LNER D49 Hunt/Shire Class

By the mid-1920s the LNER's Scottish Area was running secondary express services with a mixed fleet of pre-grouping designs from the NBR and the Great North of Scotland Railway. The route between Edinburgh and Aberdeen, with its 1-in-100 ruling gradients, and the heavily-trafficked Edinburgh–Glasgow main line both required modern express engines.

Sir Nigel Gresley's answer was a three-cylinder 4-4-0, the first new LNER 4-4-0 design after the 1923 Grouping. The D49 used the same three-cylinder layout and conjugated valve gear principles as Gresley's express Pacifics, but in a smaller 4-4-0 form suited to the secondary express role. The first engine, No. 234 Yorkshire, was completed at Darlington Works in October 1927.

The class became famous for its naming convention. The first 28 engines (the "Shire" sub-class proper) were named after British counties, Yorkshire, Cheshire, Hampshire, Lincolnshire, Cumberland and so on. The next 31 engines (the "Hunt" sub-class) were named after famous British fox hunts, Pytchley, Quorn, Cottesmore, Bramham Moor, Holderness, Belvoir, Brocklesby, Cattistock, Cheshire, Cleveland, Cottesmore, Fitzwilliam, Goathland, Holderness, Meynell, Monmouthshire, Quorn, Tynedale, York and Ainsty, Zetland and others. The remaining 17 engines were unnamed.

The class was a useful test-bed for variations in three-cylinder valve gear. Different sub-classes (D49/1 to D49/4) used Walschaerts conjugated, Lentz oscillating cam, reversed Lentz, and rotary-cam Caprotti gear respectively. The Lentz oscillating cam gear in particular proved problematic in service and most engines were eventually rebuilt with conventional Walschaerts arrangement.

The D49s worked the LNER Scottish Area's principal secondary expresses, the Edinburgh–Aberdeen services, the Edinburgh–Glasgow Queen Street main line, and the Waverley Route to Carlisle. They were widely admired for their performance on the demanding Aberdeen route, where the gradient profile required engines that combined power with sustained capability.

The class also worked occasional Eastern Region secondary expresses, although the Scottish Area was always its primary base. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s the D49s were the standard LNER Scottish Area express engine for non-principal services.

The introduction of the B1 Class from 1942 onwards began to displace the D49s from the heaviest secondary expresses. The introduction of BR Standard 5MT 4-6-0s from 1953 continued the displacement, and from the late 1950s the early Class 26 BRCW Bo-Bo diesels also began arriving in Scotland.

Withdrawal of the D49s began in 1957. The class was completely withdrawn by 1961, with the final examples being the longest-serving Hunts. One example was preserved: 246 Morayshire, which had been rescued for the National Collection in 1961.

A three-cylinder express 4-4-0 of LNER Group Standard appearance, with the characteristic Gresley outline of a parallel boiler, Belpaire firebox, high running plate, and the LNER Group Standard six-wheel tender. The four sub-classes (D49/1 to D49/4) reflect different valve-gear arrangements and are difficult to distinguish externally except by close examination of the valve gear above the cylinders. The class wore LNER apple green from new (with most retaining apple green into the BR period), then BR Brunswick green from 1949. The brass nameplates carrying the Shire (county) or Hunt (fox-hunt) names were a particular feature.

234 Yorkshire (later 2700, 62700), first of class, completed at Darlington in October 1927. The first Shire. Withdrawn 1959.

246 Morayshire (later 2705, 62705), preserved as the unique surviving D49. Built at Darlington in February 1928. Withdrawn from BR service in 1961 and rescued for preservation. Currently main-line registered and based at the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway in Scotland, a particularly fitting home given the class's strong Scottish association.

327 Pytchley (later 2733, 62733), first of the Hunt sub-class with Lentz oscillating cam valve gear, completed at Darlington in 1932. Worked the Scottish secondary expresses through to withdrawal in 1958.

329 Quorn, one of the most photographed D49s of the 1930s, named after the Quorn Hunt (Leicestershire). Withdrawn 1958.

365 The Morpeth, last of class, completed in 1935.

LNER era (1927–1947): the class was concentrated on the Scottish Area. Major D49 allocations were at Edinburgh Haymarket (the largest contingent), Edinburgh St Margarets, Eastfield (Glasgow), Aberdeen Ferryhill, Inverurie, Dundee Tay Bridge, and Carlisle Canal. The class worked the principal Edinburgh–Aberdeen and Edinburgh–Glasgow services and the Waverley Route to Carlisle.

British Railways Scottish Region (1948–1961): continued at largely the same depots through the 1950s. The introduction of the B1 Class from 1942 onwards had begun displacing the D49 from the heaviest expresses, and the BR Standard 5MT 4-6-0 from 1953 continued the displacement. Withdrawals began in 1957 and were complete by 1961.

LNER (1927–1947): LNER apple green with black-and-white lining, polished brass nameplates carrying the Shire or Hunt names, and the LNER coat of arms or "L.N.E.R." lettering on the tender. Wartime examples (1939–1947) sometimes appeared in unlined plain black for material economy.

British Railways early (1948–1949): initially LNER apple green retained on most examples; from 1949 BR Brunswick green progressively applied with the early lion-and-wheel emblem.

British Railways late (1956–1961): BR Brunswick green with the late BR crest. Some examples in plain unlined black towards the end.