Talk:LNWR G Class

Does anyone know why the G2/G2a class is called Super D? 82.21.65.109 10:14, 25 March 2007 (UTC) Apparently, this is a contraction of "Superheated Duck Eight", a West Midlands nickname for the engine. 82.21.65.109 14:39, 25 March 2007 (UTC) Why Duck? They do have very distinctive wheels, which look a bit like webbed feet. Is this the reason? 82.21.65.109 16:21, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Train spotters in the East Midlands used to call them Duck Eight too, but the term "duck" applied to any locomotive without carrying wheels "duck-six" was just as current for an 0-6-0. I suspect that duck was the cricketing term for "nought" perverted by schoolboys. We used to call the G2s "wheezers" which is what they did, probably due to steam leaking past the Richardson slide valves. The "Superheated Duck Eight" explanation seems way off the mark, which is why I have just inserted a request.--John of Paris (talk) 12:26, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

Further thoughts - Nock in "The Premier line" p. 153, gives a family tree of this rather complicated class history. Two things were going on more or less simultaneously from 1905: conversion of Webb compounds into simples and the fitting of a larger boiler. The three-cylinder compound rebuilds initially had the same boiler; there was also a Webb simple classed C that was directly converted into a large-boilered G1. When the 3-cylinder compounds received a large saturated boiler, these had 19.5 in cylinders and were classified D, the superheated version being officially G1, but were in effect "superheated Ds" hence probably "Super D" which is the nickname that stuck with the staff. "Super D" certainly has nothing to do with loco spotter parlance, so we can safely take out the "Super-Duck Eight" notion. No 4-cylinder compound rebuild was ever designated other than G (These simply retained the 20.5 in inside cylinders as the compounds) G1 had the cylinders reduced to 19.5 in line with the foregoing. The man who developed the Belpaire boiler presently fitted was H.P.M. Beames, Bowen-Cooke's successor. Phew! I think the easiest way out would be to change the title of this article to something like "LNWR eight-coupled freight locomotive" and then try to present the whole history fom Webb onwards.--John of Paris (talk) 11:31, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

Super D
I've just found another explanation of the term Super D - "Superheated D type boiler". Biscuittin (talk) 22:32, 10 March 2008 (UTC)


 * No, as I said above, D was a class of locomotive rebuilt from Webb 3-cylinder compounds and fitted with a large Experiment type boiler - so it is more likely to have been simply "superheated D". Again according to Nock, the difference between D and G was cylinder diameter, respectively 19.5 in and 20 in. Anyway I am glad you have taken out the "Super Duck-eight" bit! Now all we need to do is write a whole comprehensive history of LNWR eight-coupled types - a fascinating subject.--John of Paris (talk) 22:59, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. I have found a link Biscuittin (talk) 09:42, 11 March 2008 (UTC)


 * Well it's hardly surprising they had fit smaller inside cylinders as the 3-cylinder compound affair only had one monstrous 30-inch dustbin inside! They've confused the two types of Webb compound 0-8-0. In rebuilding the 4-cylinder compound: model they did initially retained the two 20.5-inch low-pressure cylinders without alteration except to simple expansion. Don't believe everything you find on the web - even on serious sites. There's plenty of documentation on all this, but it's best to to directly consult Ahrons or Nock.--John of Paris (talk) 23:45, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

Something wrong here?
"Build date: 1879" in the infobox??? 86.132.137.129 (talk) 00:57, 4 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Good spot. The building of these locos is complex, many being rebuilt from other classes - but they certainly don't go back to 1879. The oldest loco which was ever a G, G1 or G2a was built in 1892 (no. 2524 rebuilt to D 1906, rebuilt to G1 1925). I've fixed up the infobox, but it's necessarily a summary. -- Red rose64 (talk) 09:34, 4 October 2011 (UTC)