The LBSCR L 4-6-4T "Baltic"
The Engine
The LB&SCR L Class was a class of 4-6-4 steam tank locomotives designed by L. B. Billinton for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. They were known as the "Brighton Baltics", Baltic being the European name for the 4-6-4 wheel arrangement. Seven examples were built between April 1914 and April 1922 and they were used for express passenger services
Background:
By 1913 the LB&SCR was well supplied with modern passenger locomotives except for the heaviest express trains. L. B. Billinton was undecided whether to enlarge the J1 and J2 4-6-2 tank locomotives designed by his predecessor D. E. Marsh, or design an equivalent sized 4-6-0 tender locomotive. Large tank locomotives were well-suited to the operating conditions of the railway with relatively short distances but very intensive use of the system, particularly in the vicinity of London. Billinton therefore placed an order for one 4-6-4 tank and one 4-6-0 tender locomotive from Brighton railway works in November 1913. However, soon after the delivery of the first tank engine in April 1914 the order for the second was changed to another tank engine. The four trailing bogie wheels were added to enable more fuel to be carried and to give additional stability when running bunker-first.[1]
Modification and further deliveries:
Soon after the first two examples were introduced into traffic the class was found to be unstable at high speed and prone to derailment, due to water surging in the large side tanks. As a result the two locomotives were soon rebuilt to provide a large well tank between the axles, and to blank off the upper portion of the side tanks. This had the effect of lowering the centre of gravity of the locomotive.[2] Once modified the first two locomotives proved to be most successful, but further deliveries were delayed by the onset of the First World War. Five more examples were built between October 1921 and April 1922. No. 333 Remembrance was the last new locomotive built by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, before it became a part of the Southern Railway on 1 January 1923. It was named in honour of the members of the railway killed in the war.
Post grouping:
The original Robinson superheaters were replaced by those of Richard Maunsell’s design during the 1920s and 1930s, and the original LB&SCR numbers were increased by 2000. The seven members of the class were kept fully occupied on the main express services between London and Brighton until the line was electrified in 1933. They were then transferred to Eastbourne to work on London expresses in January 1933, but the planned electrification of that line looked set to make them redundant once again.
N15X Class[edit]
For details of the class in their rebuilt form see SR N15X class
As the locomotives were still relatively new and performing well, Maunsell decided to rebuild them for use on express trains on the Western section of Southern Railway. Between December 1934 and February 1936 all seven members of the class were rebuilt as 4-6-0 tender locomotives, and given the new designation ‘’N15X’’. Six of the class were named after famous locomotive engineers but 2333 retained its original name. The new class were based at Nine Elms and were used on services to Bournemouth and Southampton but in their rebuilt state they did not perform as well as the existing King Arthur class and so tended to be relegated to secondary services. Between November 1941 and July 1943 the class was loaned to the Great Western Railway for use on freight trains.
British Railways:
All seven N15X locomotives entered British Railways stock on 1 January 1948 and continued to be used on secondary services until the mid-1950s. The first withdrawal took place in January 1955, and the last in July 1957. No examples have been preserved.
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History Of The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
The Railway
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The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR; known also as "the Brighton line", "the Brighton Railway" or the Brighton) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its apex, practically the whole coastline of Sussex as its base, and a large part of Surrey. It was bounded on its western side by the London and South Western Railway(L&SWR), which provided an alternative route to Portsmouth. On its eastern side the LB&SCR was bounded by the South Eastern Railway(SER) – later one component of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR) – which provided an alternative route to Bexhill, St Leonards-on-Sea, and Hastings. The LB&SCR had the most direct routes from London to the south coast seaside resorts of Brighton, Eastbourne, Worthing, Littlehampton and Bognor Regis, and to the ports of Newhaven and Shoreham-by-Sea. It served the inland towns/cities of Chichester, Horsham, East Grinstead and Lewes, and jointly served Croydon, Tunbridge Wells, Dorking and Guildford. At the London end was a complicated suburban and outer-suburban network of lines emanating from London Bridge and Victoria, and shared interests in two cross-London lines.
The LB&SCR was formed by a merger of five companies in 1846, and merged with the L&SWR, the SE&CR and several minor railway companies in southern England under the Railways Act 1921 to form the Southern Railway from 1 January 1923.
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First World War
With other British railways the LB&SCR was brought under government control during the First World War. Until then it had carried relatively little heavy goods, but this changed dramatically at the outbreak of war.[33] The LB&SCR was responsible for carrying the bulk of the stores and munitions delivered to the British troops on the continent, principally through its ports of Newhaven and, to a lesser degree, Littlehampton. This included nearly 7 million tons of goods, including 2.7 million tons of explosives. It necessitated an additional 53,376 goods trains over the four years of the war, and 27,366 troop trains.[34]
This additional traffic required substantial improvements to infrastructure, notably at Newhaven harbour, where electric lighting was installed, and at Three Bridges, where a new goods marshalling yard was established, and at Gatwick and Haywards Heath, where loops were constructed so that the frequent passenger trains would not be impeded by slower goods trains. Some munitions trains were routed to Newhaven via the Steyning Line to Brighton to avoid congesting the part of the Brighton main line which had only two tracks.
LB&SCR at Grouping
By 31 December 1922, when the LB&SCR ceased to have an independent existence, it had 457 miles of route. Of these, 100 miles were single track, 357 double track, 47 miles triple track, and 49 miles four or more tracks. Sidings had a total length of 355 miles.