Steam Locomotives of a Leisurely Era – 1949 – Bulleid ‘Leader’ – Southern Railway

No.36001 in 1950

Although designed by O.V.Bulleid under the SR regime this remarkable locomotive did not actually appear until after Nationalisation. Nothing so revolutionary in steam locomotive design had been seen since the Midland Paget engine of 1908. It incorporated many novel features, amongst which may be mentioned the sleeve type valves, and the coupling of the six wheels comprising each bogie by means of a chain transmission instead of coupling rods.
The engine may be briefly described as an 0-6-6-0 single boiler articulated unit completely enclosed by an overall casing. There was a cab at either end with duplicated controls, and the fireman had to work amidships alongside the boiler, the longitudinal axis of which is offset to one side of the centre line of the engine. Herein lay one of the principal defects of the design, in that the poor fireman was expected to work under almost impossible conditions such as few would be prepared to tolerate in these days. In this connection it would probably been far more satisfactory if the engine had been constructed as an oil burner. Each bogie had a 3-cylinder engine driving the middle wheels of each 3-axle bogie.

Bulleid Leader Drawing

Bulleid Leader Drawing

Diagram of the Leader locomotive. Drawn 1949 by British Railways, a nationalised (UK government) concern. Date 24 May 2006 (original upload date)  Source Transferred from en.wikipedia; transferred to Commons by User:Oxyman using CommonsHelper.  Author Original uploader was Hellbus at en.wikipedia Permission  (Reusing this file)  PD-BRITISHGOV.
Licensing  This artistic work created by the United Kingdom Government is in the public domain.

It was planned initially to build five of these engines, but only three, Nos.36001-3, were actually constructed and only the first one ever steamed. After a few desultory trials the authorities seemed to lose interest and all three engines were quietly broken up after a very brief existence. The initial faults were many, as would be expected with such an unorthodox machine, but none was such as could not have been rectified with perseverance. Had the matter been pursued the engines might have proved a revolution in railway motive power and even done something to stem the tide of dieselisation which has since taken place.
It may now be regarded as a last, and as it turned out, abortive effort to prolong the use of steam propulsion as a factor of major importance in railway haulage.

Driving wheels – 5’ 1”, Cylinders (6) – 12¼”x 15”, Pressure – 280 lb., Tractive effort – 26350 lb., Weight – 100 tons (approx).

Uploaded from http://www.semgonline.com/steam/leader_05.html (Southern Email Group) on 19 September 2006.  Official photograph of the Leader locomotive taken at Oxted. Taken on 22 November 1949 by British Railways, a nationalised (UK government) concern.(Source: Robertson, Kevin: The Leader Project (Hinckley: Ian Allan, 2007), 90) Date 19 September 2006 (original upload date) Source Transferred from en.wikipedia; transferred to Commons by User:Oxyman using CommonsHelper. Author Original uploader was Old Moonraker at en.wikipedia Permission (Reusing this file) PD-BRITISHGOV.
Licensing: This artistic work created by the United Kingdom Government is in the public domain.

 

Steam Locomotives of a Leisurely Era 1945 – Bulleid ‘West Country’ Pacifics – Southern Railway

No.21C105, later Barnstaple, when new in 1945

A slightly smaller edition of the ‘Merchant Navy’ class, embodying all the same features. 110 of these came out between 1945 and 1949, Nos.21C101-70, and 34071-34110 and 34091-34108 bore names associated with the West Country; most of the others had war-time commemorative names, chiefly air squadrons which took part in the Battle of Britain, which title is sometimes applies as a class name to these particular locomotives. Rebuilding of this class on the same lines as the ‘Merchant Navy’ commenced in 1957 and by 1959 thirty of them had been so treated.
Driving wheels – 6’ 2”, Cylinders (3) 16⅜”x 24”, Pressure – 250 lb., Tractive effort – 27715 lb., Weight 86 tons (as built), 90 tons (as rebuilt), BR classification – 7P5F.

