North Eastern Railway McDonnell '38' class 4-4-0 No. 180. Built at Gateshead in May 1884 and withdrawn in October. 1919.

Poor Alexander McDonnell, had a near perfect CV from his previous employers (the GS&WR of Ireland). He became the successor to Edward Fletcher in November 1882 but found his designs and methods, although soundly based, met with almost total disdain by the locomotive crews. The principal reason was that Edward Fletcher had been a revered 'father figure' for 28 years in his post. He was anything but authoritarian and his somewhat haphazard design policy with little standardisation, worked rather better than it ought to have! McDonnell's new broom was, to say the least, unwelcome. Here at the old coaling stage at York MPD c. 1890 is McDonnell's first design for the NER. No 180 is a slender, elegant locomotive but did not perform particularly well by comparison to Fletcher's much-loved 901 class of 2-4-0s. The imposed change of right to left driving position sealed McDonnell's fate and he resigned in 1884 less than 24 months after his appointment.

© Steve Armitage Collection