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SECR L Class
photograph: Mike Morant collection
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| REL Maunsell's appointment to the position of Chief
Mechanical Engineer to the SECR co-incided with the need for a powerful express
passenger engine brought about by the strengthening of the company's main
line. Preparation of the plans had started under Wainwright, but on his arrival
Maunsell was able to make a number of changes to them including the fitting of
a "Maunsell" chimney and a larger cab roof, extending to the rear of
the footplate and supported on round pillars. The first twelve engines of the
class were built by Beyer, Peacock and Co. of Manchester but as the SECR
required 22 for the summer of 1914, and Beyer, Peacock were unable to fulfill
the order within the timescale, ten were built in Germany by A Borsig of
Berlin. Fortunately these ten engines were delivered in June and July 1914,
otherwise they might not have arrived at all! These were in main line service
by August of that year, with the Beyer, Peacock twelve in service a couple of
months later.
All the locos were fitted with Belpaire fireboxes with the British-built ones having Robinson superheaters and the German-built ones Schmidt superheaters. These ten were the first and last German express locomotives built for a British railway, although there were lesser locos and, subsequently, railcars. Shipped to Dover in separate pieces, the frames and boilers were erected at Ashford by Borsig's own workers. In 1919 N°772 was experimentally fitted with oil-firing, but the experiment didn't last long and wasn't extended to any others of the class. Although the engines were never given official names, N°A763 was, during the 1926 strike, given the name Betty Baldwin, which was painted on the leading splashers by a volunteer driver. The name remained until the loco went into the workshops some twelve months later, making it one of only two SECR engines to carry a name, the other being the initial 'River Class' 2-6-4T, River Avon. |
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Technical Details
| Introduced: Driving Wheel: Bogie Wheel: Length: Total Weight: Water Capacity: Coal Capacity: Cylinders (2): Boiler Pressure: Tractive Effort: BR Power Classification: |
July 1914 6 ft 8 ins 3 ft 7 ins 56 ft 75/8 ins T98 tons 6 cwt 3,500 gals 5 tons 0 cwt 19½ in x 26 in 180 lb sq in 18,910 lb 3-P |
Data
| SECR N° | SR N° # | BR N° | Built | Builder | Withdrawn |
| 760 761 762 763 764 765 766 767 768 769 770 771 772* 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 780 781 |
1760 1761 1762 1763* 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 |
31760 31761 31762 31763 31764 31765 31766 31767 31768 31769 31770 31771 31772 31773 31774 31775 31776 31777 31778 31779 31780 31781 |
Aug 1914 Aug 1914 Aug 1914 Aug 1914 Aug 1914 Aug 1914 Sep 1914 Sep 1914 Sep 1914 Sep 1914 Sep 1914 Oct 1914 Jun 1914 Jun 1914 Jun 1914 Jun 1914 Jun 1914 Jun 1914 Jun 1914 Jul 1914 Jul 1914 Jul 1914 |
Beyer, Peacock Beyer, Peacock Beyer, Peacock Beyer, Peacock Beyer, Peacock Beyer, Peacock Beyer, Peacock Beyer, Peacock Beyer, Peacock Beyer, Peacock Beyer, Peacock Beyer, Peacock A Borsig A Borsig A Borsig A Borsig A Borsig A Borsig A Borsig A Borsig A Borsig A Borsig |
Jun 1961 Dec 1956 Feb 1960 Apr 1960 Feb 1961 Feb 1961 Feb 1961 Dec 1961 Oct 1958 Apr 1956 Nov 1959 Dec 1961 Feb 1959 Aug 1959 Dec 1958 Aug 1959 Feb 1961 Sep 1959 Aug 1959 Jul 1959 Jul 1961 Jun 1959 |
| # Between 1923 and 1928 SR numbers were the SECR
numbers with the added prefix 'A' * Unofficially named "Betty Baldwin" 1926-7. * Briefly converted to oil firing 1919. |
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This page was last updated 7 July 2020