Steam Locomotives of a Leisurely Era 1941 – Bulleid ‘Merchant Navy’ Pacifics – Southern Railway

35026 as rebuilt

The first engine of the 4-6-2 type to run on Southern Railway metals appeared under conditions of some secrecy owing to war conditions during 1941. It was a 3-cylinder engine incorporating many novel features, including a thermic siphon, only once before used in this country, and a patent valve gear of O.V.Bulleid’s own design in which the primary drive is by means of chains enclosed in an oil bath. The novel design of wheels, reminiscent of Hackworth’s engines of early days may also be noted. It was fully streamlined, or air-smoothed, as it was referred to at the time. A new and somewhat peculiar numbering scheme was also introduced, in which the prefix 21C indicated the wheel arrangement – two pairs of bogie wheels, a trailing axle, with the C designating the three pairs of coupled wheels. The first engine, No.21C1 was named ‘Channel Packet’ and they were known as the ‘Merchant Navy’ class. Nos.21C2-10 all appeared in 1941-2, followed by Nos. 21C11-20 in 1944-5. Ten more came out after Nationalisation in 1948 with rational numbers, 35021-30, when the original batches were altered to 35001-20.

These engines have done a great deal of heavy main line service on the SR, but the valve gear was not entirely satisfactory, and commencing with No.35013 in 1956 this was replaced by the Walschaert type and at the same time the streamlined casing was removed, with considerable improvement to the looks of the locomotives. Their original boxed-in appearance gave rise to their being somewhat irreverently described as ‘spam-cans’.
All of the class were rebuilt by 1959 and seemed likely to see a good many more years’ service.
Driving wheels – 6’ 2”, Cylinders (3) 18”x 24”, Pressure – 250 lb., Tractive effort – 33495 lb., Weight – 94 tons 15 cwt (as built), 97 tons 18 cwt (as rebuilt), BR classification – 8P.

Some Early Lines – The Folkestone Harbour Branch (A bit more!)

A unique line on the Southern Region was the Folkestone Harbour Branch where South Eastern Railway 0-6-0 tank locomotives worked boat trains up the very steep, but short, line to Folkestone Junction. Trains were rostered to have three or sometimes four locomotives, usually two at the front and two at the back, but sometimes triple heading occurred. Here No.31174, built in 1892 and withdrawn in 1959, is leading a train through Folkestone’s gas-lit streets, devoid of motor cars.

South Eastern Railway R1 0-6-0Ts lined up at Folkestone Junction ready for action on a continental boat train. Notice the unusual parallel track layout, left of the locomotives, for a weighbridge. The locomotive shed is on the right-hand side and is now defunct. The locomotives are Nos.31407, 31174 and 31337, all built at Ashford as R class 0-6-0s and rebuilt as R1s under the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. The front and rear locomotives were the last of this famous class to be scrapped at Ashford in 1960. !959 saw the replacement of these engines by GWR pannier-tank locomotives.

The Folkestone Harbour Branch before electrification, with R1 class 0-6-0Ts giving the all-pullman Golden Arrow a shove from the rear en route for Folkestone Junction (now Folkestone East). No.31047 was built at Ashford in 1895, rebuilt to R1 class in 1913, and withdrawn in March 1960, being replaced by pannier-tank locomotives in 1959.

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era – 1930 – ‘Schools’ Class – Southern Railway

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era

1930 – ‘Schools’ Class

Southern Railway

No.936 Cranleigh as running in 1936

Maunsell’s last design of express passenger engines and in many ways his finest achievement. The need had been felt for a locomotive with approximately the same haulage capacity as the ‘King Arthurs’ but with greater route availability, particularly as regards the SECR Hastings line with its restricted loading gauge. The resulting ‘Schools’ class may be in some ways regarded as a 4-4-0 version of the ‘Lord Nelsons’, with two important differences, the use of three cylinders instead of four, and of a round-topped firebox in place of the Belpaire. The new engines quickly showed themselves as coming up to all expectations. In later years they did even more than had been anticipated when they were put to work on the heavy expresses between Waterloo and Bournemouth after being displaced to some extent from the South Eastern section, for which they were originally designed. They also did fine work over the Portsmouth road before electrification. With a tractive effort of only slightly less than the 4-6-0 ‘King Arthurs’, they were the most powerful and one of the most successful 4-4-0 designs ever built in this country.

