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Locomotives - Stirling Single
Stirling No1 represents the pinnacle of the British locomotive builder's obsession with "Form" over "Function". The elegant curves, the perfect symmetry of chimney, cylinders and bogie and the pierced paddlebox are all features of this famous design by Patrick Stirling for the Great Northern Railway at Doncaster.
The locomotive with its huge 8 feet 1 inch diameter, single driving wheel was able to achieve very high speeds (albeit with lightly loaded trains) in the 1880's because of the low piston sliding speeds which such a large driving wheel resulted in.
Stirling Singles raced against the LNWR Jumbos in the famous "Races to the North" of 1895 and it is fitting that this beautiful machine finds its resting place alongside LNWR 790 "Hardwicke" in the Great Hall.
- Name: Great Northern Railway 4-2-2 No 1 (Stirling Single)
- Class: 4-2-2
- Built: 1878, Doncaster
- Designer: Patrick Stirling
- Weight: 39 tonnes
- Driving wheel Diameter: 8' 1"
- Boiler Pressure: 140 lb / in2
Locomotive inventory number 1975-7014
Photograph reference number NRM_CT_939562