The B17/4's were built for use on the Great Central lines so did not have to comply with the severe length restrictions imposed by the turntables of the GE section. This meant they could be coupled to the LNER standard 4,200 gallon tender. The naming of this subclass also differed from the rest as they were named after English football clubs in the LNER area.
The nameplates carried the football clubs name with the splasher painted in the club colours, either side of a cast brass football.
After the length restrictions were lifted from the GE section they were transferred to the East Anglia area where they stayed until withdrawn at the end of steam.
Two members of the class (2859/70) were streamlined for publicity purposes to work the 'East Anglian' between Liverpool Street and Norwich. These became B17/5's and were renamed East Anglian and City of London.
Changes were made to the 'Sandringham' class by Thompson. He rebuilt some of them as 2 cylinder engines, these being reclassified as B2's. This only happened to 2871 of the B17/4's which was renamed Royal Sovereign and used for hauling Royal Trains. Most of the others were fitted with 100A ('B1' type) boilers.
The class survived up to 1960, when the last was withdrawn. They often stood in for more modern traction when these developed problems.
None are preserved. |
