SECR B1 class

The SECR B1 class was a class of 4-4-0 steam tender locomotive for express passenger service on the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. These engines were originally designed by James Stirling for the South Eastern Railway (SER) in 1898 and designated B class. The SER was merged into the SECR in 1899 and, between 1910 and 1927 the B class engines were rebuilt with new boilers by Harry Wainwright to become B1 class.

SECR B1 class
B1 at Tonbridge Locomotive Depot 18 May 1946
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerJames Stirling
(rebuilt by Wainwright)
Builder
  • Neilson, Reid and Company (20)
  • Ashford Works (9)
Build datebuilt 1898–1899 (as B class)
Total produced29
Rebuild date1910–1926 (as B1 class)
Number rebuilt27
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte4-4-0
 • UIC2′B
Gauge4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Driver dia.7 ft 0 in (2.134 m)
Loco weight45 long tons 2 cwt (101,000 lb or 45.8 t)
Fuel typeCoal
Boiler pressure170 lbf/in2 (1.17 MPa)
CylindersTwo, inside
Cylinder size18 in × 26 in (457 mm × 660 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort14,490 lbf (64.45 kN)
Career
Operators
ClassSECR/SR: B1
Withdrawn1930–1951
DispositionAll scrapped

Numbering

Twenty B Class engines were built by Neilson, Reid and Company and numbered 440-459. A further 9 were built at the South Eastern Railway's Ashford railway works and given a jumble of numbers: 217, 13, 21, 101, 34, 17, 132, 186, 189. They kept these numbers under the SECR. When the Southern Railway took over in 1923 they initially gave the numbers an "A" prefix and later added 1000 to them. For example, 440 became A440 and then 1440 and 13 became A13 and then 1013. A few passed into British Railways ownership in 1948 and had 30000 added to their numbers but it is believed that only 31446 actually carried its number. All had been withdrawn and scrapped by the end of 1951. None remain today.

Accidents and incidents
  • On 19 May 1938, locomotive No. 1454 was derailed at Blackfriars station, London, causing delays for several hours.[1]
gollark: What? No.
gollark: As far as I know it's because the electrons can accelerate for longer before colliding with something.
gollark: ++tel init_webhook
gollark: Oh, someone must have hijacked the webhook somehow.
gollark: ++tel graph

References
  1. Earnshaw, Alan (1989). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 5. Penryn: Atlantic Books. p. 27. ISBN 0-906899-35-4.
Bibliography
  • Ian Allan ABC of British Railways Locomotives, part 2 (1949 ed.). pp. 18–20.

Locomotive history of the South Eastern Railway, D.L.Bradley, Railway correspondence & travel society (RCTS) ISBN 0 901115 48 7

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