Great Central class 9P “Lord Faringdon”

Robinson developed two 4-6-0 locomotives for the GCR during the First World War, which were the class 9P shown here for express service and class 9Q for mixed service. They received the same boiler that had already been used in classes 1 and 1A. Of the 9P, only No. 1169 “Lord Faringdon” was built in 1917, which also gave the class its name. It wasn't until 1920 that five more followed.

They had four cylinders in one plane. The inner ones had their own Stephenson valve gear and drove the first driving axle. The outer cylinders were controlled by the inner ones via rocker shafts and drove the second driving axle. However, this led to complicated steam paths, poor steam flow and leaks, which was to be changed by Gresley after the LNER took them over.

Four of the class, now known as B3, were rebuilt to B3/2 with Caprotti valve gear in 1929, 1938 and 1939, while those that were not rebuilt became B3/1. A B3/3 followed in 1943, which had been rebuilt into a two-cylinder. Regardless of the modifications, all were withdrawn between 1947 and 1949.