The LCDR ''Sondes'' class was a class of six steam locomotives of the 4-4-0ST wheel arrangement. They were designed by

Thomas Russell Crampton Thomas Russell Crampton, MICE, MIMechE (6 August 1816 – 19 April 1888) was an English engineer born at Broadstairs, Kent, and trained on Brunel's Great Western Railway. He is best known for designing the Crampton locomotive but had many eng ...

for the

East Kent Railway The East Kent Railway (EKR) was an early railway operating between Strood and Faversham in Kent, England, during 1858 and 1859. In the latter year it changed its name to the London, Chatham and Dover Railway to reflect its ambitions to build a ...

(EKR) to specifications prepared by

Joseph Cubitt Joseph Cubitt (24 November 1811 – 7 December 1872) was an English civil engineer. Amongst other projects, he designed the Blackfriars Railway Bridge over the River Thames in London. Early life Cubitt was born in Horning, Norfolk, on 24 Nove ...

. An order was placed in March 1857 with R. & W. Hawthorn & Co. for six locomotives at £2,700 each; they were delivered to the EKR between November 1857 and March 1858. The first section of the EKR (between and ) opened on 25 January 1858; and the EKR became the

London, Chatham and Dover Railway The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR or LC&DR) was a railway company in south-eastern England created on 1 August 1859, when the East Kent Railway was given parliamentary approval to change its name. Its lines ran through London and no ...

(LCDR) in 1859. The locomotives were prone to frequent failure: at one point, before the sixth had been received, the first five were all out of service simultaneously. The LCDR asked

Daniel Gooch Sir Daniel Gooch, 1st Baronet (24 August 1816 – 15 October 1889) was an English railway locomotive and transatlantic cable engineer. He was the first Locomotive Superintendent, Superintendent of Locomotive Engines on the Great Western Rai ...

of the Great Western Railway to report on the condition of the locomotives; he found that there were a number of significant problems with the design. The ''Sondes'' class were all laid aside as unfit for use in mid-1863, and during 1865, all six were rebuilt by the LCDR as 2-4-0T, becoming the Second ''Sondes'' class. Like other EKR/LCDR locomotives delivered prior to 1874, the locomotives had no numbers, being distinguished by name. Three of the locomotives (''Faversham'', ''Chatham'' and ''Sittingbourne'') were named after places served by the EKR. The other three were named after people involved in the EKR: James Lake and Lord Sondes were directors, whilst T. R. Crampton, besides being the designer of the class, was also the

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

of the EKR.

Notes

References

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Sondes Sondes is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Baron Sondes **Earl Sondes *** George Milles, 1st Earl Sondes (1824–1894) * Viscount Sondes *George Sondes, 1st Earl of Feversham Sir George Sondes, 1st Earl of Feversham KB (No ...

4-4-0T locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1857 Hawthorn locomotives Scrapped locomotives Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain {{England-steam-loco-stub