The London and South Western Railway

London and South Western Railway

The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter, with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth. It also had many routes connecting towns in...

 (LSWR) 0298 Class or Beattie Well Tank is a class of British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 steam locomotive

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

. They are 2-4-0WT well tanks, originally built between 1863 and 1875 for use on passenger services in the suburbs of London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, but later used on rural services in South West England

South West England

South West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...

. Out of a total production of 85, two locomotives have been preserved in an operational condition.

History

In 1850, the LSWR decided that the London suburban passenger services should be operated using small tank locomotives. To determine the most suitable type, Joseph Hamilton Beattie

Joseph Hamilton Beattie

Joseph Hamilton Beattie was a locomotive engineer with the London and South Western Railway.Beattie was a highly innovative engineer, introducing the country's first successful 2-4-0 locomotive, pioneering coal-burning fireboxes, feedwater heating and balanced slide valves. His locomotives were...

, the LSWR Mechanical Engineer, prepared a series of designs for six-wheeled well tank locomotives, each of which incorporated one or more differences from the previous class. A small quantity of each was produced: between 1852 and 1859, 26 were built, to six different designs. These were the Tartar and Sussex classes of 1852, the Chaplin and Minerva classes of 1856, the Nelson class of 1858 and the Nile class of 1859. The wheel arrangement was either 2-2-2WT or 2-4-0WT; the driving wheels varied between 5 feet (1.5 m) and 6 feet (1.8 m) in diameter; the cylinder bore varied between 14 in (355.6 mm) and 15+1/2 in; the stroke was either 20 in (508 mm) or 21 in (533.4 mm); and there were other changes.

Having chosen the most suitable characteristics, Beattie prepared a standard design of 2-4-0 well tank with 5 in 6 in (1.68 m) driving wheels and cylinders 15 in (381 mm) bore by 20 in (508 mm) stroke; and the LSWR began to take delivery of these in 1863. The new design eventually totalled 85 locomotives; most came from the Manchester firm of Beyer, Peacock and Company

Beyer, Peacock and Company

Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway Locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Gorton, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer and Richard Peacock, it traded from 1854 until 1966...

 between 1863 and 1875, but three were built in the LSWR workshops at Nine Elms

Nine Elms Locomotive Works

Nine Elms locomotive works were built in 1839 by the London and South Western Railway adjoining their passenger terminus near the Vauxhall end of Nine Elms Lane, in the district of Nine Elms in the London Borough of Battersea. They were rebuilt in 1841 and remained the principal locomotive...

 during 1872. Their numbers were 33, 34, 36, 44, 76, 177–220, 243–270, 298, 299, 314 and 325–329.

The locomotives were built as follows:

Dates built	Builder	Works nos.	Quantity	LSWR numbers
February–March 1863	Beyer, Peacock Beyer, Peacock and Company Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway Locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Gorton, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer and Richard Peacock, it traded from 1854 until 1966...	331–336	6	177–182
October–December 1863	Beyer, Peacock	379–384	6	183–188
December 1863	Beyer, Peacock	390–395	6	189–194
June 1864	Beyer, Peacock	493–498	6	195–200
June 1865	Beyer, Peacock	544–549	6	203–208
April–June 1866	Beyer, Peacock	638–643	6	209–214
June 1866	Beyer, Peacock	694–699	6	215–220
July–December 1867	Beyer, Peacock	758–769	12	243–254
July 1868	Beyer, Peacock	838–845	8	255–262
September–November 1871	Beyer, Peacock	1089–1096	8	263–270
February 1872	Nine Elms Nine Elms Locomotive Works Nine Elms locomotive works were built in 1839 by the London and South Western Railway adjoining their passenger terminus near the Vauxhall end of Nine Elms Lane, in the district of Nine Elms in the London Borough of Battersea. They were rebuilt in 1841 and remained the principal locomotive...	94–96 (2nd series)	3	33, 36, 76
May–June 1874	Beyer, Peacock	1409–1414	6	201–202, 34, 298–299, 314
October–November 1875	Beyer, Peacock	1533–1538	6	44, 325–329

The locomotives delivered in February 1863 were the first locomotives on the LSWR not to be given names. Five of the later locomotives were named: 33 Phœnix; 34 Osprey; 36 Comet; 44 Pluto; 76 Firefly; these names were generally taken from older locomotives which had carried the same numbers.

