One O'Clock Gun (BJR Locomotive)

One O'Clock Gun was a Birkenhead Junction Railway Locomotive from 1914. It was designed for new fast passenger services from Birkenhead General Station, in particular the eponymous 'One O'Clock Gun' service. It was a P.T.Tennant design.

Background
The BJR realised the need to run fast cross-country services to the east of England, to counter those of its rivals the Birkenhead Railway, who ran to Nottingham, and the Central Wirral Railway, who ran trains to Lincoln and, on occasion, Cambridge, by way of its working agreement with the Great Central. Relations with the CWR were cordial, with the B(C)R, less so, and thus the board of directors in 1913 tasked CME P.T.Tennant with building a locomotive capable of travelling to Hull quickly. Tennant came up with what became the 'One O'Clock Gun' locomotive and service.

The Service
The locomotive was designed for the eponymous 'One O'Clock Gun' service, that left Birkenhead as soon as the gun of the same name was fired from Morpeth Dock, and, only stopping at Chester North Junction, ran to Hull Paragon. The locomotive, upon arrival, would be coaled and watered, turned, and then run back to Birkenhead on the 6pm 'Birkenhead Flyer'.

The Locomotive
The locomotive was, in many respects, similar to his earlier Pool Class, although some alterations were made. the first was the shape of the footplate, which was made sleeker and less 'working class', as the Birkenhead Advertiser referred to it upon its inaugural run, the addition of a leading pony truck, larger driving wheels and a generally smarter appearance. It was one of the first 2-8-2 engines to run in the UK, and its design later influenced the Ravenglass and Eskdale's River Esk locomotive. Its livery was a dark navy with red, yellow and black lining. A second locomotive was planned, probably to be named 'Birkenhead Flyer' but this order was postponed due to the First World War and was ultimately never built.