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Drummond F13, E14, G14 & P14 class 4-6-0s

photograph: Neil Parkhouse collection

N°335 at Exmouth Junction. It is running with the 4,500 gallon tender built for 'T7' Class 4-2-2-0 N° 702 in 1897. This dates this photograph to between 1908 and 1912. Note the forward extension of the splasher over the piston valve of the outside cylinder and also the exhaust pipe below the outside cylinder.

Generally Drummond's 4-4-0s had a 10 foot coupled wheelbase which gave room for a long deep firebox with a sloping grate and large ashpan which allowed the fire to get plenty of air.

With the 4-6-0 wheel arrangement such a large space for the firebox would have resulted in an unacceptably long wheelbase. The firebox was therefore positioned directly over the centre and trailing axles giving an almost flat grate and the ashpan was very constricted.

Trial runs in September 1905 were not very encouraging and as a result the cylinders' diameter was reduced to 15 inches. The F13s were introduced to the Salisbury to Exeter route during the summer of 1906 but proved to be total failures as far as passenger work was concerned. However, the LSWR had two services on which the F13s could be used: these were the overnight "Market Goods" trains from the West Country to London and the Salisbury - Southampton coal trains carrying South Wales coal delivered by the Great Western to Salisbury. In both cases speeds of no more than 30 miles per hour with long intermediate stops were within the F13s' capabilities.

After Drummond's sad demise, his successor, Robert Urie, set about upgrading many of his locomotives. This process consisted of removing Drummond's cross water tubes from the firebox which were indicated by an inspection cover on either side of the firebox and installing superheaters. N°333 was treated in this way in 1920 and became easily distinguishable by the extended smokebox with securing dogs around the lower half of the smokebox door, stove pipe chimney and boiler feed clacks on the side of the first ring of the boiler. The performance didn't improve significantly.

Following the unsuccessful F13 a further class was introduced in 1907 - the E14 which in the event turned out to have only one member - N°335. The E14s's cylinders were increased in size again to 16½ inches and the outside cylinders were given piston valves driven by conventional Walschaerts valve gear. A number of styling changes were made including the introduction of two hinged glass inspection portholes to give access to the valve gear. The result was even worse than the F13s and N°335 gained the nickname of "The Turkey" due to its ability to gobble large quantities of coal. After attempts on passenger work it joined 330 - 334 on mainline goods workings.

In 1914 Urie had successfully introduced his H15 class. In late 1914 N°335 was dismantled and the boiler, bogie wheels and sundry other parts were used to construct the 11th H15. In 1924 the Southern Railway rebuilt the five F13s in the same fashion. This, at least, enabled the problem resulting from the restricted ash-pan to be resolved and, although the awkward grate still remained, the performance was in a different league.

Urie had established a precedent with the rebuilding of the E14 to be included in his H15 class and this was perpetuated by Maunsell by rebuilding locomotives 330 to 334 using the original boiler but now fitted with a Maunsell superheater.

In 1908, a further five 4-6-0s were built at Nine Elms. These were classified G14. The major changes from N°335 were a smaller boiler - now 4 ft 10¾ins in diameter, and cylinders reduced to 15 inches. The grate area remained the same and it would seem that some of the problems with the earlier locomotives was the relative proportions of the boiler and the awkward shaped firebox. The G14s proved to be significant improvement on their predecessors and Nos 453 - 457 were used on the Salisbury to Exeter expresses to reasonable effect. They were seemingly fitted with 4,000 gallon tenders from new but this capacity was later raised to 4.500 gallons by the addition of an additional water tank on top of the tender. Still, however, it seems that the Drummond 4-4-0s were preferred if they were available. They were all withdrawn in 1925 and at the time were purported to have been rebuilt as Maunsell's King Arthur N15 class. However, it seems clear that they were in fact scrapped and only the tenders were used for the new King Arthurs.

In 1911 the P14 class was introduced - Nos 448 - 452. The P14s now had piston valves on all four cylinders. The P14 was fitted with smokebox superheaters were distinguishable from the G14 by the slightly longer wheelbase and the slightly longer smokebox to accomodate Drummond's smokebox superheater. They were a further improvement on the G14s and were used alongside the G14s on the Waterloo to Salisbury runs.

N°449 - subsequently placed on the obsolete list and re-numbered E0449 - was rebuilt with a conventional Eastleigh superheater in 1923. In 1924 N°E0449 was used as a test bed for the crank setting for the Lord Nelson class being proposed at the time. The proposal had been that the cranks of the Lord Nelsons should be set at 135 degrees to give better torque and a more even blast. A set of wheels with the axle cranks set up accordingly was prepared and fitted to N° E0449 with no further alteration.

