The SECR J class was a class of 0-6-4T steam

tank locomotive A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locom ...

built for heavy freight service on the South Eastern and Chatham Railway, by

Harry Wainwright Harry Smith Wainwright (16 November 1864 – 19 September 1925) was an English railway engineer, and was the Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway from 1899 to 1913. He is best known for a se ...

History

The South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR) had a need for versatile mixed traffic locomotives which could accelerate quickly so as not to impede the heavy passenger traffic on the densely used lines around London. Following the success of his C class 0-6-0 and his H class

0-4-4T Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-4 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles. This type was only used ...

sought to combine their good features but was limited by weight restrictions on many lines. The result was an 0-6-4 tank. Five locomotives were constructed at Ashford during 1913, but Wainwright retired soon afterwards and no more were constructed. The class were moderately successful on a variety of secondary passenger and freight services. All had completed more than one million miles at the time of their withdrawal between 1949 and 1951.

Numbering

The class were originally allocated unused numbers between 126 and 614. However, all but number 597 were renumbered by the Southern Railway in 1927/8 to create a unified sequence from A596 to A599. These later became 1596–1599, and then 31596–31599 under British Railways.

Locomotive Summary

Sources

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Secr J Class J 0-6-4T locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1913 Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain