The Metropolitan Railway K Class consisted of six

2-6-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a locomotive has two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called Adriatic. Overview With only a few known except ...

steam locomotives 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 ...

, numbered 111 to 116.

Construction

They were built by

Armstrong Whitworth Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles and ...

in 1925, using parts manufactured at the Royal Arsenal,

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

, to the design of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway N class

2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. ...

locomotives and part of a family of 200 or so "mogul" engines designed 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 ...

. Final design was by the Metropolitan Railway's George Hally. The boilers had been made by

Robert Stephenson and Company Robert Stephenson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company founded in 1823 in Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne in England. It was the first company in the world created specifically to build railway engines. Famous early locomoti ...

of Darlington. Some unusual variations included footsteps below the buffer beam and curved handrails at the front either side of the smokebox.

Service

The K Class were used on heavy freight trains along London's Metropolitan Railway mainline, including coal to the power station at

Neasden Neasden is a suburban area in northwest London, England. It is located around the centre of the London Borough of Brent and is within the NW2 ( Cricklewood) and NW10 (Willesden) postal districts. Neasden is near Wembley Stadium, the Welsh Har ...

, although there were used on occasional passenger trains. In 1937, all six were transferred to the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) where they were based at Neasden (LNER) Shed. The LNER numbered them 6158–6163, and classified them as L2 Class. They were used for passenger services for a short stint in 1938 and 1942 when H2 4-4-4T's were unavailable for maintenance or transferred elsewhere.

Withdrawal

All were withdrawn and scrapped between 1943 and 1948.

References

K 2-6-4T locomotives Armstrong Whitworth locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1925 Scrapped locomotives Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain {{UK-metro-stub Passenger locomotives