List of SECR K and SR K1 class locomotives

A list of the names and numbers of the SECR K and SR K1 classes of 2-6-4

2-6-4

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 2-6-4 locomotive has two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels...

tank engines that formed the River class: locomotives initially running on 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...

(SECR), and subsequently operated by its successor, 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. The majority of the class consisted of 2-cylinder locomotives built to an SECR design by Richard Maunsell

Richard Maunsell

Richard Edward Lloyd Maunsell held the post of Chief Mechanical Engineer of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway from 1913 until the 1923 Grouping and then the post of CME of the Southern Railway in England until 1937....

, but one 3-cylinder version, the K1 class, was constructed by the Southern Railway in 1925. They were given the names of various rivers by the Southern Railway in a publicity measure to advertise the area that the railway served.

In 1928 the class was converted to the 2-cylinder U class and 3-cylinder U1 class 2-6-0

2-6-0

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Mogul...

specifications after crews reported instability when running fast over the lightly laid rails of the former SECR network. The poor running culminated in the 1927 Sevenoaks railway accident

Sevenoaks railway accident

The Sevenoaks railway accident occurred on 24 August 1927 between Dunton Green railway station and Sevenoaks railway station. The Southern Railway's afternoon express from Cannon Street to Deal left London at 5pm, in charge of River Class tank engine No 800 River Cray. Several passengers later...

, following which the locomotives were withdrawn. Once rebuilt, the former members of the K and K1 classes subsequently lost their names due to the bad publicity attached to them after this accident. All the rebuilt locomotives saw service with British Railways (BR), and all were withdrawn from service by 1966.

SECR and Southern Railway-built K class 2-cylinder locomotives

SECR No.	SR No (before/after rebuilding)	BR No. (as U class)	Name	Builder	Date built	Date Rebuilt as U class	Rebuit at	Withdrawn	Notes
790	A790/1790	31790	River Avon River Avon River Avon is the name of many rivers:-England:River Avon River Avon River Avon River Avon Avon Water -Scotland:River Avon *River Avon...	Ashford Ashford railway works Ashford railway works was in the town of Ashford in the county of Kent in England.-South Eastern Railway:Ashford locomotive works was built by the South Eastern Railway on a new site in 1847, replacing an earlier locomotive repair facility at New Cross in London...

}|| || Eastleigh|| ||
|-
| — || A791/1791||31791|| River Adur
River Adur
The Adur is a river in Sussex, England; it gives its name to the Adur district of West Sussex. The river was formerly navigable for large vessels up as far as Steyning, where there was a large port, but over time the river valley became silted up and the port moved down to the deeper waters nearer...

|| Armstrong Whitworth

Armstrong Whitworth

Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...

|||| || Eastleigh|| ||
|-
| — || A792/1792||31792|| River Arun
River Arun
The Arun is a river in the English county of West Sussex. Its source is a series of small streams in the St Leonard's Forest area, to the east of Horsham...

|| Armstrong Whitworth

Armstrong Whitworth

|||| || Eastleigh|| ||
|-
| — || A793/1793||31793|| River Ouse || Armstrong Whitworth

Armstrong Whitworth

|||| || Eastleigh|| ||
|-
| — || A794/1794||31794|| River Rother
River Rother
River Rother may refer to the following rivers in England:*River Rother, South Yorkshire, whose source is at Pilsley in Derbyshire, and which disgorges into the River Don at Rotherham after crossing the M1....

|| Armstrong Whitworth

Armstrong Whitworth

|||| || Eastleigh|| ||
|-
| — || A795/1795||31795|| River Medway
River Medway
The River Medway, which is almost entirely in Kent, England, flows for from just inside the West Sussex border to the point where it enters the Thames Estuary....

|| Armstrong Whitworth

Armstrong Whitworth

|||| || Eastleigh|| ||
|-
| — || A796/1796||31796|| River Stour
River Stour
River Stour may refer to:*River Stour, Dorset, a river in the English county of Dorset*River Stour, Kent, a river in the English county of Kent*River Stour, Suffolk, a river in the English counties of Suffolk and Essex...

|| Armstrong Whitworth

Armstrong Whitworth

|||| || Eastleigh|| ||
|-
| — || A797/1797||31797|| River Mole || Armstrong Whitworth

Armstrong Whitworth

|||| || Ashford

Ashford railway works

Ashford railway works was in the town of Ashford in the county of Kent in England.-South Eastern Railway:Ashford locomotive works was built by the South Eastern Railway on a new site in 1847, replacing an earlier locomotive repair facility at New Cross in London...

|| ||
|-
| — || A798/1798||31798|| River Wey
River Wey
The River Wey in Surrey, Hampshire and West Sussex is a tributary of the River Thames with two separate branches which join at Tilford. The source of the north branch is at Alton, Hampshire and of the south branch at both Blackdown south of Haslemere, and also close to Gibbet Hill, near Hindhead...

