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With the continual growth in traffic around the beginning of
the 20th century, particularly in the London suburban area, the newly
amalgamated South Eastern and London, Chatham & Dover Railways had an
urgent need for medium sized passenger tank locomotives. Although the drawing
office at Ashford prepared drawings for both large sized and medium sized tank
locomotives, Wainwright decided to build only the smaller machines. Between
November 1904 and the end of 1915, 66 of these locomotives were constructed at
Ashford Works, being designated Class 'H'. Somewhat uniquely, only 64
of the class were initially constructed out of 66 authorised, but on taking
over as CME Maunsell discovered that the works had not erected the missing two,
presumably keeping the components as spares. Maunsell ordered construction of
the remaining two immediately in 1915, a gap of 6 years since the original 64
had been completed.
Some of the components of the locomotives as designed were common with the 'C' class goods locomotives. Whereas the SE&CR was primarily a line with vacuum braked stock, 16 of the class were fitted with Westinghouse brakes. All had the very unique pagoda-style cab roofs, and of course, the initial 64 appeared in Wainwright's elaborate, but very attractive, lined dark green livery. In due course they all appeared in Maunsell's initial plain dark green livery, to be followed by the wartime dull grey livery up until 1923. As the class was completed, at least the initial 64, they appeared at most former South Eastern depots and some of the former Chatham depots. Upon formation of the Southern Railway, the locomotives of the class received the standard Southern passenger locomotive livery of a shade of olive green with lining, and had 1000 added to their numbers. With the spread of suburban electrification during the 1920s and 1930s, many of the usual duties for 'H' class tanks disappeared, but many were assigned to more rural routes on the South Eastern section of the SR and also drafted on to the former Brighton section. During WWII two of the class were drafted to the South Western section and even the LMS borrowed three for use in Scotland. Two of the class were withdrawn during WWII as a result of badly cracked frames, when it was more useful to use the components as spares for the rest of the class, rather than repair them. However the remaining 64 of the class were taken into British Railway stock, once again renumbered with 30000 added to their numbers. All but four of them received the BR standard lined black livery, used for light passenger locomotives. With the electrification of Kent Coast lines in the 1959 and 1962, together with the loss of most of the branch lines both on the South Eastern and Central sections of BR(S) in the 1950s and 1960s, the need for these tank locomotives disappeared, especially as the area was well served by now with numbers of LMS designed and BR standard tank locomotives. A few withdrawals had taken place in 1951 and 1953 but mass withdrawals started in 1959 and within a few years all had gone. But not quite. N°31263, formerly N°263, built in 1905, had been working the Three Bridges to East Grinstead line right up to its closure in January 1964. A group of preservationists formed the H Class Trust and purchased the locomotive from British Railways. The locomotive was located at Robertsbridge, initially, then moved to the SE Steam Centre at Ashford. But in 1975 it was relocated to the Bluebell Railway - click here for a picture - where it has continued in use over the years, although at the time of writing it is out of use awaiting overhaul. |
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Introduced: Driving Wheel: Trailing Wheel: Length: Total Weight: Water Capacity: Cylinders (2): Boiler Pressure: Tractive Effort: Coal Capacity: BR Power Classification: |
