GNR Stirling 4-2-2

The Great Northern Railway Stirling Single, officially the No. 1 class, was a family of steam express locomotives designed by Patrick Stirling for fast passenger work between York and London. Its defining feature was a single pair of driving wheels eight feet one inch across, which earned it the nickname eight-footer. Stirling placed the cylinders outside the frames and put a four-wheeled bogie at the front, a departure from the inside cylinder layout that was normal in Britain at the time. A total of 53 were built at Doncaster Works between 1870 and 1895, usually in pairs, and Stirling altered details almost every time a new pair was built, so the class was never fully standardised. The prototype, number 1, was withdrawn in 1907 and restored for exhibition in 1909, and it is the only member of the class preserved.