- SR N15X class
The SR N15X class or "Remembrance" class were a design of British
4-6-0 steam locomotive s converted in 1934 byRichard Maunsell of the Southern Railway from the largeLB&SCR L Class 4-6-4 tank locomotives that had become redundant on the London–Brighton line following electrification. [ Holcroft,"Locomotive Panorama vol 1" ] It was hoped that further service could be obtained from these locomotives on the Southern's Western Section, sharing the duties of the N15 class locomotives.Clarke: "Steam World" (April 2008), p. 49] The locomotives were named after famous Victorian engineers except for "Remembrance", which was the LBSCR's memorial locomotive for staff members who died in theFirst World War .In their new form the locomotives were similar in outline to the N15 class, though suffered from the expectation amongst crews that they were an improved version of this type. Despite this, their ability to accelerate well was put to good use on cross-country trains between main lines.Clarke: "Steam World" (April 2008), p. 49] The class saw service into nationalisation in 1948.Burridge, p. 46] All had been withdrawn by 1957, with none preserved.Haresnape, "N15X Rebuilds"]
Background
With the impending electrification of the Southern Railway's Central Section (the former LB&SCR lines), the question arose as to what to do with the relatively new and powerful LB&SCR designs. [ Holcroft,"Locomotive Panorama vol 1" ] Maunsell looked at the possibility of converting the LBSCR “Remembrance” or
LB&SCR L Class 4-6-4 tanks built byL. B. Billinton between 1914 and 1922. These Baltics had proved to be capable machines on the Brighton line, although their relatively low boiler pressure (convert|170|psi|MPa|2|abbr=on|disp=/), the excessive difference between "first valve" and "second valve" on theregulator , and more particularly their small (convert|8|in|mm|abbr=on|disp=/) piston valves in relation to their large (convert|21|in|mm|0|abbr=on|disp=/) cylinders were a significant limitation, precluding their use on any other part of the Southern system. [Bradley, "L class" ] The decision was taken to rebuild them into more conventional 4-6-0 tender locomotives.Conversion
All seven of the Billinton L Class locomotives entered Eastleigh works in 1934 for rebuilding, each leaving the works the same year.Haresnape, "N15X Rebuilds"] Conversion into the 4-6-0 tender type, entailed removing the trailing
bogie , water tanks, and bunker, shortening the mainframes and fitting new cabsHaresnape, "N15X Rebuilds"] ; these were of the side-window variety already used on the Lord Nelson class. At the same time there was a revision of the locomotives' front end arrangement incorporating a "King Arthur" N15 type of blast pipe and chimney; boiler pressure was increased to convert|180|psi|MPa|2|abbr=on, whilst the piston diameter was marginally decreased from convert|22|in|mm|0|abbr=on to convert|21|in|mm|0|abrr=on. ["Ian Allan ABC", 1954–55]The class received convert|5000|impgal bogie tenders from
Robert Urie 's S15 class and Southern-type smoke deflectors on either side of thesmokebox .Clarke: "Steam World" (April 2008), p. 49] The result was classified N15X, the suffix corresponding to the old LBSCR designation for a rebuilt/modified locomotive.Haresnape, "N15X Rebuilds"] The conversion process created a locomotive that was similar in appearance to the N15 "King Arthur" class as modified by Maunsell in the 1920s.Clarke: "Steam World" (April 2008), p. 49]Naming the locomotives
Two of the locomotives retained their original names: number 2333 "Remembrance" and 2329 "Stephenson," whilst the other members of the L class, were newly new named after famous railway engineers.Burridge, p. 46] The new locomotive names were suggested by Maunsell's assistant, Harry Holcroft, and were distributed as thus:
2327 "Trevithick", 2328 "Hackworth", 2329 "Stephenson", 2330 "Cudworth", 2331 "Beattie", 2332 "Stroudley", 2333 "Remembrance"