1904 5 ft 6 ins 3 ft 7 ins 33 ft 54 tons 8 cwt 1,150 to 1,350 gals * 18 in x 26 in 160 lb sq in 17,360 lb 1 ton 10 cwt to 2 ton 10 cwt * 1-P |
* Capacities when built:- |
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1,350 gals, 1 ton 10 cwt :- 16, 158, 161, 162, 164, 177, 182, 184, 193, 239, 279, 295, 319, 322, 512, 517-523, 543, 548, 554 |
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1,150 gals, 2 ton 10 cwt :- 540-542, 544, 546, 550-553 |
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1,200 gals, 2 ton 5 cwt :- 5, 259, 261, 263-6, 269, 274, 276, 278, 305-310, 311-312, 320-321, 324, 326-327, 328-329, 500, 503, 530-533 |
The SECR was, if anything, the worst of the Southern Companies when it came to numbering locomotive classes out of consecutive order and the H Class was no exception! The following table is set out in order of build: | ||||
SECR N° | SR N° # | BR N° | Built | Withdrawn |
540 | 1540 | 31540 | Nov 1904 | Apr 1960 |
541 | 1541 | 31541 | Nov 1904 | Apr 1951 |
542 | 1542 | 31542 | Nov 1904 | Nov 1962 |
544 | 1544 | 31544 | Nov 1904 | Sep 1963 |
546 | 1546 | 31546 | Nov 1904 | Jan 1951 |
550 | 1550 | 31550 | Nov 1904 | Feb 1961 |
548 | 1548 | 31548 | Dec 1904 | Aug 1959 |
551 | 1551 | 31551 | Dec 1904 | Jan 1964 |
552 | 1552 | 31552 | Dec 1904 | Nov 1961 |
553 | 1553 | 31553 | Feb 1905 | Jun 1961 |
263 | 1263 | 31263 | May 1905 | Jan 1964 * |
264 | 1264 | - | May 1905 | Jul 1944 |
265 | 1265 | 31265 | May 1905 | Aug 1960 |
266 | 1266 | 31266 | May 1905 | Oct 1960 |
274 | 1274 | 31274 | Jun 1905 | Nov 1957 |
276 | 1276 | 31276 | Jun 1905 | Feb 1961 |
278 | 1278 | 31278 | Jul 1905 | Feb 1961 |
530 | 1530 | 31530 | Jul 1905 | Mar 1962 |
531 | 1531 | 31531 | Jul 1905 | Mar 1955 |
532 | 1532 | 31532 | Jul 1905 | Mar 1951 |
533 | 1533 | 31533 | Jul 1905 | Sep 1962 |
259 | 1259 | 31259 | Nov 1905 | Nov 1959 |
261 | 1261 | 31261 | Nov 1905 | Oct 1961 |
269 | 1269 | 31269 | Nov 1905 | Dec 1959 |
500 | 1500 | 31500 | Nov 1905 | Jun 1961 |
503 | 1503 | 31503 | Dec 1905 | Aug 1959 |
305 | 1305 | 31305 | May 1906 | Nov 1962 |
306 | 1306 | 31306 | May 1906 | Dec 1961 |
308 | 1308 | 31308 | Jun 1906 | Dec 1962 |
309 | 1309 | 31309 | Jun 1906 | May 1955 |
310 | 1310 | 31310 | Jun 1906 | Jun 1960 |
312 | 1312 | - | Jun 1906 | Aug 1944 |
307 | 1307 | 31307 | Dec 1906 | Aug 1961 |
321 | 1321 | 31321 | Dec 1906 | Nov 1957 |
326 | 1326 | 31326 | Dec 1906 | Oct 1961 |
328 | 1328 | 31328 | Dec 1906 | Feb 1961 |
329 | 1329 | 31329 | Dec 1906 | Nov 1959 |
5 | 1005 | 31005 | May 1907 | Sep 1963 |
311 | 1311 | 31311 | May 1907 | Nov 1954 |
320 | 1320 | 31320 | May 1907 | Dec 1955 |
324 | 1324 | 31324 | May 1907 | Jul 1962 |
327 | 1327 | 31327 | Jun 1907 | Nov 1959 |
518 | 1518 | 31518 | Jul 1908 | Jan 1964 |
519 | 1519 | 31519 | Jul 1908 | Feb 1961 |
520 | 1520 | 31520 | Aug 1908 | Sep 1960 |
522 | 1522 | 31522 | Aug 1908 | Jan 1963 |
523 | 1523 | 31523 | Sep 1908 | Jan 1959 |
164 | 1164 | 31164 | Feb 1909 | Oct 1959 |
162 | 1162 | 31162 | Mar 1909 | Jul 1961 |
177 | 1177 | 31177 | Mar 1909 | Oct 1961 |
161 | 1161 | 31161 | Jun 1909 | Nov 1961 |
182 | 1182 | 31182 | Jun 1909 | Jul 1951 |
322 | 1322 | 31322 | Jun 1909 | Apr 1961 |
239 | 1239 | 31239 | Nov 1909 | Jan 1960 |
279 | 1279 | 31279 | Nov 1909 | Sep 1959 |
158 | 1158 | 31158 | Dec 1909 | Apr 1955 |
193 | 1193 | 31193 | Dec 1909 | Mar 1961 |
295 | 1295 | 31295 | Dec 1909 | May 1959 |
319 | 1319 | 31319 | Dec 1909 | Jan 1960 |
512 | 1512 | 31512 | Jan 1910 | Sep 1961 |
517 | 1517 | 31517 | Jan 1910 | May 1961 |
543 | 1543 | 31543 | Jan 1910 | Jul 1963 |
554 | 1554 | 31554 | Dec 1910 | May 1959 |
184 | 1184 | 31184 | Apr 1915 | Mar 1958 |
16 | 1016 | 31016 | Jul 1915 | Jul 1951 |
# Between 1923 and 1928 SR numbers
were the SECR numbers with the added prefix 'A' although the new number may not have been applied until some time later |
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* Preserved on the Bluebell Railway |
This page was last updated 24 April 2011