4-4-0 Express locomotive in a cutting near Birstall See Details
This quite magnificent photograph is thought to have been taken around 1905 near Birstall, Leicester. Running at speed along the cutting is a John G. Robinson designed 4-4-0 Class 11B of 1901. The 11B was Robinson's first passenger locomotive design, and was a direct descendant of the Pollitt class 11A 4-4-0's seen earlier. The brick arch bridge, the plume of white steam and the engine's graceful curves all combine to make this a picture postcard image from the golden age of railway travel.
Great Central Railway Class 9L, 4-4-2T, No. 1129 See Details
When Sir Sam Fay began to expand the services offered by the Great Central Railway, one of the areas he worked on was the suburban services. To improve the services, Fay requested that new locomotives be built, and the result was the Robinson designed 9K 4-4-2 tank engines of 1903. A larger version, known as the 9L, was designed by Robinson and built by Beyer Peacock & Co. of Manchester in 1907. This image is the official Beyer Peacock works photograph of No. 1129 - the locomotive eventually going to work suburban services on the Great Western & Great Central joint line.
