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SER Stirling Q Cass & SECR Wainwright Q1 Class

photograph: L G Marshall collection.

N°173, built in 1888, was one of thirty Qs built between 1887 and 1894 with 3ft 9ins diameter bogie wheels.
James Stirling took office as Locomotive Superintendent of the South Eastern Railway in 1878. Unlike the general trend of the period he was a believer in standardisation and in fact during the 21 years of office he only produced six different designs. Notwithstanding its designer's standardisation policy, the Q Class 0-4-4T, which was proposed in 1880 for suburban passenger work, seems to have had a significant number of variations as the design developed. Twelve of the new engines were built in 1881-2 at Ashford with condensers and short chimneys for use on the East London line. A further ten were purchased from Neilson Reid without condensers and with standard chimneys. In the tradition of the Stirling brothers, all of course had domeless boilers. By 1897 a total of 118 Qs had been built, 48 at Ashford, 60 by Neilson Reid and the remaining ten by Sharp Stewart. The design was developed over the years although improvements were not necessarily made retrospectively.

With formation of the South Eastern & Chatham Railway in 1899 Harry S Wainwright took over as Locomotive Superintendent and between 1901 and 1904 18 of the Qs received Wainwright's new improved domeless boilers with deeper fireboxes and sloping grates. However it seems that they proved to be indifferent steamers.

By 1903 Wainwright's new boilers for his H class were in production and a start was made on reboilering some of the Qs with the new design of boiler to become the Q1 class. Eventually 55 locomotives were converted to Q1 whilst the first 24 Qs to have been built were scrapped in 1913.

However, neither class was as effective as Wainwright's H class nor indeed the reboilered ex-LC&DR R1 0-4-4Ts and as electrification resulted in a surplus of suburban tank engines the Qs and Q1s days were numbered. By March 1929 all the Qs had been condemned and the last Q1s struggled on until 1930. The last Q was No A368 and the last Q1s were Nos A364 and A367. A423 was used as a stationary boiler until March 1933.
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  • 359
    LWB Bogies
    N°359 built in 1891 as part of a batch by Neilson, Reid & Co with long wheelbase bogies.
    Photograph: L G Marshall collection.
  • 356
    Slade Green
    N°356 is seen here at Slades Green in 1902 with one of Wainwright's new domeless boilers replacing the original Stirling one. The higher pitched boiler seems to have given them a more powerful look.
    Photograph: H L Hopswood/LCGB Ken Nunn collection.
  • 415
    Slade Green
    Q1 N°415 in SECR slate grey livery at Slade Green in 1922.
    Photograph: A.W.Croughton collection.
  • A12
    Nr Shortlands
    Now with its Southern Railway number N°A12 between Shortlands and Beckenham Junction shortly before the commencement of electric services in July 1925.
    Photograph: B Whicher collection.
  • Withdrawn line
    Purley
    A line of Q1s await their fate at Purley shed in 1926.
    Photograph: A W Croughton collection.

Technical Details

Q

 
Introduced:
Driving Wheel:
Bogie Wheel:
Water Capacity:
Cylinders (2):
Boiler Pressure:
Overall Lenght:
Tractive Effort:
Coal Capacity:
Weight: 		Condensing
1881
5 f 6 ins
3 ft 0 ins
1,000 gals
18 in x 26 in
22 ft 0 ins
140 lb sq in
15,200 lb
1 ton 5 cwt
46 tons 12 cwt		 Short Bogie
1881
5 f 6 ins
3 ft 0 ins
1,000 gals
18 in x 26 in
22 ft 0 ins
140 lb sq in
15,200 lb
1 ton 5 cwt
46 tons 6 cwt

 

 
Introduced:
Driving Wheel:
Bogie Wheel:
Water Capacity:
Cylinders (2):
Boiler Pressure:
Overall Lenght:
Tractive Effort:
Coal Capacity:
Weight: 		Long Bogie
1887
5 f 6 ins
3 ft 9 ins
1,000 gals
18 in x 26 in
22 ft 0 ins
140 lb sq in
15,200 lb
1 ton 5 cwt
46 tons 8¼ cwt		 Long Bogie
1888
5 f 6 ins
3 ft 9 ins
1,050 gals
18 in x 26 in
22 ft 0 ins
140 lb sq in
15,200 lb
1 ton 10 cwt
46 tons 13 cwt
Introduced:
Driving Wheel:
Bogie Wheel:
Water Capacity:
Cylinders (2):
Boiler Pressure:
Overall Lenght:
Tractive Effort:
Coal Capacity:
Weight: 		1903
5 ft 6 ins
3 ft 9 ins
1,100 gals
18 in x 26 in
22 ft 0 ins
150 lb sq in
16,275 lb
1 ton 10 cwt
49 tons 12 cwt

