The SECR E class was a class of

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 ...

tender locomotive A tender or coal-car (US only) is a special rail vehicle hauled by a steam locomotive containing its fuel (wood, coal, oil or torrefied biomass) and water. Steam locomotives consume large quantities of water compared to the quantity of fuel, so ...

s designed by Harry Wainwright for express passenger trains 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 Easter ...

. It was a larger version of the D class incorporating a

Belpaire firebox The Belpaire firebox is a type of firebox used on steam locomotives. It was invented by Alfred Belpaire of Belgium in 1864. Today it generally refers to the shape of the outer shell of the firebox which is approximately flat at the top and squa ...

Overview

Following the success of his D class

design, Wainwright obtained authority to build a further five similar locomotives incorporating a

to provide additional power. These were built at Ashford railway works during the last few months of 1905 and entered traffic early in 1906. Once the design had proved to be successful, further orders were placed until 26 had been constructed at Ashford by April 1909. In 1911 and 1912 two examples of the class received boilers with

superheater A superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into superheated steam or dry steam. Superheated steam is used in steam turbines for electricity generation, steam engines, and in processes such as steam reforming. There ar ...

s, which significantly improved their fuel efficiency, but unfortunately the additional weight prevented them from working over the lines of the former London Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) and so no further examples were so treated.

E1 class

Margate station geograph-2641334-by-Ben-Brooksbank

In 1917 the SECR Board decided that when the London to

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

and

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

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 ...

s were reinstated after the war, they would be centred on

London Victoria railway station Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after the nearby Victoria Street (not the Qu ...

, using the LCDR lines. This created a serious problem of producing a locomotive with sufficient power but with an acceptable axle load. Richard Maunsell therefore ordered the rebuilding of one example with larger cylinders, boiler and firebox, while at the same time reducing unnecessary weight elsewhere in the locomotive. This work was largely undertaken by his Chief Locomotive Draughtsman James Clayton. The experimental rebuilding was implemented following the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

in November 1918 and proved to be successful. A further ten examples were rebuilt by Beyer, Peacock and Company during 1919 and 1920, and ten more were supposed to follow in 1921, although at the last minute ten D class locomotives were rebuilt instead following the same principles.

Operation

The class was used on the London to

and

s and other Kent coast expresses on the

South Eastern Main Line The South Eastern Main Line is a major long-distance railway route in South East England, UK, one of the three main routes crossing the county of Kent, going via Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Ashford and Folkestone to Dover. The other routes are the C ...

. Locomotive No 506 was used to haul the train containing the Cavell Van ( No 132) bringing back the reamians of the Unknown Warrior from Dover to London on 10 November 1920. After 1914 they were replaced on the heaviest express trains by the L class

on the lines of the former South Eastern Railway but they remained the heaviest locomotives allowed on the LCDR lines until the rebuilt locomotives took over. Thereafter the remaining members of the class were employed on the secondary express trains on these lines. In the years immediately following the

grouping Grouping may refer to: * Muenchian grouping * Principles of grouping * Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system * Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm See also ...

of the SECR with other railways to form the Southern Railway (UK) in 1923 the E class locomotives continued with their existing duties, but in 1931 three examples were transferred to the Central Section to assist with expresses on the Brighton Main Line, followed by further examples. 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 ...

they were also regularly employed on

the line Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...

between and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

. The E1 class was replaced on the heaviest boat trains in the mid-1920s by the LSWR N15 class

4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abse ...

locomotives. For a while they were used on expresses to but in the 1930s several of the class were transferred to the former London Brighton and South Coast Railway main lines in Sussex.

Withdrawal and preservation

The majority of the remaining E class locomotives were withdrawn during 1951 but one lasted until May 1955. The E1 rebuilds were withdrawn over a far longer period between May 1949 and November 1961, with three examples lasting until the 1960s. No examples have been preserved. The Brighton Atlantic Group at the Bluebell Railway has announced that, following the completion of new Brighton H2 class No. 32424 ''Beachy Head'', it would begin construction on a new E class locomotive to take the number 516.

Accidents and incidents

*On 5 March 1909, locomotive No. 165 was hauling a mail train that was in collision with an express passenger train hauled by locomotive No. 497 at ,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

after the latter overran signals. Two people were killed and eleven were injured.

References

*Herring, Peter (2000) ''Classic British Steam Locomotives'', Enderby: Abbeydale, * *

External links

Class details
''RailUK''
Class E1 details
''RailUK'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Secr E Class E 4-4-0 locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1906 Scrapped locomotives Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Passenger locomotives