#0258
NBR 224 and 420 Classes
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by Cowlairs railway works· from 1871· two classes of 2 and 4 British 4-4-0 locomotives
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. NBR 224 Class: Original author/artist E.L. Ahrons (d. 30 March 1926). Scan by Redrose64 , 19 July 2011· Public domain
what is it?
The NBR 224 and 420 Classes consisted of six steam locomotives of the 4-4-0 wheel arrangement built by the North British Railway (NBR) in 1871 and 1873. No. 224 had three claims to fame: it was the first inside-cylinder 4-4-0 engine to run in Great Britain; it was the locomotive involved in the Tay Bridge disaster; and after rebuilding in 1885, it was the only compound-expansion locomotive on the NBR, and one of just three tandem compounds in Britain.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 155 years ago, in 1871.
- Served for 48 years (1871–1919).
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1871–1873
- in service from
- 1871
- retired
- 1919
- status
- retired
- number built
- 6
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- Cowlairs railway works
- designer
- Thomas Wheatley
- operators
- North British Railway
- top speed
- —
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 4-4-0
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q6952850, Wikipedia: NBR 224 and 420 Classes (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.