|| Armstrong Whitworth

Armstrong Whitworth

|||| || Ashford

Ashford railway works

|| ||
|-
| — || A799/1799||31799|| River Test
River Test
The River Test is a river in Hampshire, England. The river has a total length of 40 miles and it flows through downland from its source near Ashe, 10 km to the west of Basingstoke , to the sea at the head of Southampton Water...

|| Armstrong Whitworth

Armstrong Whitworth

|||| || Ashford

Ashford railway works

|| ||
|-
| — || A800/1800||31800|| River Cray
River Cray
The River Cray is a tributary of the River Darent in southern England. It rises in Priory Gardens in Orpington in the London Borough of Bromley, where rainwater permeates the chalk bedrock and forms a pond at the boundary between the chalk and impermeable clay...

|| Brighton

Brighton railway works

Brighton railway works was one of the earliest railway-owned locomotive repair works, founded in 1840 by the London and Brighton Railway in Brighton, England, and thus pre-dating the more famous railway works at Crewe, Doncaster and Swindon...

|||| || Ashford

Ashford railway works

|| || Involved in the 1927 Sevenoaks railway accident
|-
| — || A801/1801||31801|| River Darenth || Brighton

Brighton railway works

|||| || Ashford

Ashford railway works

|| ||
|-
| — || A802/1802||31802|| River Cuckmere
River Cuckmere
The River Cuckmere rises near Heathfield in East Sussex, England on the southern slopes of the Weald. The name of the river probably comes from an Old English word meaning fast-flowing, since it descends over 100 m in its initial four miles...

|| Brighton

Brighton railway works

|||| || Ashford

Ashford railway works

|| ||
|-
| — || A803/1803||31803|| River Itchen
River Itchen, Hampshire
The River Itchen is a river in Hampshire, England. It flows from mid-Hampshire to join with Southampton Water below the Itchen Bridge in the city of Southampton. The river has a total length of , and is noted as one of England's - if not one of the World's - premier chalk streams for fly fishing,...

|| Brighton

Brighton railway works

|||| || Brighton

Brighton railway works

|| ||
|-
| — || A804/1804||31804|| River Tamar
River Tamar
The Tamar is a river in South West England, that forms most of the border between Devon and Cornwall . It is one of several British rivers whose ancient name is assumed to be derived from a prehistoric river word apparently meaning "dark flowing" and which it shares with the River Thames.The...

|| Brighton

Brighton railway works

|||| || Brighton

Brighton railway works

|| ||
|-
| — || A805/1805||31805|| River Camel
River Camel
The River Camel is a river in Cornwall, UK. It rises on the edge of Bodmin Moor and together with its tributaries drains a considerable part of North Cornwall. The river issues into the Celtic Sea area of the Atlantic Ocean between Stepper Point and Pentire Point having covered a distance of...

|| Brighton

Brighton railway works

|||| || Ashford

Ashford railway works

|| ||
|-
| — || A806/1806||31806|| River Torridge
River Torridge
The River Torridge is a river in Devon in England. It was the home of Tarka the Otter in Henry Williamson's book. The Torridge local government district is named after the river....

|| Brighton

Brighton railway works

|||| || Brighton

Brighton railway works

|| ||Preserved on the Mid Hants Railway; Under overhaul
|-
| — || A807/1807||31807|| River Axe
River Axe
River Axe may refer to:*River Axe , an English river flowing south through Axminster to the English Channel in Lyme Bay near Seaton*River Axe , an English river flowing west from the Mendip Hills to the Bristol Channel near Weston-super-Mare...

|| Brighton

Brighton railway works

|||| || Brighton

Brighton railway works

|| ||
|-
| — || A808/1808||31808|| River Char
River Char
The River Char is a river in West Dorset. The Char runs a few miles from Bettiscombe to Charmouth, passing Pilsdon and Whitchurch Canonicorum....

|| Brighton

Brighton railway works

|||| || Brighton

Brighton railway works

||||
|-
| — || A809/1809||31809|| River Dart
River Dart
The River Dart is a river in Devon, England which rises high on Dartmoor, and releases to the sea at Dartmouth. Its valley and surrounding area is a place of great natural beauty.-Watercourse:...

|| Brighton

Brighton railway works

|||| || Brighton

Brighton railway works

|| ||
|}

Southern Railway-built K1 class 3-cylinder locomotive

SR No. (before/after rebuilding)	BR No. (as U1 class)	Name	Builder	Date built	Date Rebuilt as U1 class	Rebuilt at	Withdrawn	Notes
A890/1890	31890	River Frome	Ashford Ashford railway works Ashford railway works was in the town of Ashford in the county of Kent in England.-South Eastern Railway:Ashford locomotive works was built by the South Eastern Railway on a new site in 1847, replacing an earlier locomotive repair facility at New Cross in London...

