LNER Route: Leicester to Marylebone

Rugby Central Station: gcrcs9

Ex-ROD 2-8-0 class O4 No 63805 is seen having crossed over the West Coast main line by the GC bridge circa 1950. Built in May 1918 by the North British Locomotive Company as ROD No 1905 it was later renumbered by the GCR as No 12211, then by the LNER after grouping as No 6221 and then again as LNER No 3868 in 1945 before being numbered by British Railways as No 63805 which it carried until it was withdrawn from Gorton shed in November 1962. The history of the class lies with the requirements of the Railway Operating Division of the Royal Engineers during the First World War. They initially requisitioned about 600 locomotives of various types from thirteen British railway companies; the first arrived in France in late 1916. As the war became prolonged it became clear that the ROD needed its own standard locomotive, so the ROD adopted the Great Central Railway Class 8K 2-8-0 designed by John G Robinson in 1911. Orders were placed for 325 locomotives from February 1917 onwards, followed by an order for 196 more in Autumn 1918 to sustain the UK's locomotive manufacturing industry after the war. The 521 ROD 2-8-0s were built by the following companies: 369 by the North British Locomotive Company, 82 by Robert Stephenson and Company, 32 by Nasmyth, Wilson and Company, 32 by Kitson and Company and six by the Great Central Railway. From the initial order of 325 locomotives, 311 were shipped to France for war service. The locomotives were mainly used to haul military supply and troop trains, plus some services for civilians. After the Armistice of 11th November 1918 many of the class returned to Britain from France during 1919 and 1920. One ROD 2-8-0 duty remaining until the latter year was a through troop train from Cologne to Calais. After the war many ROD 2-8-0s were loaned to railways in Britain with the majority then being sold.

The Great Western Railway bought 20 ROD locos in 1919 and a further 80 in 1925. The locomotives were widely spread over much of the GWR system, being used on heavy freight trains. The first withdrawals were made in 1927, but 45 survived to be taken over by British Railways in 1948 and the last three survivors were not withdrawn until October 1958. The London and North Western Railway bought 30 locos in 1920 following grouping in 1923 all 30 locomotives entered the stock of the new London, Midland and Scottish Railway, which in 1927 bought a further 75 of the class. The ROD's range of operations on the LMS was restricted by its high axle loading. Withdrawals began in 1928 and the last was gone by 1932. Some of the LMS examples were exported to China as China Railway KD4. The largest purchaser of the RODs was the London and North Eastern Railway which bought 273 between late 1923 and early 1927 to supplement its 130 existing GCR Class 8K locos. The combined fleet served widely throughout the LNER system and many were modified over the years to prolong their useful life. In 1941 the War Department requisitioned 92 locomotives for use overseas. Withdrawal of the first ex-LNER RODs was made by British Railways in 1959 and the last was retired from the Doncaster area in April 1966. Some RODs were purchased direct from Britain's War Department in the 1920s and shipped to Australia, where three survive.

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