The London and South Western Railway L12 class was a class of 20
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 ...
steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
s designed for express passenger work 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 ...
. They were introduced to 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 ...
network in
1904
Events
January
* January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''.
* January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system.
* ...
. Despite the class being an unremarkable continuation of the Drummond lineage, one member was involved in the infamous
Salisbury rail crash in June 1906. None of the class survived into preservation after their brief career in
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
ways ownership.
Background
In 1904, the LSWR Locomotive Superintendent, Dugald Drummond, was tasked by his superiors to analyse the possibility of an updated version of his successful
T9 class 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 ...
. With open competition against the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
in earning revenue from ocean-going traffic in the south-west of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
at
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
, there was a need for a new design of powerful locomotive capable of hauling heavy loads at high speeds. This furthermore provided Drummond with the chance to take advantage of various advances in locomotive technology that had accumulated in the five years since the release of the T9.
Construction history
The last in an unbroken lineage of Drummond 4-4-0s stretching back to his unsuccessful
C8 Class of 1898, the L12 continued the tradition of solid construction and robust operation.
Drummond took the decision to construct a further new class of 20 4-4-0s as part of the competition between the LSWR and GWR regarding boat trains to Plymouth harbour.
Once again, the L12 followed the example of the
Class S11 in incorporating the same frames as the T9.
The major design difference between this and the Class S11 was the fact that the driving wheels seen on the T9 were reinstated for fast running on the LSWR main line.
[Morrison & Whitely (1989).]
The boiler was also similar to that of the T9s, capped off with a dome and stovepipe chimney, though the
smokebox
A smokebox is one of the major basic parts of a steam locomotive exhaust system. Smoke and hot gases pass from the firebox through tubes where they pass heat to the surrounding water in the boiler. The smoke then enters the smokebox, and is e ...
was of a smaller design in comparison due to the initial lack of superheating.
The locomotive was fitted with cross-water tubes fitted into the
firebox
Firebox may refer to:
*Firebox (steam engine), the area where the fuel is burned in a steam engine
*Firebox (architecture), the part of a fireplace where fuel is combusted
*Firebox Records
Firebox Records was a Finnish record label based in S ...
, as featured on the T9 Class.
[Herring (2000). Section "T9 Class".] This was an attempt to increase the heat surface area of the water, which was achieved, though at a cost in boiler complexity. The new locomotive had a higher centre of gravity than the earlier T9 class, which would cause the locomotive to become unbalanced on curves at speed, and this would have fatal consequences later on.
One major modification was made by
Robert Urie
Robert Wallace Urie (22 October 1854 – 6 January 1937) was a Scotland, Scottish locomotive engineer who was the last chief mechanical engineer of the London and South Western Railway.
Career
After serving an apprenticeship with and working fo ...
, who exchanged the saturated steam boilers for the superheated variety, resulting in an enlarged smokebox when compared to that fitted on the S11 Class.
At the same time, the addition of the superheater header and associated tubes meant that the overall weight was increased by from .
Production of the class began 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 ...
in 1904, with all members of the class were fitted with the Drummond "watercart" eight-wheel tender for longer running on the LSWR network.
[Burtt (1949).]
Operational details
The class gained the nickname "Bulldogs" from their crews due to their 'butch' appearance.
The L12s were initially rostered to
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 ...
,
Bournemouth
Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...
and
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 ...
, where they worked the LSWR system on express passenger trains.
.
The class was later also shedded at
Exmouth Junction
Exmouth Junction is the railway junction where the Exmouth branch line diverges from the London Waterloo to Exeter main line in Exeter, Devon, England. It was for many years the location for one of the largest engine sheds in the former Lo ...
where they shared the Ocean Liner special expresses to and from Plymouth with the S11 class. Although the class was relatively well-received by locomotive crews, there was no discernible improvement over the T9s it was supposed to develop from, and as such, led uneventful careers after the accident of 1906.
They began to be withdrawn soon after Nationalisation in 1948, by which time the class were used for local freight working on rural lines. The last of the class was withdrawn from Guildford shed in 1955, ending its life on pick-up/set down goods trains on the
Meon Valley Railway
The Meon Valley Railway was a cross-country railway in Hampshire, England, that ran for 22 miles (36 km) between Alton and Fareham, closely following the course of the River Meon. At its northern (Alton) end, it joined with the Alton Line from ...
. None survived for preservation.
Accidents and incidents
:
It was at that the class gained an infamous reputation, as number 421 was involved in the
Salisbury high speed derailment of 1 July 1906, which resulted in twenty-eight fatalities and eleven injuries.
[Gerard & Hamilton (1981)] 421 was one of two locomotives hauling a
boat train
A boat train is a passenger train operating to a port for the specific purpose of making connection with a passenger ship, such as a ferry, ocean liner, or cruise ship. Through ticketing is normally available. __NOTOC__
Notable named boat trains ...
to London Waterloo from Plymouth, which failed to round a curve at the eastern end of Salisbury station and subsequently derailed. The resultant inquiry into the incident ended the ruthless competition between the LSWR and GWR for Plymouth boat traffic.
Livery and numbering
LSWR and Southern
30415 at Eastleigh, 1950
Under the LSWR, the locomotives 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 (2006).] The LSWR standard gilt lettering was changed to yellow with 'Southern' on the water tank sides. The locomotives also featured black and white lining.
[Haresnape & Rowledge (1982).]
However, despite Bulleid's experimentation with Malachite Green livery on express passenger locomotive, the Maunsell livery was continued with the S11s, though the 'Southern' lettering on the tender was changed to the 'Sunshine Yellow' style. During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, members of the class outshopped form overhaul were turned out in wartime black, and some of the class retained this livery to Nationalisation.
Post-1948 (nationalisation)
Livery after Nationalisation was initially Southern Wartime Black livery with 'British Railways' on the tender, and an 'S' prefix on the number, until superseded by the Standard BR 30xxx series. Latterly, the class was outshopped in BR Mixed Traffic Black livery, with red and white lining. The BR crest was placed on the tender tank sides.
References
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External links
SEMG gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lswr L12 Class
L12
4-4-0 locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1904
Scrapped locomotives
Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain