North Eastern Railway Raven 'D' (LNER 'H1') class 4-4-4 Tank No. 2143. Built at Darlington in October 1913, rebuilt as LNER class 'A8' 4-6-2 Tank in December 1933 and withdrawn in June 1960 as BR No. 69850.

Sir Vincent Raven of The North Eastern Railway chose the relatively unusual 4-4-4 wheel arrangement for his 45 'D' (LNER 'H1') class 3-cyl. light express passenger tanks. The LNER used the 'H1s' alongside the similar ex-GCR Robinson 'A5' class 4-6-2 Tanks. Comparisons, particularly regarding adhesion led to the rebuilding of all the 'H1s' to the 'A8' class 4-6-2 Tanks by Gresley from 1931 to 1936. In this guise they lasted until the early 1960s.

© Steve Armitage Collection