2333 "Remembrance" retained its name as it had been the LBSCR's designated memorial to employees lost in the First World War.Scott-Morgan, p. 68] However the original LBSCR nameplates were straight for water tank mounting, necessitating new rounded plates to fit over the central wheel splashers (see colour plate in infobox above).Burridge, p. 46]
Operational details
The rebuilding caused a certain amount of controversy among footplate crews, with some maintaining that one could not make so many changes and have a reliable locomotive at the end of the process.Haresnape, "N15X Rebuilds"] The class suffered on the South Western section from the expectation that they were an improved version of the N15 "King Arthur" class. Once this misconception was overcome, the class came into their own on the
Basingstoke services, where their ability to accelerate well was put to good use.Scott-Morgan, p. 68] Even so, the rebuilds gained a reputation for rough–riding and relatively poor efficiency, a far cry from the original L Class, making them unpopular with crews.Scott-Morgan, p. 68] Because of this, the class tended to be used on secondary duties, cross–country and inter–regional trains around Basingstoke rather than the heavyLondon toExeter expresses for which they were intended.Russell, "N15X"]Several of the class were loaned to the
Great Western Railway during the period 1942 to 1944 to make up for a desperate need for freight power as part of the war effort on that railway.Clarke: "Steam World" (August 2008), p. 49] The class saw use after nationalisation in 1948, though with increasing numbers of Bulleid Pacifics able to take over their duties, the "Remembrance" class began to be withdrawn from service during the mid-1950s, starting with "Hackworth" in 1955, and finally "Beattie" in 1957.Haresnape, "N15X Rebuilds"] The early withdrawal of the class ensured that none were preserved.Haresnape, "N15X Rebuilds"]Livery and numbering
Southern
Under Southern ownership, the "Remembrances" were originally painted in Maunsell's Olive Green livery as seen above, with "Southern" and the locomotive's number on the tender tank. Swift, p. 56] Wartime service under the Southern saw the locomotives painted in black livery with "Sunshine Yellow" lettering. Swift, p. 56] Numbers allocated to the locomotives were 2327 to 2333.Burridge, p. 47] After the war, the locomotives were turned out in Bulleid's Southern Railway Malachite Green livery with "Sunshine Yellow" lettering.
Post-1948 (nationalisation)
After nationalisation in 1948, the locomotives' initial livery was a slightly modified Southern Malachite Green livery, where "British Railways" replaced "Southern" in "Sunshine Yellow" lettering on the tender sides. Swift, p. 56] From 1949, the class was turned out in British Railways
Brunswick Green livery with orange and black lining. The British Railways crest was placed on the tender water tank sides. Numbering was in the 32xxx series, as numbers 32327 to 32333.Banks, p. 64]Footnotes
Bibliography
*Banks, Chris: "BR Locomotives 1955" (Oxford Publishing Company: Oxford, 2001), ISBN 0860935604
*Bradley, D.L., "Locomotives of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Vol 3"
*Clarke, Jeremy: 'The Locomotives of R. E. L. Maunsell' (Steam World: 254, August 2008)
*Holcroft, Harry: "Locomotive Panorama vol 1"
*Haresnape, Brian: "Maunsell Locomotives – a pictorial history" (Ian Allan Ltd, 1977), ISBN 0711007438
*"Ian Allan ABC of British Railways Locomotives", 1954-55 edition
*Scott-Morgan, John: Maunsell Locomotives (Ian Allan Publishing: Hinckley, 2002), ISBN 0711028729
*Russell, J. H.: "A Pictorial Record of Southern Locomotives" (Oxford Publishing Company: Oxford)
*Swift, Peter: "Maunsell 4-6-0 King Arthur Class" (Ian Allan Publishing: Hinckley, 2006) (Locomotives in Detail series volume 4) (Hinckley: Ian Allan Publishing, 2006), ISBN 0711030863External links
* [http://www.semgonline.com/steam/n15xclass_01.html SEMG gallery]
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