Robinson’s rapid ‘Directors’
THE Great Central Railway Class 11F or ‘Improved Director’ 4-4-0s (LNER D11) were designed by John G. Robinson, whose job title became chief mechanical engineer when he succeeded the railway’s locomotive superintendent Harry Pollitt in 1900.
With their 6ft 9in driving wheels, they were designed specifically for fast passenger duties, and with a boiler pressure of 180lb superheated, their 20x26in inside cylinders delivered a tractive effort of 19,645lb.
The locomotives were based on Robinson’s 10 11E (LNER D10) 4-4-0s introduced in 1913, which themselves followed on from his 11B (LNER D9) 4-4-0s built between 1901 and 1904.
Upon the formation of British Railways in 1948, all of the D10s remained listed. Renumbered 62650 to 62659, they were named Prince Henry, Purdon Viccars, Edwin
A. Beazley, Sir Edward Fraser, Walter Burgh Gair, The Earl of Kerry, Sir Clement Royds, Sir Berkeley Sheffield, Prince George and Worsley-Taylor respectively.
The 11 original 11Fs, whose improvements (the only surviving GCR express passenger locomotive) appeared in December 1919 and No. 507 two months later. The spring of 1920 saw the completion of Nos. 508 , 509 and 510 . Nos. 501-505 and No. 511 were named , , , , and respectively, and all appeared in 1922.
