NEW March 2024. These are a set of five foolscap pages retrieved from a bin at Stratford Works. They definitely date back to LNER days, and there is evidence which suggests they were almost certainly produced in 1936. We have no idea who did them or why.

The first two pages are original typescript (not carbon copies) and are entitled 'A few particulars about the B17 class engines'. Their numbers are given as 2800 to 2850. A whole series of facts follow which suggest the author's main interests lay in valve settings and valve gear. This is confirmed by the third page which is a typed account of Walschaert's gear.

The next two pages are coloured ink drawings of what appear to be valve settings. These relate to the B12s, and hand-written notes inform us that No. 8559 had been the subject of an experimental setting which had proved unsuccessful.  This was followed in 1932 by a different experiment using No. 8579.

The two drawings had been done on the back of some scrap paper - duplicated working orders describing an operation to transport horses and cattle from all over East Anglia to an agricultural show at Stowmarket. We get an incomplete glimpse of the arrangements made for the traffic, but they are considered to be of sufficient interest to include here.

The file has been provided with bookmarks. It will be available to download as soon as payment has been made. You go to your account and click on ‘Downloads’. New customers create an account as they place their order.