NER Class S2

3 ft 7+1⁄4 in (1.099 m)Driver dia.6 ft 1+1⁄4 in (1.861 m)Wheelbase26 ft 0+1⁄2 in (7.938 m) engine
12 ft 8 in (3.86 m) tender
50 ft 8+1⁄4 in (15.450 m) totalAxle load19.4 long tons (19.7 t)Loco weight71.1 long tons (72.2 t)Tender weight44 long tons (45 t)Total weight115.1 long tons (116.9 t)Firebox:​ • Grate area23 sq ft (2.1 m²)Boiler5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)Boiler pressure175 psi (1.21 MPa)Heating surface:​ • Firebox140 sq ft (13 m²) • Tubes723 sq ft (67.2 m²) • Flues506 sq ft (47.0 m²) • Total surface1,730 sq ft (161 m²)Superheater:
​ • Heating area361 sq ft (33.5 m²)Cylinders2, outsideCylinder size20 in × 26 in (510 mm × 660 mm)Valve gearStephenson

Performance figures
Tractive effort	21,115 lbf (93.92 kN)

Career
Operators	North Eastern Railway, London and North Eastern Railway
Numbers	NER: 782, 786-788, 791, 795-799, 813, 815, 817, 819-825 LNER (1946): 1691-1698
Withdrawn	1937-1947
Disposition	All scrapped

The North Eastern Railway Class S2 - London and North Eastern Railway Class B15 - was a mixed-traffic 4-6-0 steam locomotive designed by Vincent Raven. The design was based on NER Class S.

Superheaters

The first seven were built with saturated (non-superheated) boilers, however the remaining thirteen were fitted with Robinson 24-element superheaters. The saturated B15s were eventually fitted with superheaters. Some of these rebuilds used Schmidt superheaters, however they were eventually converted to use Robinson superheaters, as Robinson superheaters were the LNER’s standard type of superheaters.

Stumpf Uniflow variant

The last of the class, No.825 was fitted with Stumpf Uniflow cylinders. The inlet and exhaust ports were separate. Although the exhaust port was always the same size, the inlet port could vary in size according to the position of the cutoff. In 1918, the system was used on C7 No.2212, with a tidier result. Due to the special attention required for these experimental locomotives, in March 1924, the locomotive was rebuilt as a standard B15, matching the other members.

Performance

Although they were used on their suitable work, they steamed poorly if handled with crew who wasn’t used to the B15s (which also affected the B13s), and thus they were unpopular with crew who didn’t have enough experience on the B15s.

Accidents and incidents

• On 14 February 1920, locomotive No. 787 was hauling a freight train which was involved in a head-on collision with a freight train hauled by locomotive No. 788 at Skelton, Yorkshire.^[1]

Withdrawal

Withdrawal commenced with No.788 in September 1937, and all were gone by December 1947, with the last being No.1696 (NER No.820). None were preserved.^[2]

References

External links

• The Raven Class B15 (NER Class S2) 4-6-0s LNER Encyclopedia