Steam Trains and Engines

As we have just seen, the Great Central Railway prospered by virtue of its freight traffic; until the Grouping in 1921 its passenger services were in the hands of a number of mediocre 4-6-Os and one outstanding type of 4-4-0, J. G. Robinson's ' Director ' class. Designed in 1913, the ten engines of Class ' DIG ' were elegant 2-cylinder machines with 6 ft. 9 in. driving wheels, named after directors of the company.

They were followed in 1920 by an enlarged version, Class 'Dll,' of which the principal distinguishing feature was the large side-window cab. The majority of these eleven engines were named after battlefields of the war, such as ' Mons ' and ' Somme,' and soon all the light high-speed passenger trains on the G.C.R. line to Marylebone were handled by these two classes. After the Grouping, a few ' Directors ' found their way on to the former Great Northern main line out of King's Cross, on such important trains as the ' Sheffield Pullman,' and in 1924 Gresley built a further twenty-fdur for use in Scotland. To suit the Scottish loading gauge, these latter engines had cut-down cabs and boiler mountings, and were given fine old names from Sir Walter Scott's novels. ' Wizard of the Moor,' ' Baron of Bradwardine ' and others were soon a familiar sight on the lines radiating from Edinburgh and Dundee.

After nationalisation, withdrawal of the ' Directors ' soon began; many of the Scottish ones were stored, and those in England were concentrated on the former Cheshire Lines. The last of them was withdrawn from service in 1962, with the exception of ' Butler-Henderson ' which has been restored to its original condition for museum preservation.