SR Lord Nelson class

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SR Lord Nelson class
British Railways
Power classBR: 7P
NumbersSR:850-865, BR:30850-30865
LocaleGreat Britain
Withdrawn1961–1962
Preserved850 Lord Nelson
DispositionOne preserved, remainder scrapped

The SR class LN or Lord Nelson class is a type of 4-cylinder

Dover harbour, but were also later used for express passenger work to the South-West of England. Sixteen of them were constructed, representing the most powerful (although not the most successful) Southern 4-6-0 design. They were all named after famous admirals.[2]

The class continued to operate with

British Railways
until withdrawn during 1961 and 1962. Only one example of the class – the first engine, Lord Nelson itself – has been saved from scrapping. This has been seen running on mainline tours and preserved railways throughout Britain.

Background

Although the improved

Civil Engineer.[3][4][5]

After examining the practice of other British railways, Richard Maunsell, the

Chief Mechanical Engineer, secured agreement for a 4-cylinder design, with an improved boiler and Belpaire firebox. The drive would be divided between the front coupled axle for the inside cylinders and the middle coupled axle for the outside cylinders giving better weight distribution and reduced hammer blow.[6]
The new design was an inevitable compromise between the need for additional power and to keep the weight down to an acceptable limit.

There were two unusual features of the design: the first of which was the setting of the crank axles at 135°, rather than the standard 90° of other locomotive types. This design necessitated four sets of valve gear, and gave rise to eight beats per revolution, rather than the usual four, designed to give a more even draw on the fire and less chance of wheelslip when starting. The second difference was that fire grate was in two sections, the rear portion was horizontal and the front sloped away sharply.[7]

Construction history

The prototype E850 named Lord Nelson was ordered from

Battersea depot and fitted with 4,000 gallon 6-wheeled tenders suitable for the Continental ports. However, during construction, it was decided to equip half of the class with 5,000 gallon 8-wheeled tenders necessary for the longer West of England routes and to allocate them to Nine Elms depot. A further batch of ten locomotives was ordered in 1928, before the previous batch had been delivered, but when it became apparent that the Stock Market Crash of 1929 would be likely to reduce the demand for Continental travel, this second order was reduced to five.[9]

Naming the locomotives

The locomotives were all named after famous Royal Navy admirals, with the doyen of the class being named Lord Nelson. As a result, the rest of the locomotives belonged to the Lord Nelson (LN) class.[10]

Modifications

The performance of the new locomotives was mixed, depending upon the experience of the crew and the circumstances under which they were operating. At times it was no better than their smaller predecessors. Maunsell therefore undertook a number of experiments to try to improve the performance of the new locomotives. No. E859 was fitted with smaller 6 ft 3 in (1.905 m) driving wheels to see if this would improve performance over the heavily graded London-Dover line, but the difference was marginal. No. E860 was fitted with a longer, heavier

boiler but once again with little improvement. The whole class however benefitted from the fitting of smoke deflectors
during the late 1920s.

Maunsell was aware of the reputation for poor steaming enjoyed by the class and attempted to address it by the fitting of twin

Lemaître multiple jet blastpipes, which effectively transformed their performance.[1]
Thereafter the class was highly respected.

Operational details

For location details and current status of the preserved locomotive, see List of Lord Nelson class locomotives.
30860 Lord Hawke at Basingstoke in 1959.

For a period after its introduction to the Southern Railway network, the Lord Nelson class held the title of "most powerful locomotive in Britain" – a claim based on its

Second World War they were also frequently used on heavily laden Boat Trains between London Waterloo station and Southampton docks.[13]

The Lord Nelsons were notoriously difficult for inexperienced crews to fire properly, due to their long firebox,[14] and specific crews who had proven experience in firing the locomotives were therefore allocated to them.[15] This was due to the relatively few locomotives in the class for crews to train on.[12] The LMS Royal Scot Class was loosely based on this design.[16]

Accidents and incidents

Withdrawal

The class was gradually superseded on top link expresses during the 1940s by growing numbers of Bulleid Pacifics,[12] although throughout the 1950s they were frequently called upon during peak periods or to deputise for failures.[22][page needed] The rebuilding of the Pacifics in the late 1950s and their subsequent increased reliability rendered the Lord Nelson surplus to operational requirements, and they were gradually phased out of service.[23] The entire class was withdrawn during 1961 and 1962.[1]

