English: LNER 2-8-0 on westbound freight in the LMS stronghold, Manchester Victoria.
View eastward, from the Platforms 3/11 joining Exchange with Victoria Stations in Manchester. The main through platforms of Victoria are on the left in the wintry gloom. There was a constant flow of freight traffic across Manchester by this route. This ex-GC Class O4/3 2-8-0 No. 63686 was from Northwich (Cheshire Lines), probably working to Trafford Park Yard. These 521 O4/3 2-8-0's were from Robinson's very successful Great Central Class 8A of 1911 (LNER Class O4), which were ordered in February 1917 by the War Office (Railway Operating Department) for operation behind the Western Front with the British Army: in the event only 52 many were in fact sent over to France and none was lost. Most were built after the War had ended in November 1918. After World War One these 'ROD's' were stored in dumps for many years before eventually being sold to the main line Railways. In World War Two, 92 O4's were requisitioned again and sent to the Middle East, never to return.