NER Class E1

The North Eastern Railway Class E1, classified as Class J72 by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), is a class of small steam locomotives designed by Wilson Worsdell for shunting. They had inside cylinders and Stephenson valve gear.

They were a development of the earlier NER Class E (LNER Class J71) designed by T.W. Worsdell who was Wilson Worsdell's brother.

Build dates
A total of 113 locomotives were built:


 * 1898–1899, 20 locos built by NER at Darlington Works
 * 1914, 20 locos built by NER at Darlington Works
 * 1920, 10 locos built by NER at Darlington Works
 * 1922, 25 locos built for NER by Armstrong Whitworth & Co
 * 1925, 10 locos built by LNER at Doncaster Works
 * 1949–1951, 28 locos built by British Railways at Darlington Works

This is a rare, possibly unique, example of a locomotive class which was built, completely unchanged, under pre-grouping, post-grouping and British Railways administration.



Numbering
British Railways numbers were:


 * 68670-68754 (pre-nationalisation locos)
 * 69001-69028 (new locos)

Preservation
No. 69023 (Departmental No. 59) was purchased by Mr. R. Ainsworth. It is owned by the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group. It has worked on several preserved railways. In contrast to the normal black paint finish, this loco operates in a hybrid NER/LNER/BR apple green paint scheme. It re-entered service in 2010 and visited many heritage railways. No. 69023 is now based on the Wensleydale Railway but returns to the NELPG's base at Hopetown Carriage Works, Darlington for winter maintenance.