In a well tank locomotive, the water tanks are not mounted above the footplate, but are set low down. On these locomotives, there were two tanks, both between the frames: one was above the leading axle, the other beneath the cab footplate. Although a standard design, there were periodic changes - the cylinder bore was enlarged to 15+1/2 in from no. 189 and again to 16+1/2 in for the three Nine Elms engines; and the last twelve, of 1874–75, had cylinders 15+1/2 ×. The three Nine Elms locomotives, and the last six of 1875, exhibited more obvious detail differences compared to the other 76: the leading wheels were 3 foot diameter instead of 3 in 6 in (1.07 m); two of the four safety valves were larger; but the most noticeable difference was that the splashers were rectangular instead of round. These resembled side tanks, but carried no water—this feature was introduced by J.H. Beattie's son and successor, William George Beattie

William George Beattie

William George Beattie, locomotive engineer, was the son of Joseph Hamilton Beattie. He joined the London and South Western Railway in 1862 as a draughtsman at Nine Elms Locomotive Works. He succeeded his father as Locomotive Engineer of the LSWR following Joseph's death in 1871. He was not however...

, who had taken office on 23 November 1871 after his father's death on 18 October.

They handled heavy loads with ease, and were fast runners. From 1890, when newer locomotives became available for the London suburban services, the Beattie 2-4-0WTs were sent to depots outside the London area. Some of their new duties required a greater water capacity than the tanks could contain, and so 31 were converted to tender engines between 1883 and 1887; these were withdrawn between 1888 and 1898. Of the remainder, most were withdrawn between 1888 and 1899, but six (nos. 44, 257, 266, 298, 314, 329) were modernised between 1889 and 1894 for use on branch lines such as those to and . Three of these, nos. 44, 257 and 266 (the latter two having by then been renumbered 0257 and 0266), were also withdrawn between 1896 and 1898. The other three locomotives (298, 314 and 329) were transferred to the Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway

Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway

The Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway was a railway line opened in 1834 in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It linked the important town of Bodmin with the harbour at Wadebridge and also quarries at places such as Wenford...

 in 1895, which was one of the earliest railways in Cornwall and isolated from the main LSWR network until that year. These three remained in service because of the sharp curves of that railway's freight branch to Wenford Bridge, which carried china clay traffic to the main line. They were finally withdrawn in 1962 and replaced by GWR 1366 Class

GWR 1366 Class

The Great Western Railway 1366 Class was a class of 0-6-0 pannier tank steam locomotive built in 1934.-History and development:The 1366 class was one of only two pannier tank designs built by the GWR that utilised outside cylinders, although various existing engines inherited by the GWR had...

 0-6-0PT dock tanks. In 1958, they were noted as "the oldest design still in use on British Railways (although not quite the oldest engines ...)", the latter distinction being given to nos. 32636 and 32670 of the former LB&SCR A1x class

LB&SCR A1 Class

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway A1 Class is an English class of 0-6-0T steam locomotive. Designed by William Stroudley, 50 members of the class were built in 1872 and between 1874 and 1880, all at Brighton Works. The class have received several nicknames, initially being known as...

, which had been built in 1872.

Renumbering

When the locomotives became old, their numbers were altered in order to release numbers for newer locomotives being built as replacements. The process was known as a transfer to the "duplicate list", and the existing number could be altered in any of four ways: addition of zero prefix; being crossed out; being underlined; being given a 5 inches (12.7 cm) line or dot beneath the number. These methods were equivalent, and some locos had the numbers altered in one way on the cab side, and in a different way in the record books. Thus, no. 298 became no. 0298.

Not every loco was transferred to the duplicate list - several were withdrawn whilst carrying their original numbers. Most were transferred between 1888 and 1894, but the three retained for the Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway were not given duplicate numbers until later on. The renumberings of these final three were as follows:

Original number (date built)	Duplicate list	Southern Railway 2nd no.	British Railways
298 (June 1874)	0298 (June 1898)	3298 (May 1933)	30587 (July 1948)
314 (June 1874)	0314 (May 1901)	3314 (November 1936)	30585 (December 1948)
329 (November 1875)	0329 (October 1901)	3329 (September 1935)	30586 (April 1948)

The first SR number was simply the final LSWR number prefixed with "E", to denote Eastleigh Works.

Preservation

Two of the locomotives have survived and are preserved. Number 298 (later renumbered 30587) is owned by the National Railway Museum

National Railway Museum

The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the British National Museum of Science and Industry and telling the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It has won many awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001...

 and is loaned to, and normally based at, the Bodmin and Wenford Railway

Bodmin and Wenford Railway

The Bodmin & Wenford Railway is a heritage railway, based at Bodmin in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It has an interchange with the national rail network at Bodmin Parkway railway station, the southern terminus of the line.-History:...

. Number 314 (30585) is owned by the Quainton Railway Society and normally based at their Buckinghamshire Railway Centre

Buckinghamshire Railway Centre

Buckinghamshire Railway Centre is a railway museum operated by the Quainton Railway Society Ltd. at Quainton Road railway station, in the far depths of "Metro-land", about 5 miles west of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. The site is divided into two halves which are joined by two foot-bridges, one of...

.

In October 2010, 30585 was on short term loan to the Bodmin and Wenford Railway. Both preserved engines were in steam and operating trains together on parts of the routes they would have served between 1895 and 1962.

External links

• Southern e-group page