The LCDR R class was a class of 0-4-4T locomotives on the London, Chatham and Dover Railway

London, Chatham and Dover Railway

The London, Chatham and Dover Railway was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1859 until the 1923 grouping which united it with other companies to form the Southern Railway. Its lines ran through London and northern and eastern Kent to form a significant part of the Greater London...

 (LCDR). No. 207 (eventually no. 31666) is notable as being the last former LCDR locomotive to be withdrawn from service.

History

For many years the London, Chatham and Dover Railway

London, Chatham and Dover Railway

The London, Chatham and Dover Railway was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1859 until the 1923 grouping which united it with other companies to form the Southern Railway. Its lines ran through London and northern and eastern Kent to form a significant part of the Greater London...

 (LCDR) had favoured the 0-4-4T

0-4-4

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-4 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles...

 wheel arrangement for suburban and stopping passenger trains, and when more were required in 1890, consideration was given to ordering a further batch of the existing A2 class 0-4-4T (introduced 1883); it was then decided that a modified design was required.

The R class locomotives were designed by William Kirtley

William Kirtley

William Kirtley was the Locomotive Superintendent of the London Chatham and Dover Railway in England from 1874 until the merger to form the South Eastern and Chatham Railway at the end of 1898.-Biography:...

 as a development of his earlier A2 class, and 18 were built by Sharp, Stewart & Co in 1891. Their LCDR numbers were 199–216, which under the South Eastern and Chatham Railway

South Eastern and Chatham Railway

The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee , known by its shorter name of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Eastern Railway and London, Chatham and Dover Railway , that operated services between...

 became 658–675 from 1899. They were renumbered three more times: to A658–A675 by the Southern Railway

Southern Railway (Great Britain)

The Southern Railway was a British railway company established in the 1923 Grouping. It linked London with the Channel ports, South West England, South coast resorts and Kent...

 (SR) from 1923; to 1658–1675 by the SR from 1931; and to 31658–31675 by British Railways from 1948.

Three (nos. 1664, 1668 & 1669) were withdrawn in 1940 to provides spares for the others, and withdrawal of the rest occurred between 1949 and 1955.

Table of withdrawals

Year	Quantity in service at start of year	Quantity withdrawn	Numbers
1940	18	3	1664, 1668, 1669
1949	15	1	31672
1951	14	3	31659, 31667, 31670
1952	11	5	31658, 31665, 31673–31675
1953	6	3	31660, 31662, 31663
1954	3	1	31671
1955	2	2	31661, 31666