They were incidentally the last new design of that wheel arrangement in Great Britain, although two others were yet to appear on the GNR of Ireland.
Like the ‘King Arthurs’, they soon had to be fitted with smoke deflectors, and about half of them were fitted with double blast pipes necessitating wide chimneys with sorry results to their appearance.
In all, forty were built, Nos.900-9 in 1930, 910-14 in 1932, 915-24 in 1933 and 925-39 in 1934-5. They were named after public schools. They were all still in service in 1959 as Nos.30900-39.
Driving wheels – 6’ 7”, Cylinders (3) – 16½”x 26”, Pressure – 220 lb., Tractive effort – 25135 lb., Weight – 67 tons 2 cwt., SR classification – V, BR classification – 5P

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era – 1926 – ‘Lord Nelsons’ – Southern Railway

No.860 as first built, before being fitted with smoke deflectors

Soon after the grouping the need arose for an express passenger locomotive capable of working a 500-ton train on the Southern Railway at an average speed of 55 mph. It was not until 1926, however, that Maunsell was able to produce an engine that answered these requirements. When it did appear it was in the form of a 4-cylinder 4-6-0, No. 850 ‘Lord Nelson’. It was thoroughly tried out before any more were put in hand, but eventually fifteen more came out in 1928-9, No. 851-65, all named after famous sea lords. They worked mainly on the Continental expresses between Victoria and Dover and were very capable machines.
A peculiarity lay in the setting of the angles of the cranks by which the engine gave eight exhausts per revolution of the driving wheels instead of four, resulting in a very soft blast and even torque. The arrangement had already been tried out experimentally on one of Drummond’s early 4-6-0s. and was anticipated in the first place in Hookham’s 0-6-0T for the North Stafford Railway. One or two of the engines varied slightly, No. 859 had 4” smaller driving wheels, No. 960 a longer boiler barrel, and No. 857 carried for a time an experimental boiler with a combustion chamber, while No. 865 had the conventional 4-beat crank setting. They were handsome engines as built, but were later fitted with an ugly wide design of chimney to accommodate a double blast pipe, which completely ruined their appearance. All were still in service in 1959 as Nos. 30850-65.

Driving wheels – 6’ 7”, Cylinders (4) – 16½”x 26”, Pressure – 220 lb., Tractive effort – 33510 lb., Weight 83½ tons, SR classification – LN, BR classification – 7P
No. 859 had 6’ 3” wheels with 35300 lb. tractive effort, and No. 860 weighed 84 tons 16 cwt.

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era 1918 – Urie and Maunsell 4-6-0 King Arthur Class, Southern Railway

Steam Locomotives of a More Leisurely Era

1918 – Urie and Maunsell 4-6-0 King Arthur Class

Southern Railway

No.745 ‘Tintagel’ in 1925 after being named but before receiving a Maunsell chimney and smoke deflectors.

R.W.Urie’s express engines were the direct forerunners of Maunsell’s later ‘King Arthurs’, into which class the Urie engines were later incorporated.

Nos. 736-45 came out in 1918-19, followed by 746-55 in 1922 and 1923.  Maunsell’s No. 453 ‘King Arthur’, which appeared in 1925, was Urie’s basic design, but with a greatly improved front end, incorporating long valve travel, the merits of which had long been recognised by Churchward and the GW, but which other engineers did not adopt until many years later, Maunsell being one of the first.  The new ‘King Arthurs’ eventually totalled 54 engines, numbered 448-57 and 763-806.  They were given names associated with the legend of King Arthur and the Round Table, as were the original Urie engines at the same time.

Amongst other modifications these also received Maunsell-type chimneys and smoke deflectors at the sides of the smokebox.  It was with the ‘King Arthurs’ that trouble with exhaust smoke obscuring the driver’s vision began to be experienced to a serious extent, and it was only after extensive experiments with various types of deflectors, some fitted to the chimney itself, that the remedy was found.  Many other large-boilered designs have suffered from the same trouble, and the fitting of side wing deflectors has latterly become more or less common practice.

Under Nationalisation the engines had 30000 added to their numbers.  The early Urie engines were scrapped between 1955 and 1958, and in 1959 a start was made on the later Maunsell machines.

