Locomotives of the LB&SCR

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway B1 Class is a class of 0-4-2 express passenger steam locomotives, known from the name of the first, No. 214, as the "Gladstones".
They were the last express passenger design of William Stroudley, and were a larger and improved version of his Richmond class of 1878. Thirty-six locomotives were turned out from Brighton railway works between 1882 and 1891, and were used for the heaviest London to Brighton express trains. All were named after politicians, men associated with the railway, or places served by the railway. In 1889 No.189 Edward Blount was exhibited at the 1889 Paris Exhibition and received a gold medal.
The locomotives were originally designated "Class B" together with the "Richmond Class" but were later designated B1 class by D.E. Marsh.
During the first decade of the twentieth century the class were gradually replaced by Billinton B4 class locomotives and were transferred to secondary duties. Withdrawal began in April 1910 and by the outbreak of the First World War ten had been scrapped.
The remaining twenty-six locomotives passed to the Southern Railway in 1923, but withdrawals recommenced in 1926 and the last survivor (No. 172) was withdrawn in 1933
The first of the class, 214 Gladstone, was preserved as a static exhibit thanks to the efforts of the Stephenson Locomotive Society and is normally on display in the National Railway Museum, York. Gladstone is the only ex LB&SCR tender locomotive to be preserved

Including numerous photos of now preserved Gladstone
214 Gladstone Battersea shed 21st May 1927
https://tinyurl.com/y3jv3ne7
and in the old York Railway museum
https://tinyurl.com/yxs7nx64
Full collection starts here with
172 (formally Littlehampton + 197 (formally Jonas Levy) unknown location Stroudley LB&SCR B1 Gladstone class 0-4-2
https://tinyurl.com/yx9q547h

Neil

 

I have added a new collection of the Stroudley D2 Lyons class 0-4-2
The LB&SCR D2 class, 0-4-2 suburban passenger locomotives, were designed by William Stroudley of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1876. They were developed from his successful "D-tank" class of 1873.
The 14 locomotives in this class were built at Brighton railway works and appeared in traffic between September 1876 and October 1883, intended for those duties where the limited water supply of a "D-tank" might prove to be a handicap. They were frequently employed on lightly loaded fast continental boat trains between London and Newhaven, and so were named after European cities. Thus they were frequently known as the "Lyons Class", after the first locomotive No.300 Lyons.
The class performed well for a quarter of a century, and achieved good mileages but when they began to require major repairs, it was decided to withdraw the class and use the newer B2 and C2 class locomotives in their place. The first two locomotives were withdrawn in November 1902 and the final two in March 1907.
Full collection starts here
https://tinyurl.com/nuy36elk

Neil

 

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) B2 class was a class of small 4-4-0 steam locomotives intended for express passenger work on the LB&SCR London to Portsmouth line. They were designed by R. J. Billinton and built at Brighton works from 1895 to 1897. They proved to be reliable locomotives but barely adequate for the heaviest trains and acquired the nickname Grasshoppers. As a result the B3 class was developed from the B2, and the B2X class was later rebuilt from these locomotives with larger boilers.
History
When R. J. Billinton took over as chief mechanical engineer of the LB&SCR in 1890, following the sudden death of William Stroudley, the London to Brighton trains were adequately served by Stroudley's Gladstone class but the lighter Portsmouth expresses were beginning to struggle behind his G class singles. Billinton therefore designed a small 4-4-0, specifically for these services. However, during the course of 1892-1893 the London-to-Brighton trains began to increase in weight, and the board of governors of the railway agreed to invest money in larger turntables and so Billinton was able to enlarge his design further to make them more generally useful
Three locomotives appeared in 1895, with a further eight in 1896 and fourteen in 1897. They were named after famous politicians, bankers and railway engineers. The new design was clearly influenced by the locomotives of Samuel Waite Johnson on the Midland Railway, for whom Billinton had previously worked, and were the first LB&SCR locomotives to have leading bogie wheels. It incorporated Billinton's C2 class boiler. They proved to be adequate for the lightly loaded Portsmouth express trains but barely so for heavier trains. They also tended to ride unevenly and consequently acquired the nickname of grasshoppers by their crews.
B3 and B2X classes
As a result of the complaints about the use of the class on the Brighton line, Billinton fitted the last locomotive in the class No. 213 Bessemer, with a larger boiler when new, which thereafter became known as the B3 class. This caused a slight improvement in performance but not one significant enough to alter the entire class at that time. However, once the original boilers were worn out, it became more of an economic proposition to do so. Thus between October 1907 and 1910, Billinton's successor Douglas Earle Marsh rebuilt the entire class (including 213 Bessemer) with the improved boiler used on his C3 class, thereby creating the B2X class.
The rebuilt locomotives were a significant improvement in both looks and performance and were used on the heaviest expresses to Portsmouth and Hastings and semi-fast trains on the Brighton line.
Post-grouping
All 25 locomotives were still in regular use in December 1922, at the grouping of the railways of southern England to form the Southern Railway. The class continued to find useful work on secondary passenger services between London and the south coast until 1929, when the impending electrification of the Brighton line began to make them redundant. They were thus all withdrawn between June 1929 and March 1933, and none have survived in preservation.

Including this photo of
317 with a small indicator shelter fitted
https://tinyurl.com/4q6hz9tu
Collection of over 30 photos starts here with the locos in LBSCR named era
72 Sussex
https://tinyurl.com/119tjaho
with names removed
203 (formally named Henry Fletcher) passing C2X 529 unknown location
https://tinyurl.com/3pteep3d

Neil.

 

After the First World War Lawson Billinton acquired ten spare boilers for the class incorporating his own top feed apparatus. These were clearly visible when fitted because of the presence of a second dome.
Grouping and Nationalisation
All of the C2 and C2X locomotives passed to the Southern Railway in 1923, and nine further examples were rebuilt during 1924-5, as the original boilers became due for replacement. However, the trade recession of the early 1930s caused a decline in freight traffic resulting in the withdrawal of seven of the remaining C2 locomotives by the end of 1937. The advent of the Second World War meant that four other survivors were rebuilt in 1939 and 1940 and that the remaining three unrebuilt C2 locomotives remained in service until after the nationalisation of the railways to British Railways in 1948. Those remaining were all withdrawn between 1948 and 1950.
The C2X locomotives remained in regular use on secondary freight trains for a further decade and most had completed very impressive mileages for freight locomotives before they were all withdrawn between 1957 and February 1962. The last two examples were based at Three Bridges and Brighton and had completed =1,340,578 mi (2,157,451 km) and 1,279,527 mi (2,059,199 km) respectively.
No examples have been preserved.

Over 55 photos in this collection including this one under repair
32437 with rear driving wheels removed at Brighton 3/11/56
https://tinyurl.com/2cqnq222
LB&SCR era
https://tinyurl.com/13k4it12
S.R. era
https://tinyurl.com/5xh2opwy
B.R. era
https://tinyurl.com/pa0robc4

Neil.

 

35/57 32450 Definitely Redhill, A box in the background

Cheers, Neil

 

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway E3 Class were 0-6-2T side tank steam locomotives. One prototype was designed by William Stroudley shortly before his death, but was completed by R. J. Billinton, who later built sixteen further locomotives.
in the summer of 1889 Stroudley designed a class of 0-6-2 radial tanks to replace his earlier E1 class 0-6-0T for short-distance goods and shunting duties. One locomotive was under construction at the time of his death in the December of that year. Intermittent progress on this locomotive was made until August 1891 when Stroudley's successor, R. J. Billinton ordered that further work be delayed whilst he made detailed modifications. This prototype locomotive, No. 158 West Brighton, appeared in traffic on 27 October 1891. The new locomotive was originally classified as F class.

158 West Brighton The first of the E3 class was originally classified as E Class Special and was designed by Stroudley completed by R.J. Billinton as LB&SCR E3 class
https://tinyurl.com/ruavo7et
https://tinyurl.com/h1o2du8m

Once the teething troubles had been rectified, Billinton ordered a further sixteen locomotives to a broadly similar design but with increased boiler pressure. These were originally classified 'E-special' and entered traffic between November 1894 and December 1895. All were rebuilt with new boilers and extended smokeboxes from 1918 and some had increased boiler pressure.
Both classes were later re-classified as 'E3' by D.E. Marsh, but were often referred to as 'Small Radials'.
Full collection starts here with
LB&SCR era
https://tinyurl.com/2m6p59vr
S.R. era
https://tinyurl.com/150g8a8n
B.R. era
https://tinyurl.com/10989s3w

Neil.

