LNER 'ATLANTIC' CLASS C4/2 -- 4-4-2 O GAUGE MODEL KIT

O GAUGE MODEL

LNER 4-4-2 Locomotive
Class C4/2 (Atlantic)
LNER No 6094

While I'd say the model is in excellent condition for it's age and has been safely stored in a purposely built case, there is one small blemish to highlight and that's the Number as shown in the images. 6094, the number 4 is slightly marked. 

Hand built by my late father [Mr Geoff Tyler] in the late 1990's believed to have originated from a Gladiator kit probably represents one of his earlier forays into O Gauge modelling. 

Background
Built as Great Central No 1094 in November 1905 the LNER first gave it the number 6094 on grouping and then allocated No 2917 in 1946. Following nationalization in 1948 British Railways renumbered the locomotive by adding 60000 to its LNER number making it No 62917 which it carried until it was withdrawn from 40A Lincoln shed in May 1949.

The C4s had classic Robinson looks and quickly acquired the nickname of 'Jersey Lilies' after a contemporary music hall star.

The first seven C4s had steam sanding gear on the front driving wheels only. Later engines would be fitted with steam sanding gear on all of the driving wheels. The pioneer two locomotives had a second set of sanding gear fitted at a later date. From 1921, the gradual replacement of the original four-column Ramsbottom safety valves with Ross pop safety valves started. At the same time, ash ejector were fitted to help clean the smokebox with live steam. The LNER did not favour use of the ash ejectors and they fell into disuse. Some were removed after 1945, although a number of C4s still had them when withdrawn.

The first C4s were allocated to Gorton and Neasden, to haul the London to Manchester express trains. Reciprocal excursion running rights existed between the GCR and the Great Western Railway (GWR) during 1904, and C4s operated a number of excursions to places such as Weymouth, Weston-super-Mare, and Plymouth. A C4-hauled working from Manchester to Plymouth via Banbury and Bristol, set a British record for the longest through working. This would last over twenty years, until the East and West Coast London to Scotland express services would start.

An allocation was given to Leicester in 1906, and this would eventually become the largest allocation of C4s in the LNER network. Leicester had sixteen C4s by 1923, whilst the remaining eleven C4s were allocated to Woodford.

Growing train sizes were becoming a significant problem for the C4s by about 1932. Replacement with more powerful engines finally occurred in 1936, when the C4s were displaced from express passenger services by the B17 4-6-0s. The C4s moved to lighter services, and their allocations tended to change much more frequently than when they were hauling the top-link express services. This is when the bulk of the class was cut down to the LNER Composite Gauge, enabling their allocation to other parts of the LNER network. Allocations during this period included Cambridge, Colwick, Immingham, Lincoln, and Ipswich. As well as slower passenger services, the C4s were sometimes called upon to haul fish services. These mixed allocations across the GCR and Great Northern (GNR) networks continued during World War 2.

The first withdrawal was in 1939, after No. 6090 was involved in a collision at Banbury. This was the same engine that suffered severe damage from high speed running and was rebuilt as a 3-cylinder compound for fourteen years. Locomotive shortages during World War 2 kept most of the remaining C4s in service. By 1945 it was clear that the LNER's Standardisation Programme would not have any room for forty year old Atlantics, and withdrawals were accelerated. Twenty survived into British Railways ownership, and the last six were withdrawn in 1950.