The GER Class C53 was a class of 12 steam tram locomotives designed by James Holden for the Great Eastern Railway. They passed to the London and North Eastern Railway at the grouping and received the LNER classification J70.
The locomotives had outside cylinders driving wheels, all enclosed by skirting. They were the first locomotives on the Great Eastern to use Walschaerts valve gear. From the 1930s to the 1950s, they were used on the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway and the ports of Great Yarmouth and Ipswich. They replaced earlier GER Class G15 that had a similar appearance.
The first withdrawal was in 1942. The remaining 11 locomotives were renumbered 8216âÂÂ8226 in 1944 and passed to British Railways in 1948 on nationalisation, after which the prefix "6" was added to their numbers. Withdrawals restarted in 1949, slowly at first, then more quickly. The last went in 1955.
Note: The data above is according to the website RailUK. Another website, BRDatabase, gives some different dates:
J70 68221 was the inspiration for the character Toby the Tram Engine in The Railway Series by the Rev. W. Awdry, and its television series adaptation, Thomas & Friends.