The London and South Western Railway F13 class was a class of
4-6-0
A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abse ...
locomotive
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...
s designed by
Dugald Drummond
Dugald Drummond (1 January 1840 – 8 November 1912) was a Scottish steam locomotive engineer. He had a career with the North British Railway, LB&SCR, Caledonian Railway and London and South Western Railway. He was the older brother of the eng ...
for the
London and South Western Railway
The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...
(LSWR).
Background
Whilst Dugald Drummond's success with his previous
4-4-0
4-4-0 is a locomotive type with a classification that uses the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement and represents the arrangement: four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four po ...
designs meant that the LSWR's immediate traffic needs were covered in 1905, he began to undertake a new project that would help solve a new problem. This problem rested in fact that the timetables were continually accelerated because of this success, especially in the case of boat trains to the South Coast ports.
It soon became clear that faster passenger locomotives with a better power-to-weight ratio than the 4-4-0 designs were needed, in order to keep pace with the LSWR's passenger requirements increasing due to lengthened, heavier rolling stock that needed to keep up with faster point-to-point schedules.
As a result, Drummond believed that a new wheel arrangement (for the LSWR) was required in order to support such power, which in turn was provided by a multiple-cylinder layout. The resultant design was to become the F13 Class.
Construction history
Drummond had settled on the 4-6-0 wheel arrangement in anticipation of further increases in speed and length of trains, a concept that had many advantages.
[Swift, Peter W. ''Railway Archive'' 6: pp. 3–24.] A longer, larger boiler could therefore be utilised, therefore generating the steam needed to power a four-cylinder front end, and wheels were utilised. In terms of the cylinder arrangement, Drummond's first foray into 4-6-0 locomotive design was highly unusual.
The new design was equipped with
Stephenson valve gear
The Stephenson valve gear or Stephenson link or shifting link is a simple design of valve gear that was widely used throughout the world for various kinds of steam engines. It is named after Robert Stephenson but was invented by his employees.
...
for the inside cylinders and
Walschaerts valve gear
The Walschaerts valve gear is a type of valve gear used to regulate the flow of steam to the pistons in steam locomotives, invented by Belgium, Belgian railway mechanical engineering, engineer Egide Walschaerts in 1844.
The gear is sometimes name ...
for the outside, therefore creating an overly complex design in respect to spare parts required during overhauls.
This factor also created a heavy locomotive, though route availability was not a high consideration in terms of their intended role to ply their trade on the LSWR mainline.
Full-scale construction was undertaken at
Nine Elms
Nine Elms is an area of south-west London, England, within the London Borough of Wandsworth. It lies on the River Thames, with Battersea to the west, South Lambeth to the south and Vauxhall to the east.
The area was formerly mainly industrial bu ...
, with the first of five F13s being outshopped in 1905, and the class was married to a Drummond 'watercart' eight-wheeled tender in an attempt to provide adequate provision of coal and water for long journeys.
[Haresnape & Rowledge (1982).]
Livery and numbering
Under the LSWR, the F13s were outshopped in the LSWR Passenger Sage Green livery with purple-brown edging, creating panels of green. This was further lined in white and black with 'LSWR' in gilt on the tender tank sides.
When transferred to
Southern Railway ownership after 1923, the locomotives were outshopped in
Richard Maunsell
Richard Edward Lloyd Maunsell (pronounced "Mansell") (26 May 1868 – 7 March 1944) held the post of chief mechanical engineer (CME) of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway from 1913 until the 1923 Grouping and then the post of CME of the ...
's darker version of the LSWR livery.
[Swift, Peter (2006). ''Maunsell 4-6-0 King Arthur Class''.] The LSWR standard gilt lettering was changed to yellow with 'Southern' on the water tank sides. The locomotives also featured black and white lining.
Operational details
The F13 design had originally been intended to operate expresses between
Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
and
Exeter
Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol.
In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
, but were unsuccessful resulting in their operation lasting only a year. The class saw more success when rostered to operate on the less arduous stretch of track between Salisbury and
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
, hauling coal trains between these two destinations, a far cry from their intended role.
One, number 333 was fitted with an Eastleigh superheater in 1920, but the class was deemed a failure and withdrawn in 1924, although the 334 had been laid aside since the end of 1921. All were rebuilt by
Richard Maunsell
Richard Edward Lloyd Maunsell (pronounced "Mansell") (26 May 1868 – 7 March 1944) held the post of chief mechanical engineer (CME) of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway from 1913 until the 1923 Grouping and then the post of CME of the ...
into
H15 class 4-6-0s.
As a result, no examples survived into preservation.
References
*
*
*
*
{{SR Locomotives
F13
4-6-0 locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1905
Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain