The GER Class N31 was a class of eighty-two 0-6-0 steam locomotives designed by James Holden for the Great Eastern Railway. Eighteen passed to the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at the 1923 grouping and received the LNER classification J14. History These goods locomotives had cylinders, driving wheels, and a boiler. Eighty-one were built at Stratford Works between 1893 and 1898. Table of orders and numbers Class 127 In addition, when the Class 127 locomotive was rebuilt from compound to simple in 1895, it was then included into Class N31. Performance They were not particularly successful locomotives. Although nicknamed Swifts, they were sluggish locomotives, due to the placement of the valve chests underneath the cylinders. Withdrawals Withdrawals started in 1908, and by the end of 1922, only eighteen were left in service. The LNER allocated numbers 7000 higher than the locomotives' GER numbers, but withdrawals continued, and by 1925 the class was extinct. References External links N31 Class 0-6-0 1891-1898 — Great Eastern Railway Society The Class J14 (GER Class N31) 0-6-0 Locomotives — LNER Encyclopedia N31 0-6-0 locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1893 Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Freight locomotives