LNER Class V2 4771 Green Arrow

London and North Eastern Railway 4771 Green Arrow

Green Arrow in BR green livery. Crewe Works open day, 1 June 2003.

Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Sir Nigel Gresley Builder Doncaster Works Build date June 1936

Specifications Configuration 2-6-2 Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Driver dia. 74 in (1,880 mm) Total weight 145.1 long tons (147.4 t; 162.5 short tons) Fuel type Coal Boiler pressure 220 psi (1,500 kPa) Cylinders 3

Performance figures Tractive effort 33,730 lbf (150.0 kN)

Career Operators London and North Eastern Railway Class LNER Class V2 Numbers 4771, renumbered 800, renumbered 60800 Official name Green Arrow Retired August 1962 Current owner National Railway Museum Disposition Static Display, Awaiting Overhaul

The LNER Class V2 2-6-2 steam locomotive, number 4771 Green Arrow was built in June 1936 for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works to a design of Nigel Gresley. The first-built and only surviving member of its class, it was designed for hauling express freight and passenger trains and named after an express freight service.

Initially allotted the number 637, it was fitted with curved nameplates over the middle driving wheels. Before entry into LNER service the number was altered to 4771, and the curved nameplates were replaced with straight nameplates mounted on the sides of the smokebox. In order to do this, the builder's plate (Doncaster Works No. 1837) had to be re-located to below the cab windows.

The locomotive was later allocated no. 700 in 1943, but this never carried and was revised to 800 in April 1946, and that number was applied by the LNER in November 1946, and 60800 by British Railways in February 1949.

Withdrawn from British Railways service in August 1962, and selected for preservation within the national collection, it was restored at Doncaster Works.

With work completed in April 1963, it was followed by almost ten years of storage, during which it was moved several times. A transfer from Doncaster to Hellifield occurred in October 1964; the locomotive was moved to Wigston in 1967 - this was intended to be the final temporary home, since it was intended that Green Arrow would become one of the permanent exhibits in a Municipal Museum which was proposed for the nearby city of Leicester. However, before the museum was ready, demolition of Wigston locomotive depot was scheduled, and the locomotive was sent south to the Preston Park shops of the Pullman Car Company in September 1970. The National Railway Museum (NRM) was then being planned, and in November 1971 Green Arrow was selected for the National Collection, items from which would form the main display in the NRM. The locomotive was again moved, this time to Norwich depot in January 1972, where it was returned to working order; the first trial trip, to Ely, was on 28 March 1973. It then commenced a series of runs at the head of special trains, before being moved to Carnforth on 2 July 1973.Green Arrow ran in preservation until being withdrawn from service on 21 April 2008, shortly before its boiler certificate expired.