 

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway E4 Class is a class of 0-6-2T side tank steam locomotive designed by Robert Billinton. They were introduced in 1897 and were essentially a larger version of the E3 Class
The E4 class of "radial tanks" were powerful for their size and were stalwarts of local passenger, freight, and branch work for more than fifty years. They very similar to the E3 tank engines from 1891, but the key differences were that their driving wheels were enlarged from 4 foot 6 inches to 5 foot and they had their boiler pressure increased to 160 lb. Some of these engines were named after towns and villages in the LB&SCR area, No. 469 Beachy Head was an example of this. Some of their names would later be used for H2 Atlantics a few years later. They were so successful at their jobs that they were more commonly signed to passenger work as opposed to freight work, which is what they were originally intended for. Their work was primarily focused around the Southern Region with some going away from their traditional stomping grounds to places like Waterloo, Eastleigh, and Tonbridge. During World War I, the Railway Operating Division borrowed several members of the class include No. 470, No. 481, No. 498, No. 504, No. 506, No. 518, No. 519, No. 562, No. 563, No. 564, No. 565, No. 577, and No. 580 to work in France. They first worked at an ammunition dump in Audruicq, France in November of 1917 and were later sent to the Arras in February of 1918. All of them were returned to their homeland in 1919.
Seventy-five members of the class were built by Brighton Works between December 1897 and September 1903. All of the class survived the transfer to Southern Railway ownership in 1923. One example No. 2483 Hellingly was however destroyed as a result of enemy action against Eastbourne motive power depot in 1942 during a Luftwaffe air raid event known as the Baedeker Blitz. No. 2483 Hellingly was scrapped in July 1944. The remainder continued in regular use following the nationalization of the Southern Railway, one member No. 2510 was tested on the Isle of Wright's railway in 1947 albeit unsuccessfully, to become a part of British Railways in 1948. However, with the arrival of Diesel Multiple Units and the reduction in the number of branch lines after The Reshaping of British Railways in 1963, the locomotives gradually became surplus to operational requirements, and withdrawals commenced in 1955. Most of the class were withdrawn between 1958 and 1964

Over 150 photos in this collection including this one of

32561 Push 'n' Pull freight at Redhill 20th September 1950
https://tinyurl.com/t7hbw1x1
LB&SCR named & unnamed era
https://tinyurl.com/bv4z3ggj
S.R. era
https://tinyurl.com/5ekxj7ez
B.R. era
https://tinyurl.com/5l7kolnv

Neil.

 

Gaps in the E4 notes -
30/145 32467 East Grinstead Low Level
41 & 46/145 32473 Not Vauxhall, perhaps South Lambeth Goods?
63/145 32486 Newhaven Town Also 75/145
70/145 32488 Guildford
74/145 32493 Clapham Yard
122/145 32557 Waterloo
125/145 32559 Southampton Eastern Docks
126/145 32559 As above
137/145 32577 Brighton

Cheers, Neil

 

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway E5 Class was a class of 0-6-2T side tank steam locomotive designed by R.J. Billinton. They were introduced in 1902 and were a larger version of the E4 Class intended for semi-fast secondary passenger work.
As the weight of passenger trains continued to grow steadily during the 1890s and 1900s R.J. Billinton decided to enlarge his radial tank classes still further by introducing a 5-foot-6-inch (1.676 m) wheeled version incorporating the C2 class boiler. Thirty E5 locomotives were built by Brighton Works between November 1902 and November 1904. In addition to more power and a higher top speed, they also had more fuel capacity than the E4 class.
The E5s were deemed to be fairly successful and locomotives achieved high mileages, but in 1911 four examples were rebuilt by D. E. Marsh with the larger C3 class boiler and were re-classified E5X. This experiment was not however a success and the performance was not greatly improved and higher centre of gravity made for rougher running at speed.
All of the class survived the transfer to Southern Railway ownership in 1923. One E5 was however withdrawn in 1936 and another in 1944 following a collision. The remainder continued in regular use following the nationalisation of the Southern Railway to become a part of British Railways in 1948. However, many of the class were now worn out and the arrival of a large number of new 2-6-4T locomotives in Southern England enabled the withdrawal of the remaining members of the class between 1949 and 1956. No examples have been preserved.
Numbering
British Railways (BR) numbers were 32399-32406, 32567-32576 and 32583-32594
I have added a collection of over 35 photos of this class
Including
32405 Eastbourne 7th October 1950
https://tinyurl.com/jafrvsm8
Full collection starts here with
LBSCR era
574 Copthorne
https://tinyurl.com/ywc6aan8
S.R. era
2573 (E5) & 32586 (E5X) Eastbourne June 1949
https://tinyurl.com/yj824ztm
B.R. era
32401 at Brighton
https://tinyurl.com/44tdaaf4

