by Sir Vincent Raven for the NER and known as the 'D' class. 45 were built by Darlington Works from 1914 and 1920 to 1922 for rural suburban work, with 20 built in 1914 and 25 built after WWI. They became known as the 'H1' class under the LNER classification following the Grouping Act in 1923. In 1931, the class was rebuilt by Sir Nigel Gresley as a 4-6-2T instead of a 4-4-4T and became known as the 'A8' class with all 45 being converted to this design. Withdrawals began in 1957 and finished in 1960 with none preserved.

No. 1518 was built by the NER in 1920 and rebuilt from a H1 4-4-4T to an A8 4-6-2T in 1933. It was withdrawn from service on November 30th 1958, being scrapped that same day at its Darlington birthplace.

## Josh

### Designer

Wilson Worsdell

**Josh** is a suburban tank engine that served in the Steam Reserve Corps during World War Two. He is one of the four main gunners of the 91st Platoon.

#### Bio

Josh was built at Darlington Works in 1900 for suburban work on the North Eastern Railway (NER) until mostly the introduction of the D class by Vincent Raven. He was soon placed on suburban work along side much younger N2 class 0-6-2Ts out of London on ex-Great Northern Railway (GNR) rails in most of his LNER days until 1940, when he joined the Steam Reserve Corps and trained as a gunner before being assigned to the 91st Platoon.

He was involved with shelling Kreendonk Death Camp under a combined 91st-119th Platoon raid to capture the facility in December 1944. It's reported that Josh retired from military service in 1956 before he was withdrawn by British Railways (BR) a year later. His whereabouts are a mystery since he was sent to Darlington to be scrapped but disappeared a week before he was supposed to be broken up.

#### Trivia

Josh's model is a body bought on Shapeways with an old Hornby LSWR M7 0-4-4T chassis with new wheels.

Josh is short for his real name, 'Joshua'.

Josh is one of two NER O/LNER G5s that have not been accounted for in the scrapping program.

## Trivia

Most of the platoon's locomotives have origins from the North Eastern Railway (NER), hence the platoon's nickname.

The 91st Platoon's emblem is silver and features a LNER Raven A2 paired with a NER tender silhouette with two artillery howitzers facing outwards and a stone of coal underneath the locomotive.

* The Raven A2 paired with NER tender refers to City of York and how all of the platoon are off North Eastern Railway (NER) origin.
* The howitzers refer to their infantry support role.
* The stone of coal refers to the famous coal fields in the north east of England, territory that the NER served.