Urie Engines – Driving wheels – 6’ 7”,  Cylinders – 21”x 28” (22”x 28” when built),  Pressure – 180 lb.,  Tractive effort – 23915 lb.,  Weight – 80 tons 7 cwt.,  LSWR and SR classification – N15,  BR classification – 5P

Maunsell Engines – Driving wheels – 6’ 7”,  Cylinders – 20½”x 28” Pressure – 200lb.,  Tractive effort – 25320 lb.,  Weight – 79 tons 18 cwt.,  LSWR and SR classification – N15,  BR classification – 5P

Steam Locomotives of a more Leisurely Era 1872 – ‘Terriers’ 0-6-0T – London, Brighton & South Coast Railway

Steam Locomotives of a more Leisurely Era

1872 – ‘Terriers’ 0-6-0T – London, Brighton & South Coast Railway

British Railways Southern Region 0-6-0 ‘Terrier’ tank No.32670 leaves Tenterden Town station for Robertsbridge on 27^th September, 1952.  This engine, once London, Brighton & South Coast Railway No.70 Poplar, was built in December, 1872; it was later sold to Colonel Stephens, in May, 1901, who put it to work on the Kent & East Sussex Railway, giving it the number 3 and the name Bodiam.  As late as the summer of 1948 it was still resplendent in apple green with the letters ‘K & ESR’ on its side tanks.  J.G.Dewing

The first of these remarkable little engines, No.71 Wapping, came out in October, 1872, followed by No.70 Poplar and 72 Fenchurch in November.  The class eventually totalled fifty, numbered 35 – 84, the last appearing in 1880.  The design was a direct development of the type which William Stroudley had introduced on the Highland Railway during his short term of office on that line.  (See previous post – Stroudley 0-6-0T, Highland Railway).  They were designed originally for suburban work in the London area, but of later years their uses have been many and varied.There are few of Stroudley’s ‘Terriers’ left in service today, (1969) though they still work on the Hayling Island Branch and shunt the quay at Newhaven.  Two have been preserved by British Railways, one at Brighton Works and another at the Clapham Museum of the BTC.  There is also another working on the Bluebell Line.  During their lives, engines of this class have gone far afield – even the mighty Great Western had two of them from the late Weston, Clevedon & Portishead Railway.  They were favourites of Colonel Stephens.  Their great assets were their high axle loading and their short wheelbase, which made them ideal engines for cheaply laid branches and light railways.  No. 32661 leaves Havant for Hayling Island with the 12.35 pm train on 4^th March, 1950.  P.M.Alexander.

From 1901 onwards a number of them were disposed of, some were scrapped, but very many of them were sold out of service, details of which are to numerous to go into fully.  It may be mentioned however that two of them went to the LSWR, one to the SECR, several to various light railways, others to collieries, whilst a few went on Government service during the first world war, and were subsequently disposed of to sundry undertakings.  Of those that remained on the Brighton, a number were fitted with pull-and-push apparatus for motor train working, and most of the later survivors of the class had been rebuilt with extended smokeboxes.  About a dozen still remained on the LBSCR books at grouping in 1923, but this total was increased under the Southern Railway regime, as several which had been sold previously now came back to the fold under the combined ownership.  These included some which had gone to the Isle of Wight railways.The summer of 1949 saw the end of the Isle of Wight 0-6-0 ‘Terrier’ tanks.  This class had worked the Merstone to Ventnor West branch from its inception in the days of the Isle of Wight Central Railway.  ‘A1X’ class No.W8 Freshwater enters Ventnor West station on the early morning train on 18^th April.  P.M.Alexander

In later Brighton days the remaining engines had and their numbers increase by 600, the Southern Railway in turn put 2000 on to this, whilst those that have survived Nationalisation have again received an addition of 30000.

