GNR Great Northern Railway Steam Locomotive Class Small Atlantic 271 at Kings Cross in 1912
Built in 1902, No 271 was an experimental ‘Klondyke’ Atlantic fitted with four cylinders -two outside and two inside. It was a mechanical flop, despite attempts at remediation and was rebuilt in the summer of 1911 as a 2 cylinder (inside) simple with a new boiler, as seen here at Kings Cross shortly after. The cylinders were appreciably larger than those originally fitted. The snifting valves were mounted at the base of the smokebox at first, but in November 1915 they were replaced by a single snifting valve mounted behind the chimney. In its 2-cylinder form the engine ran well and was regarded by the Doncaster crews (where it was based) as a very fast runner. It remained in service until June 1936. In this photograph, it can be seen that the boiler handrails are tubular serving to allow control from the cab of the blower valve (right) and the superheater element damper (left). The latter was dispensed with long before the Grouping. The handle which can be seen presumably allowed for control of the damper when the engine was stationary