Bachmann 35-251Z

North Eastern Railway Class O 1759 North Eastern Railway Lined Green

Contents

Class & Prototype

  • Running Number: 1759
  • Ordered By: North Eastern Railway
  • Built By: North Eastern Railway
  • Built At: Darlington
  • Built: 11/1897
  • Withdrawn: 06/1948
  • Length of Service: 50.6 years
  • Running Numbers: NER 1759, LNER 7306, BR 67306
  • Names: -

The NER Class O, later classified as LNER G5, was Wilson Worsdell's highly successful 0-4-4T tank locomotive design for the North Eastern Railway. Built between 1894-1901 at Darlington Works, all 110 locomotives featured 5ft 1¼in driving wheels, 18in x 24in inside cylinders, and 160psi boiler pressure, producing 17,265lbf tractive effort. Originally classified 2P under British Railways (downgraded to 1P in 1953), these versatile locomotives excelled in suburban passenger services, regularly achieving 60mph on routes like Middlesbrough to Newcastle.

The class proved remarkably long-lived, with all examples surviving into BR ownership in 1948 before final withdrawal in 1958. Their operational flexibility saw them work throughout the North East and later across LNER territory including Scotland, Cambridge, and London suburban routes. None survived into preservation, but a new-build replica (No. 1759) is under construction at Shildon.

Operator & Livery

The North Eastern Railway dominated Britain's industrial north-east, operating the country's most profitable coal-carrying network across Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland. Formed in 1854 from four constituent companies, the NER achieved a near-monopoly over regional rail traffic, handling over 50 million tons of minerals annually at its peak.

The railway pioneered British electrification with the 1904 Tyneside suburban scheme and experimental freight lines. Under chief mechanical engineers Wilson Worsdell and Vincent Raven, the NER developed distinctive locomotive designs including successful Atlantic express engines, innovative three-cylinder mixed-traffic locomotives, and robust freight classes that served until the end of steam in 1967.

Notable achievements included building the world's largest station at York (1877), completing the East Coast Main Line, and operating extensive dock facilities. The company's engineering excellence earned recognition during World War I when Vincent Raven supervised munitions production at Woolwich Arsenal.

The NER merged into the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923, but its locomotive designs continued in production well into the British Railways era. Today, the railway's legacy lives on through preserved locomotives, heritage railways, and comprehensive model ranges available in all popular scales, making NER subjects ideal for authentic British railway modelling.