Those in the Isle of Wight were numbered in a special series as W9, etc., but on return to the mainland were either scrapped or given their original numbers plus the 326xx addition.  A particularly interesting example of this perpetuation of identity occurs with No.70, which when sold to the Kent & East Sussex Railway in 1930 became their No.3 This line remained independent until 1948, when the engines became BR stock, and it duly received its rightful number 32670, having skipped the intervening 670 and 2670 phase during the many years it had been in independent hands.  This engine, together with No. 32636 (old 72 – in this case the original number was not perpetuated) are in 1959 the oldest engines in service on British Railways.Travellers over the one-time Stratford-on-Avon & Midland Junction Railway, had they alighted at Burton-Dassett station under Edge Hill, would have found the remains of the moribund Edge Hill Light Railway, an unsuccessful Ironstone speculation where two Brighton ‘Terriers’ slumbered on grass-grown tracks.  Both engines somehow survived the wartime scrap drives but were cut up on the site by 1946.  J.H.L.Adams

Driving wheels – 4’ 0”,  Cylinders – 12”x 20”,  Pressure – 150lb.,  Tractive effort – 7650lb.,  Weight – Unrebuilt – 27½ tons, Rebuilt – 28¼ tons,  LBSCR & SR Classification – Unrebuilt – A1, Rebuilt – A1x,  BR Classification – OP

Tractive effort  – Engine 32636 had cylinders 14.3/16”x 20” with 10695lb  tractive effort.

No.70 as running in 1933 on the Kent & East Sussex Railway.  It subsequently became BR No. 32670 and was rebuilt to Class ‘A1x’ with extended smokebox.  H.C.Casserley.

Steam Locomotives of a Leisurely Era – Adams 4-4-2T LSWR

Steam Locomotives of a Leisurely Era

1882 – London & South Western Railway

 Adams 4-4-2Ts

30582 – P.B.Whitehouse

Seventy one of these engines were constructed by W.Adams between 1882 and 1885 for suburban work in the London area.  They were built by Beyer Peacock & Co., Robert Stephenson & Co., Dubs & Co., and Neilson & Co.

The 1884 and 1885 series were slightly larger than the original thirty engines, their water capacity being increased from 1,000 gallons to 1,200 gallons.  The original series was completely devoid of side water tanks, the water being carried partly in a well tank and partly in the bunker below the coal.  Even in the later engines only very small side tanks were provided over the rear driving wheels.  Nearly all were gradually relegated to the duplicate list as 0415, etc., although a few of the last built, such as No.523, were scrapped before being duplicated.  Large numbers were taken out of service in 1916 when electrification of the LSWR suburban service began, but owing to war conditions they were not broken up and remained in Eastleigh yard in varying stages of decay for several years.  No.0424 went to the Government in 1916 for war service and No.0488 was also sold out of service, being later acquired by the East Kent Railway in 1919 as their No.5.30584 Ivo Peters

By 1928 only two remained in possession of the Southern railway, namely Nos. 0125 and 0520.  These were specially retained for working the Lyme Regis branch, which abounds in sharp curves, and for which, even till 1959, no other engines had been found as suitable as these old-timers, with their flexible wheelbases, although other types had been tried.  I course of time it was found that two engines were hardly adequate for maintaining the service, as if one was away in shops it left only one to carry on, with no spare in case of breakdown.  Fortunately the East Kent engine was still in existence and the Southern were able to buy it back in 1946, when it was restored to the fold under its original number increased by 3000, as 3488 (0125 and 0520 having in the meantime become 3125 and 1520).

One or two of the class were fitted with Drummond boilers in later LSWR days, and there are at present four boilers – two Drummond and two Adams – in use (1959), which are changed from time to time among the three surviving engines.

On Nationalisation in 1948 the three engines became BR 30582-4 and late in 1959 still continued to work the Lyme Regis branch turn about a week at a time, the other two being kept in Exmouth Junction shed.  Probably their days are numbered, as no doubt eventually diesel railcars will take on the working of the branch.No.0422, one of the earlier engines, as running in 1922, the only alteration being the provision of a Drummond chimney in place of the Adams stove-pipe. H.C.Casserley

Dimensions:  Driving wheels – 5’ 7”,  Bogie wheels – 3’ 0”,  Trailing wheels – 3’ 0” (3’ 6” on the later 1884-5 engines),  Cylinders – 17½”x 24”,  Pressure – 160 lbs.,  Tractive effort – 14920 lbs.,  LSWR and SR classification – K,  BR classification – 1P 30583 John Bradbeer semgonline.com