Neil.

 

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway E6 Class was a class of 0-6-2T side tank steam locomotive designed by Robert Billinton. They were introduced in 1904 and were a development of the E5 class with smaller driving wheels intended for heavy short and medium-distance freight trains.

The E3 class radial tanks were useful on all but the heaviest freight trains in congested the London area, which required rapid acceleration from signals in order to avoid holding up other traffic. Robert Billinton therefore produced a version of his successful E5 passenger tank class with smaller 4 ft 6 in (1.372 m) driving wheels for this purpose. Twelve locomotives were built by Brighton Works between December 1904 and December 1905. The last two locomotives were originally intended to be built as 0-8-0s for heavy shunting purposes but Billinton died in November 1904 before any were built and the order was subsequently changed by his successor D. E. Marsh.

The E6s were successful goods locomotives, but in 1911 two examples were rebuilt with the larger C3 class boiler and a C2X class smokebox and were re-classified E6X. These two locomotives proved to be very powerful, but used significantly more fuel and no more examples were rebuilt.

All of the class survived the transfer to Southern Railway ownership in 1923, and British Railways ownership in 1948. Withdrawal commenced in September 1957 and was completed by December 1962. No examples have been preserved.

Including a number of colour photos
32418 unknown location
https://tinyurl.com/cf9n79up
Full collection starts here with
S.R. era
407 Battersea shed October 1933
https://tinyurl.com/2pfftp6a
B.R. era
32408 Bricklayers Arms February 1959
https://tinyurl.com/j99nv4cs

Neil.

 

6/26 2411 Clapham Jn platform 17
25/26 32418 Brighton Depot

Cheers, Neil

 

I have added a large collection featuring L.B. Billinton LBSCR K class 2-6-0

London Brighton and South Coast Railway Class K were powerful 2-6-0 mixed traffic locomotives designed by L. B. Billinton for the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) in 1913. They appeared shortly before the First World War and the first ten examples of the class did prodigious work during that conflict on munitions, supply and troop trains. Further examples were built after the war, and the class was used as a test bed for various items of specialised equipment. However, after the formation of the Southern Railway in 1923 the remaining three locomotives on order were not completed and the seventeen members of the class led relatively quiet yet reliable lives over their traditional lines. The locomotives proved their usefulness once again during the Second World War, and continued to provide reliable service until the 1960s. The entire class was eventually withdrawn in 1962 for 'bookkeeping' rather than 'operational' reasons.
All of the class were in good working order at the time of the nationalisation of the British Railways in 1948, and continued to be well maintained until the latter half of 1961. They were renumbered by adding 30,000 to the SR number. Between 1949 and 1953 the feedwater heating was replaced by cold water injection, for reasons of cost, and latterly many examples were fitted with Automatic Warning System equipment, and water treatment equipment. With the reduction in freight traffic they began to be also used on secondary services. However, after the summer of 1956 the class also acquired one prestige passenger duty on the Newhaven boat-trains, following the withdrawal of the 'Marsh Atlantics'
On 3 March 1954, No. 32346 derailed at the catch points near Forest Row and landed on its left side at the embankment.
The locomotives were all still providing good reliable service when the class was withdrawn en-bloc during November and December 1962, apparently as part of an accountancy exercise 'to keep in line with the Southern Regions' withdrawal programme'. Most spent several months in store at Hove railway station before being broken up, and at least one had to be briefly resurrected to help run breakdown trains during the severe Winter of 1962–1963
Including these railtour photos
32342 alongside 3440 City of Truro 'The Bluebell Special' East Croydon 11th May 1958
https://tinyurl.com/t2yjy5hx
at Ardingley
https://tinyurl.com/87b3e3d5
unknown locations
https://tinyurl.com/6bs7bktp
https://tinyurl.com/2txdyzxu
LBSCR era photos start here
https://tinyurl.com/78r7dnbt
S.R. era photos start here
https://tinyurl.com/afvjmz9z
to
https://tinyurl.com/mrbjkvde
B.R. era photos start here
https://tinyurl.com/273wa7v7
to
https://tinyurl.com/6sbfe2pk