}|| || Ashford

Ashford railway works

|| ||U1 class prototype
|}

Unbuilt locomotives

A further 20 K class locomotives were projected, but the order was cancelled after the derailment of No. A800 River Cray at Sevenoaks, Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

in August 1927 and subsequent withdrawal of the class for rebuilding. The projected names were selected as thus:

A610 River Beaulieu,
A611 River Blackwater

River Blackwater (River Test)

The River Blackwater is a river in the English counties of Hampshire and Wiltshire. It is a tributary of the River Test.The river rises just to the east of the Wiltshire village of Redlynch, near Salisbury. It then flows east across the county boundary into Hampshire...

,
A612 River Bourne

River Bourne

River Bourne may refer to:* the River Bourne, Dorset, a river in Dorset that gives its name to Bournemouth* the River Bourne, Wiltshire, a tributary of the River Avon in the English county of Wiltshire...

,
A613 River Bray,
A614 River Creedy

River Creedy

The River Creedy is a small river in Devon, England. It gives its name to the local town or ton of Crediton, which is on its west bank. Just below the town, the river merges with the River Yeo and it ends where it meets the River Exe at Cowley Bridge....

A615 River Ebble

River Ebble

The River Ebble is one the five rivers of the English city of Salisbury.Rising at Alvediston 12 miles to the west it joins the River Avon 2 miles south of Salisbury at Bodenham , after flowing through Ebbesbourne Wake, Fifield Bavant, Little London, Knapp, Mount Sorrel, Broad Chalke, Stoke...

,
A616 River Eden,
A617 River Anton

River Anton

The River Anton is a river in the English county of Hampshire. It is a tributary of the River Test.The river rises just to the north of the town of Andover, and flows through the centre of the town...

,
A618 River Hamble

River Hamble

The River Hamble is a river in Hampshire, England. It rises near Bishop's Waltham and flows for some 7.5 miles through Botley, Bursledon and Swanwick before entering Southampton Water near Hamble-le-Rice and Warsash....

,
A619 River Taw

River Taw

The River Taw rises at Taw Head, a spring on the central northern flanks of Dartmoor. It reaches the Bristol Channel away on the north coast of Devon at a joint estuary mouth which it shares with the River Torridge.-Watercourse:...

,
A620 River Lymington,
A621 River Parret,
A622 River Medina

River Medina

The River Medina is the main river of the Isle of Wight, rising at St Catherine's Down in the south of the Island and through the capital Newport, towards the Solent at Cowes. The river is a navigable tidal estuary from Newport northwards where it takes the form of a ria . The Medina is 17km long...

,
A623 River Exe

River Exe

The River Exe in England rises near the village of Simonsbath, on Exmoor in Somerset, near the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It reaches the sea at a substantial ria, the Exe Estuary, on the south coast of Devon...

,
A624 River Allen

River Allen

River Allen is a river in the county of Dorset in South West England. It has its confluence with the River Stour in Wimborne Minster....

,
A625 River Seaton,
A626 River Tiddy

River Tiddy

The River Tiddy is a small river in south-east Cornwall, the main tributary of the River Lynher. The Tiddy rises near Pensilva and flows south east past the village of Tideford until it joins the Lynher. The name of Tideford derives from its location on the river, literally meaning "Ford on the...

,
A627 River Tavy

River Tavy

The Tavy is a river on Dartmoor, Devon, England. The name derives from the Brythonic root "Taff", the original meaning of which has now been lost...

,
A628 River Lynher

River Lynher

The River Lynher flows through east Cornwall, UK, passing St Germans and enters the River Tamar at the Hamoaze, which in turn flows into Plymouth Sound.-Geography:...

,
A629 River Titchfield

Titchfield Canal

The Titchfield Canal is a canal in Hampshire, England, UK, and Britain's second-oldest man-made waterway. It was built following the decision by the Third Earl of Southampton to build a dike across the entrance to the River Meon, cutting it off from the Solent...

.

These unused K class numbers, but not the names, were later allocated to the first production batch of the U class 2-6-0 from 1928. Although a batch of ten K1 class locomotives was also ordered during 1927, no names had been allocated before cancellation.

External links

http://www.semgonline.com/steam/k(se)class_01.html – Table showing key dates, mileage, running numbers, etc for the K and K1 locomotives
http://www.semgonline.com/steam/uclass_data.html – Table showing key dates, mileage, running numbers, etc for the U class locomotives
http://www.semgonline.com/steam/u1class_data.html – Table showing key dates, mileage, running numbers, etc for the U1 class locomotives

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.