The SECR B1 class was a class of

4-4-0 4-4-0, in the Whyte notation, denotes a steam locomotive with a wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels. First built in the ...

steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

tender locomotive A tender is a special railroad car, rail vehicle hauled by a steam locomotive containing its fuel (wood fuel, wood, coal, fuel oil, oil or torrefaction, torrefied biomass) and water. Steam locomotives consume large quantities of water compared ...

for express passenger service on the

South Eastern and Chatham Railway The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee (SE&CRCJMC),Awdry (1990), page 199 known as the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR), was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Eas ...

. These engines were originally designed by James Stirling for the South Eastern Railway (SER) in 1898 and designated B class. The SER was merged into the SECR in 1899 and, between 1910 and 1927 the B class engines were rebuilt with new boilers 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 ...

to become B1 class.

Numbering

Twenty B Class engines were built by Neilson, Reid and Company and numbered 440-459. A further 9 were built at the South Eastern Railway's

Ashford railway works Ashford railway works was a major locomotive and wagon construction and repair workshop in Ashford, Kent in England. Constructed by the South Eastern Railway (UK), South Eastern Railway in 1847, it became a major centre for railway works in the ...

and given a jumble of numbers: 217, 13, 21, 101, 34, 17, 132, 186, 189. They kept these numbers under the SECR. When the Southern Railway took over in 1923 they initially gave the numbers an "A" prefix and later added 1000 to them. For example, 440 became A440 and then 1440 and 13 became A13 and then 1013. A few passed into

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commis ...

ownership in 1948 and had 30000 added to their numbers but it is believed that only 31446 actually carried its number. All had been withdrawn and scrapped by the end of 1951. None remain today.

Accidents and incidents

*On 19 May 1938, locomotive No. 1454 was derailed at station,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, causing delays for several hours.

References

;Bibliography * Locomotive history of the South Eastern Railway, D.L.Bradley, Railway correspondence & travel society (RCTS)

External links

Wainwright B1
''Southern E-Group''
Class B1 Details
''RailUK'' {{SECR locomotives B1 4-4-0 locomotives 2′B n2 locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1898 Scrapped locomotives Standard-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Passenger locomotives in the United Kingdom