Great Central Railway
The first of the 8K class was outshopped from the GCR's Gorton workshops in 1911. It was essentially a superheated version of an earlier 0-8-0, the 8A class, with the addition of a pony truck. This both supported the greater front end weight and gave a steadier ride. The 8K was introduced to anticipate the increased traffic from the GCR's vast new docks complex at Immingham in North East Lincolnshire and by June 1914 126 were in traffic. During the First World War there were experiments with oil burning 8Ks with larger bogie tenders.
Post-war, a further 19 locomotives were built in 1918-21 to a modified design with a larger boiler (GCR class 8M). In 1922 the GCR rebuilt two Class 8M to Class 8K.
Read more about this topic: GCR Class 8K
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