GER Y14
Design and development
Thomas Worsdell, appointed GER Locomotive Superintendent in 1881 (and brother of Wilson Worsdell of the NER), designed his standard goods 0-6-0 in 1883. With 4 ft 11 in coupled wheels, inside cylinders, and a small parallel boiler, the Y14 was a simple, economical goods engine ideally suited to East Anglia's flat country with relatively light loads.
289 were built between 1883 and 1913 — at first by Worsdell, then continued by James Holden and Alfred Hill — making the Y14 (LNER class J15) one of the most numerous GER classes. In 1891 a Y14 was famously built at Stratford Works "from frames to fire" in 9 hours 47 minutes, a record for British locomotive construction.
Service and withdrawals
The class worked GER and later LNER goods traffic across East Anglia from 1883. The last were withdrawn in 1962, after 79 years' service. J15 No. 564 was preserved by the M&GN Society and later transferred to the North Norfolk Railway, where it operates regularly.
Identification features
Inside-cylinder 0-6-0 with 4 ft 11 in coupled wheels, small parallel boiler with brass dome, GER blue or LNER black livery.
Notable locomotives
- 564 / LNER 7564 / BR 65462 (1912, North Norfolk Railway — operational)