Livery and numbering

Southern Railway

The Lord Nelson class was initially painted in Maunsell lined olive green, which later changed to a lighter shade in the mid-1930s. From 1938, some of the locomotives were painted in a semi-matt Malachite Green finish when Bulleid replaced Maunsell as CME of the Southern. During the war years, the locomotives were painted in wartime black livery, though retained the word "Southern" in yellow on the tender.[24] After the war, the livery was reverted to the Southern Railway Malachite Green standard with "Sunshine Yellow" lining on the boiler rings.

Numbers allocated to the locomotives were a variation of

LSWR practice and, being constructed at Eastleigh, were given the prefix "E" before the number to distinguish from the locomotives of other pre-grouping railway companies that also carried the same number.[25] In the case of the Lord Nelson class the numbering ranged from E850 to E865. This was eventually superseded by numbers without the "E" prefix, becoming 850 to 865 from 1931.[26]

Post-1948 (nationalisation)

The initial livery applied following the

British Railways" on the tender, and the Southern numbering system was temporarily retained with an "S" prefix (such as S850) until superseded by the British Railways numbering system.[27] The locomotives then carried British Railways Brunswick green livery with orange and black lining.[28] By this stage the locomotives were renumbered under standard British Railways procedure, from 30850 to 30865.[29]

Preservation

850 Lord Nelson at Minehead, WSR in 2006

The only survivor, first-of-class

National Railway Collection, and has run on the national rail network.[30][31] As of 2020 it is based on the Mid-Hants Railway. Its boiler certificate expired in 2015. It is now stored awaiting overhaul.[32]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to SR Lord Nelson class.

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Herring 2000, pp. 110–111.
  2. OCLC 1202458524
    .
  3. ^ "SR Maunsell "Lord Nelson" class 4-6-0". Southern Railway E-mail Group. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Britain's Most Powerful Loco - Railway Wonders of the World". www.railwaywondersoftheworld.com. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  5. ISBN 9781445652719
    .
  6. ^ Bradley 1975, pp. 2–3.
  7. ^ a b Bradley 1975, pp. 3 & 9.
  8. ^ Bradley 1975, p. 3.
  9. ^ Bradley 1975, p. 6.
  10. ^ Burridge 1975, pp. 54–55.
  11. ^ Bradley 1975, p. 13.
  12. ^ a b c Whitehouse & Thomas 2002, p. 47.
  13. ^ "Southern Railway Express 4-6-0 - Wonders of World Engineering". wondersofworldengineering.com. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  14. ^ Swift 2007, pp. 9–10.
  15. ^ Sawford 2007, p. 30.
  16. ^ "Maunsell "Lord Nelson" class 4-6-0". Southern E-Group. 2004. Archived from the original on 8 January 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2007. For information on influence.
  17. ^ Anderson, Introduction
  18. ^ a b Bishop 1984, pp. 21, 42–47.
  19. ^ Bradley 1975, p. 17.
  20. ^ a b Bradley 1975, p. 18.
  21. ^ Hoole 1982, p. 37.
  22. ^ Townroe, section: "Lord Nelson class"
  23. ^ Swift 2007, p. 59.
  24. ^ Swift 2007, p. 40.
  25. ^ Swift 2007, p. 39.
  26. ^ "Newsletter No. 5". Maunsell Locomotive Society. February 1979. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2007. For information on the "E" numbering system.
  27. ^ Scott-Morgan 2002, p. 44.
  28. ^ Scott-Morgan 2002, p. 43.
  29. ^ "SR Maunsell "LN" Class 4-6-0". BRDatabase, Complete BR Locomotive Database 1948-1997. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
  30. ^ "Southern Railway "Lord Nelson" | Science Museum Group Collection". collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  31. ^ "850 - SR Lord Nelson Class 'Lord Nelson' - Watercress Line". 29 April 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  32. ^ "30850 Lord Nelson (SR E850, SR 850 & BR 30850)". Preserved British Steam. Retrieved 14 May 2022.

Bibliography

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