The 10A Allocation

I don’t know but they did, I remember a standard 4 tank towing a 4EPB unit past Earlsfield.

 

Everything built at Brighton has a 27-way jumper cable fitted...

 

I guess if you look at it from the standpoint of 1899 though - grouping (and closer working with the LBSCR) was still 25 years and a World War away; a train ferry service from a southern port was well over 30 years away. Meanwhile, the SER constituted about 60% of the stock (locos and carriages), so standardising the LCDR on vacuum was ultimately cheaper than standardising the SER on air. So I suspect the decision was somewhat inevitable ...

Tom

 

I don’t know but they did, I remember seeing a standard 4 tank towing a unit past R

wouldnt help with braking though.

 

Given that unfitted trains were still in regular use until long after the steam era was over presumably a steam loco could tow an emu as an unbraked train. Units all have a guards compartment with a hand brake, so as long as there are no passengers involved whats the problem?

Peter

 

Wouldn’t be hugely surprising to find that in dire emergency the train could run loaded with passengers without the break in operation, probably only to the nearest station, but…. The old rule books tended to permit far more flexibility.