The results were very encouraging and the arrangement confirmed for the Lord Nelson design. According to C.S.Cocks in his "History of Southern Railway Locomotives to 1938" - "The improvement made by the alteration to Engine N°449, particularly with regard to the saving in coal, was so marked that it was decided to incorporate the arrangement in the new "Lord Nelson" class. The arrangement provides a more uniform torque and more regular effect on the firebox draught than is customary and enables the engine to be worked more heavily without fear of 'breaking up' the fire. In fact the driver scarcely knew his engine after the alteration; he was able to lift heavy trains out of Salisbury yard in a way not possible before. The boiler had a shallow firebox, and only a comparatively light fire could be carried, and therefore it would not stand up to heavy exhaust beats. With eight beats per revolution it was possible to work the engine much harder, especially as the more even turning moment improved the adhesion."

The improvement was confirmed when Lord Nelson N°865 Sir John Hawkins was rebuilt with conventional crank settings in 1933 and it was found that coal consumption increased by 5 - 7%. Once the experiment was over N°E0449 was scrapped.

A bit more research clearly went into the next design since indicator shelters were installed on N°448. Although no results have been published it seems that due cognisance was taken from them for Drummond's final effort the T14 Class.

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  • E14 335
    Construction
    Clearly pride was taken in the construction of this locomotive as a series of photographs were taken during the construction of the solitary E14 N°335. This is an extract.
    Photograph: John Alsop collection.
  • F13 334
    Salisbury
    F13 Class 4-6-0 N°334 Leaving Salisbury on the 11.15 am freight to Southampton on 18th April 1914. This train conveyed coal brought to Salisbury by the GWR. In the summer of 1909, it left Salisbury at 11.25 am and arrived at Eastleigh at 12.40 pm. an average speed of 19mph. After an hour's wait it trundled on to Bevois Park Yard, Southampton.
    Photograph: Ken Nunn, LCGB collection.
  • G14 456
    Eastleigh
    G14 Class N°456 outside Eastleigh works apparently having just received a modified tender with a top tank increasing its capacity to 4,500 gallons.
    Photograph: John Alsop collection.
  • P14 452
    Waterloo
    P14 Class N°452 in the old Waterloo station on a West of England express in the summer of 1911. Waterloo station was in the process of being rebuilt at this time.
    Photograph: John Alsop collection.
  • E14 335
    As H15 Class
    N°335 ex-works following its rebuild as a Class H15. The raised running plate is clearly seen in contrast to the later Southern Railway conversions.
    Photograph: John Alsop collection.
  • F13 334
    As H15 Class

     
    An F13 in its final condition. N°334 seen here having been rebuilt by Maunsell in 1924 as a two cylinder engine and added to the H15 Class. Note the flat running plate in contrast to the Urie locomotives whose running plate was lifted over the cylinders.
    Photograph by F E Mackay.

Technical Details

 

F13

E14

G14

P14

Numbers 330 - 334 335 453 - 457 448 - 452
Date Introduced 1905 1907 1908 1910
Driving Wheel 6ft 0ins 6ft 0ins 6ft 0ins 6ft 0ins
Cylinders (4) 16 x 24ins 16½ x 24ins 15 x 24ins 15 x 24ins
Boiler Pressure 175psi 175psi 175psi 175psi
Heating Surface - Sq ft
 - Tubes 2210 2210 1580 1580
 - Firebox 160 160 140 140
 - Water Tubes 357 357 200 200
 - Smokebox Superheater 114 *
Total 2727 2727 1920 2034
Grate Area Sq Ft 31½ 31½ 31½ 31½
Weight 76ton 13cwt 77ton 18cwt 70ton 19cwt 74ton 13cwt
Wheelbase 26ft 7ins 26ft 10ins 26ft 10ins 27ft 8ins
* Footnote on "Steam Dryers" and "Smokebox Superheaters"
 
Drummond's so-called "steam drier" was only used on some of the T14s and theD15 4-4-0s but Drummond was clearly thinking along similar lines with the earlier 4-6-0s, as these had multiple steam pipes in the side of the smokebox,leading from the regulator to the cylinders. The General Arrangement is set out in drawings on pages 220-226 of Don Bradley's "Wild Swan Drummond Locomotives" book and show that the E14, G14 and P14 had successively larger numbers of tubes at the side of the smokebox, which would have passed some heat from the smokebox gases to the steam. On the T14, these multiple tubes were replaced by a box in the smokebox, with fire tubes passing through it. It seems it was only this latter device which was referred to as a "steam drier".

Data

Class Built Rebuilt as H15
330 F13 1905 Oct 1924
331 F13 1905 Nov1924
332 F13 1905 Nov 1924
333 F13 1905 Dec 1924
334 F13 1905 Jan 1925
335 E14 1907 Nov 1924
448 G14/P14 1908 -
449 G14/P14 1908 -
450 G14/P14 1908 -
451 G14/P14 1908 -
452 G14/P14 1908 -
453 G14/P14 1911 -
454 G14/P14 1911 -
455 G14/P14 1911 -
456 G14/P14 1911 -
457 G14/P14 1911 -

Thanks to Peter Smith, John Alsop and Neil Parkhouse for permission to use the above material. A more detailed description of Drummond's 4-6-0s can be found in "Railway Archive" N°6 published by Lightmoor Press

This page was last updated 16 August 2014

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