Neil

 

I have added a new collection featuring L.B. Billinton B4X rebuild of LB&SCR B4 Class 4-4-0
12 B4Xs passed to British Railways in 1948. All had been withdrawn by 1951
Seen here is
32072 Eastleigh 16th July 1950
https://tinyurl.com/v5ztsy68
LBSCR era photos start here
45 at Redhill
https://tinyurl.com/73vzfkbf
S.R. era start here with
2043 at Brighton
https://tinyurl.com/uvsuvya7
B.R. era starts here with
32043
https://tinyurl.com/52bkn4s8

Neil

 

I have added a large collection of photos featuring D.E. Marsh assorted LB&SCR tender & tank engines
Including this photo of
32325 arriving at Tunbridge Wells West...from the Groombridge direction Marsh J Class 4-6-2T ‘Pacific Tank’
https://tinyurl.com/y49uc27d
Full collection featuring LBSCR/Southern Railway/B.R era starts here
https://tinyurl.com/jv5nxbtp
to
https://tinyurl.com/hwn4fu64
To
https://tinyurl.com/bw2ch3ad

Neil

 

Hi Neil,

A few location suggestions
14/37 301 Clapham Jn? Buildings like the hut behind the loco survived until recently
18/37 2035 Scrap Line Eastleigh Depot
27/37 2411 Clapham Jn platform 17 - Down West London Line.

Cheers, Neil

 

I have added some new photos of R.J.Billinton LB&SCR D3 class 0-4-4T
Including this photo of
32380 with B.R. number and Southern on side tanks unknown location
https://tinyurl.com/7vzfypdy
New photos start here with
LBSCR era
374 Pullborough
https://tinyurl.com/fb9jt7fa
S.R. era
2383 at Oxted
https://tinyurl.com/2r3b6hkh
B.R. era
32365 unknown location (+ D1 2299)
https://tinyurl.com/4f5a76se

Neil

 

During the first decade of the twentieth century the railway experienced a rapid growth in freight traffic and by 1905 their locomotives were no longer capable of hauling the heaviest trains without loss of time. Douglas Earle Marsh's initial response was to introduce his C3 class with a larger boiler in 1906, but the performance of these also proved to be disappointing.
However, in 1908 Marsh rebuilt one C2 with a larger diameter C3 steel boiler and an extended smokebox. In doing so he created an excellent powerful freight locomotive that was classified "C2X", and nicknamed 'Large Vulcans.' The modification was so successful that twenty-nine out of the original fifty-five members of the class were similarly rebuilt by the end of 1912.[2] By this time the class were beginning to struggle to keep time when hauling the heaviest freight trains and began to be superseded on these by the K class 2-6-0 in 1913/14, but were nevertheless kept very busy during the First World War on military supply and munitions trains, and three further C2’s had been rebuilt by the end of 1922.
After the First World War Lawson Billinton acquired ten spare boilers for the class incorporating his own top feed apparatus. These were clearly visible when fitted because of the presence of a second dome
All of the C2X locomotives passed to the Southern Railway in 1923, and nine further examples were rebuilt during 1924-5, as the original boilers became due for replacement.
The C2X locomotives remained in regular use on secondary freight trains for a further decade and most had completed very impressive mileages for freight locomotives before they were all withdrawn between 1957 and February 1962. The last two examples were based at Three Bridges and Brighton
Over 35 new photos added to this collection including this photo of
32546 and a strange looking coach probably for gauging
https://tinyurl.com/4as7xd2b
S.R. era photos start here
2436
https://tinyurl.com/2xjyst75
to 2545
https://tinyurl.com/6kw64epy
B.R. era photos start here
32440 in early B.R. livery with plain lettering on tender
https://tinyurl.com/s9ch5km
to 32527
https://tinyurl.com/2f4j8zxv
to
32550
https://tinyurl.com/rcvfan5c