Data

Q

SER No SR No Built Builder Rebuilt Withdrawn
5 - 1881 Ashford - 1908
158 - 1881 Ashford - 1909
161 - 1881 Ashford - 1909
162 - 1881 Ashford - 1909
164 - 1881 Ashford - 1909
177 - 1881 Ashford - 1909
178 - 1881 Ashford - 1910
181 - 1881 Ashford 1905 1911
303 - 1881 Neilson & Co 1905 1910
304 - 1881 Neilson & Co 1905 1912
305 - 1881 Neilson & Co - 1907
306 - 1881 Neilson & Co - 1907
307 - 1881 Neilson & Co - 1906
308 - 1881 Neilson & Co - 1907
309 - 1881 Neilson & Co - 1907
310 - 1881 Neilson & Co - 1907
311 - 1881 Neilson & Co - 1908
312 - 1881 Neilson & Co - 1907
27 - 1882 Ashford - 1920
180 - 1882 Ashford 1903 1912
182 - 1882 Ashford - 1909
184 - 1882 Ashford 1903 1914
319 - 1882 Neilson & Co 1903 1909
320 - 1882 Neilson & Co - 1908
321 - 1882 Neilson & Co - 1907
322 - 1882 Neilson & Co - 1909
323 - 1882 Neilson & Co - 1910
324 - 1882 Neilson & Co 1906 1909
325 - 1882 Neilson & Co - 1910
326 - 1882 Neilson & Co - 1908
327 - 1882 Neilson & Co - 1907
328 - 1882 Neilson & Co - 1908
329 - 1885 Ashford - 1906
330 - 1885 Ashford - 1912
12 A12 1887 Ashford 1912 1927
40 A400 1887 Ashford - 1926
72 A72 1887 Ashford - 1926
129 - 1887 Ashford - 1914
193 - 1887 Ashford - 1909
200 A200 1887 Ashford 1914 1928
235 A235 1887 Ashford - 1927
237 A237 1887 Ashford - 1926
239 A239 1887 Ashford - 1909
16 - 1888 Ashford - 1914
81 A81 1888 Ashford 1905 1928
83 A83 1888 Ashford 1907 1928
141 A141 1888 Ashford 1912 1926
173 A173 1888 Ashford - 1928
23 A235 1889 Ashford - 1928
26 A26 1889 Ashford - 1927
82 A82 1889 Ashford - 1928
85 A85 1889 Ashford 1914 1927
220 A220 1889 Ashford - 1926
343 A343 1889 Neilson & Co 1914 1926
344 A344 1889 Neilson & Co 1916 1926
345 A345 1889 Neilson & Co - 1926
346 A346 1889 Neilson & Co - 1925
347 A347 1889 Neilson & Co 1914 1927
348 A348 1889 Neilson & Co 1914 1925
349 A349 1889 Neilson & Co - 1929
350 A350 1889 Neilson & Co 1907 1926
351 A351 1889 Neilson & Co 1910 1927
352 A352 1889 Neilson & Co - 1926
58 A58 1891 Ashford 1914 1926
73 A73 1891 Ashford - 1926
115 A115 1891 Ashford 1914 1928
134 A134 1891 Ashford 1905 1926
146 A146 1891 Ashford 1906 1928
224 A224 1891 Ashford 1914 1925
354 A354 1891 Neilson & Co 1915 1925
355 A355 1891 Neilson & Co 1914 1927
356 A356 1891 Neilson & Co - 1927
357 A357 1891 Neilson & Co 1912 1927
358 A358 1891 Neilson & Co - 1926
359 A359 1891 Neilson & Co 1909 1926
360 A360 1891 Neilson & Co - 1926
361 A361 1891 Neilson & Co 1908 1929
362 A362 1891 Neilson & Co 1903 1929
363 A363 1891 Neilson & Co 1914 1926
364 A364 1891 Neilson & Co 1914 1930
365 A365 1891 Neilson & Co 1914 1928
366 A366 1891 Neilson & Co 1906 1926
367 A367 1891 Neilson & Co 1912 1930
368 A368 1891 Neilson & Co - 1929
135 A135 1892 Ashford - 1926
136 A136 1892 Ashford - 1927
138 A138 1892 Ashford 1906 1927
168 A168 1893 Ashford 1914 1926
169 A169 1893 Ashford - 1927
399 A399 1893 Sharp, Stewart & Co - 1927
400 A400 1893 Sharp, Stewart & Co 1915 1915
401 A401 1893 Sharp, Stewart & Co - 1928
402 A402 1893 Sharp, Stewart & Co 1914 1926
403 A403 1893 Sharp, Stewart & Co 1914 1926
404 A404 1893 Sharp, Stewart & Co 1910 1927
405 A405 1893 Sharp, Stewart & Co - 1926
406 A406 1893 Sharp, Stewart & Co 1912 1928
407 A407 1893 Sharp, Stewart & Co 1905 1914
408 A408 1893 Sharp, Stewart & Co 1914 1929
6 A6 1894 Ashford - 1927
50 A50 1894 Ashford 1914 1926
76 A76 1895 Ashford 1914 1927
95 A96 1895 Ashford 1912 1926
410 A410 1897 Neilson & Co - 1927
411 A411 1897 Neilson & Co 1916 1928
412 A412 1897 Neilson & Co 1912 1929
413 A413 1897 Neilson & Co 1912 1926
414 A414 1897 Neilson & Co - 1927
415 A415 1897 Neilson & Co 1919 1926
416 A416 1897 Neilson & Co 1914 1926
417 A417 1897 Neilson & Co - 1926
418 A418 1897 Neilson & Co - 1926
419 A419 1897 Neilson & Co 1915 1926
420 A420 1897 Neilson & Co 1914 1927
421 A421 1897 Neilson & Co - 1927
422 A422 1897 Neilson & Co - 1926
423 A423 1897 Neilson & Co 1915 1926
424 A424 1897 Neilson & Co - 1927

This page was last updated 16 November 2012

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