Locomotives of the North British Railway
1st built Wheel arrangement Number built Builder Date
72 0-4-2 4 W. Fairbairn 1855
90 2-4-0 24 Neilson ( 18 ) Dübs ( 6 ) 1861-68
109 0-4-0 3 NBR St. Margarets 1865-66
76 0-6-0 4 NBR St. Margarets 1860-61
80 0-6-0 58 Hawthorn of Leith ( 6 ) R. Stephenson ( 16 ) Dübs & Co. ( 36 ) 1861-67
31 2-2-2WT 2 NBR St. Margarets 1856
20 0-4-2WT 14 NBR St. Margarets 1857-64
282 0-6-0ST 3 Dübs 1866-67
William Hurst ( 1855–66 )
Hurst came from the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway , to which he returned after being sacked from the NBR . There were many variations within the classes listed here , both as built and after subsequent rebuilding .
The North British Railway was opened in 1846 as the line from Edinburgh to Berwick-upon-Tweed, and its workshops were initially situated in St. Margarets, Edinburgh. Gradually other railways were acquired, including in 1865 the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, whose works at Cowlairs, Glasgow were better than that at St. Margarets, which were reduced to repairs only and all production moved to Cowlairs. As is customary, engine classes are organized according to the man who was locomotive superintendent when the class was introduced, and to whom the design is often attributed. The NBR was rather unfortunate in its choice of locomotive superintendents, the first five of whom were sacked or forced to resign either for alleged incompetence or financial scandals. The NBR's locomotive classification system (introduced in 1913) is not very helpful because the same letter has been applied to several different classes. The North British Railway Study Group has developed its own classification system and a list can be found here . These are not complete lists, as most engines acquired second-hand and from absorbed companies are not included.