Neil

 

I have added a new collection featuring the L.B. Billinton LB&SCR E2 class 0-6-0T
The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) E2 Class was a class of 0-6-0T steam locomotives designed by Lawson Billinton, intended for shunting and short-distance freight trains. Ten examples were built between 1913 and 1916, and all were withdrawn from service and scrapped between 1961 and 1963. None were preserved.
By 1910 many of the Stroudley E1 class locomotives were worn out or inadequate for the heavier duties required of them. D. E. Marsh intended to rebuild some examples with a larger boiler, but only one E1X rebuild had been completed by the time of his unexpected retirement. Marsh's successor Billinton reversed this policy and instead ordered five new, more powerful locomotives from Brighton works. The new class included several features found on other LB&SCR classes including an I2 class boiler. They were delivered between June 1913 and January 1914.
The second series E2 with extended side tanks, 1915
The new design was judged to be successful, except that they were found to have inadequate water supply. Thus when a further order for five locomotives was placed they were given extended side tanks. The second batch were delayed by the onset of the war but were eventually delivered between June 1915 and October 1916.
The E2 class locomotives were mainly used for the heavier shunting and short-distance freight duties in the London area and on the south coast, as their small coal bunkers made them unsuitable for long trips. These included empty stock workings at Victoria and London Bridge Stations.
Two were tried in 1914 as passenger locomotives on push-pull duties with the locomotives in the middle of a rake of six coaches, but the experiment was abandoned during the same year as they had insufficient coal capacity.
Following the electrification of the Brighton line in 1936 the class was used as replacements for the former London Chatham and Dover Railway T class at the Herne Hill marshalling yard, around Victoria station and at Dover harbour. During the Second World War they also replaced the SR Z class at Hither Green marshalling yard.
In the mid-1950s the class were tried out as shunters at Southampton Docks and found to be useful, although their 16-foot wheelbase meant that their route availability on the tightly curved lines within the docks complex was limited compared to that of the S100 USA tanks and Austerity 0-6-0 saddle tanks, which had a 10-foot and 11-foot wheelbase respectively. Six examples were retained for this purpose until their replacement by British Rail Class 07 diesel shunters in 1962.
Withdrawal of the class took place between February 1961 and April 1963. They were all scrapped. None have survived to preservation.
Including this photo of
32107 still with ‘Southern’ on side tanks and a shiny smokebox and coal bunker with new B.R. number Eastleigh 12th November 1949
https://tinyurl.com/3zem5ypc
New photos start here with
LBSCR era
108 unknown location
https://tinyurl.com/3z5vzcb8
S.R. era start here with
100
https://tinyurl.com/yktevnzu
B.R. era start here with
32101 Eastleigh c1957
https://tinyurl.com/4uxf5df6
to
32103
https://tinyurl.com/3nme2bfr
to
32109
https://tinyurl.com/3uh2zrtm

Neil

 

Hi Neil.

Re: unknown locations, you could do worse than asking on SREmG. There are members there who worked the Southern for donkey's years and who can recognise locations from odd parapets and specific church spires in the distant background!

The Furniture Depository & Strong Room building looks familiar, as does the shot in front of some arches, but I'm confident of neither.

Lovely shots .... and not a TTTE face in sight!

 

I have added a large collection of photos of the LBSCR 4-4-2T ‘Marsh Tanks’
Including one such loco on Royal Train duty
15 in LB&SCR livery on Royal train duty (Look at that headboard)
https://tinyurl.com/nw9w98d7

LBSCR era photos start here
https://tinyurl.com/evjvpejf

S.R. era photos start here
https://tinyurl.com/3evx6dc8
to https://tinyurl.com/nsak2c6p
to https://tinyurl.com/3vtavxr4
to https://tinyurl.com/w5k8saxz

B.R. era photos start here
https://tinyurl.com/9zdsjssv
to
https://tinyurl.com/vemkxaxs

Neil