The LNER 2-6-4 Tank Locomotives

For various reasons, the LNER did not have many 2-6-4T locomotives until Thompson introduced his L1 as a part of his standardisation plan. The LNER inherited 2-6-4Ts from the Great Central Railway (GCR) and London Transport (ex-Metropolitan Railway), but never built any more of these designs. Gresley is thought to have seriously considered a passenger 2-6-4T design in the 1920s. After serious derailments of similar locomotives on the Southern Railway, he amended the design to that of a 2-6-2T.

ClassBuilderDesignerFirst Built Last WithdrawalComments
L1 GCR Robinson 1914 1955 Reclassifed as L3 in 1945.
L2 Metropolitan Maunsell / Hally 1925 1948 Taken over from London Transport in 1937.
L3 GCR Robinson 1914 1955 Reclassifed from L1 in 1945.
L1 LNER Thompson 1945 1962