The LNER Singles: 2-2-4 and 4-2-2 Locomotives

The LNER used the designation "X" for all of the single-driver locomotives that it inherited. These had 4-2-2 and 2-2-4T wheel arrangements. Three types (X1, X2, and X3) of 2-2-4T tank engines came from the North Eastern Railway (NER) and were used to pull inspection saloons for railway officials. The other type, was that of the X4 4-2-2 tender locomotive that came from the Great Central Railway (GCR).

4-2-2 Tender Locomotives

Although single driver express locomotives fell out of favour long before Grouping (1923), the concept had a short-lived resurgence in the late 19th Century with the invention of steam sanding gear. Six such locomotives were inherited from the GCR.

ClassBuilderDesignerFirst Built Last WithdrawalComments
X4 GCR Pollitt 1900 1927

2-2-4 Tank Locomotives

The LNER also inherited four 2-2-4T tank engines from the NER. All four tanks had complex histories and owed their survival to specialised use hauling inspectors' saloons.

ClassBuilderDesignerFirst Built Last WithdrawalComments
X1 NER W.Worsdell 1892 (rebuild) 1934 Aerolite
X2 NER W.Worsdell 1874 1937 G6 rebuild
X3 NER W.Worsdell 1894 (rebuild) 1936