LB&SCR E1 class

Infobox Locomotive
name=London Brighton and South Coast Railway Class E1
powertype=Steam
whytetype=0-6-0
firstrundate=September 1874
driversize=4 ft 6 in
length=
weight=44 tons 3 cwt
cylindercount=2
cylindersize=17 in x 24 in
boilerpressure=160 lb/in²
tractiveeffort=17,470 lbs
railroad=London Brighton and South Coast Railway, Southern Railway (Great Britain), Southern Region of British Railways
locale=Great Britain
railroadclass=2F|These 0-6-0 steam locomotives were designed by William Stroudley, in 1874 for short-distance goods and piloting duties on the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR). They were originally classified E, and generally known as "E-tanks"; They were reclassified E1 in the time of D. E. Marsh.

Construction and use

The first six locomotives of this class were built at Brighton railway works and appeared in traffic between September 1874 and March 1875. These performed well and further orders were placed at regular intervals until December 1891 when the class consisted of eighty locomotives and were used throughout the LBSCR system, principally for goods and shunting, but occasionally for secondary passenger duties.

In 1884 Stroudley also built one example of the class (No. 157 Barcelona) with a larger boiler and "Gladstone"-type cylinders with valves underneath to work on the steeply-graded lines between Eastbourne and Tunbridge Wells. This "Special E-tank" was withdrawn in 1922 [Haresnape Brian, "Stroudley Locomotives" Ian Allan, London 1885, Pages 111, 112] .

Rebuilds and withdrawals

Withdrawals commenced in 1908 when one locomotive was broken up for spares, and others were withdrawn at intervals until May 1914. However the increased need for locomotives during the First World War meant that there were no further withdrawals. One locomotive (no.89) was rebuilt with a larger boiler by D. E. Marsh in 1911 and reclassified E1X and renumbered 89A. However this was rebuilt as an E1 in 1930 once the boiler was condemned.

Under Southern Railway (Great Britain) ownership, withdrawals continued during the 1920s, with some examples sold to industrial railways rather than scrapped. Eight examples were also rebuilt as 0-6-2 "radial" tank engines for use in the west of England. These were classified as E1/R. Four E1s were also transferred for duties on the Isle of Wight in 1932 and 1933 and renumbered W1-W4.

Thirty examples survived the transfer of ownership to the Southern Region of British Railways in 1948 but during the 1950s they were gradually replaced by diesel shunters. The last survivor, BR no 32694, was withdrawn in July 1961 and scrapped at Eastleigh later that year.

One example, No. 110 "Cannock Wood" (also known as "Burgundy)" was sold in 1927 to the Cannock and Rugely and worked until 1961. It is now preserved at the East Somerset Railway and is currently in pieces awaiting overhaul.

References

Bradley, D.L.(1972). Locomotives of the LB&SCR. Part 2. Railway Correspondence and Travels Society.

External links

* [http://www.eastsomersetrailway.com/stock.php?num=110 East Somerset Railway page]