Photos and History King Arthur Class 4-6-0 Southern Railway Steam Locos

Photos/History of the King Arthur Class Steam Locomotive

Class 777 'Sir Lamiel'

In 1952, 777 'Sir Lamiel', later renumbered 30777, carried a shed code number of  74C, a location for Dover/Folkestone on the south-east Kent coast, UK .

Dover Loco Shed 1951   Photo: Shed Bash UK - Blogger 

Encouraged by the relative success of his London & South Western Railway UK steam locomotive, the mixed-traffic H15 introduced in January 1914, Robert W. Urie set about developing an express passenger train engine. The result was the 4-6-0 N15, a loco that took some of the successful attributes from one of his previous designs – the H15.

Although the Walschaerts valve gear and original H15 cylinder stroke were retained, the driving wheels of the new locomotive were enlarged by 6ins to 6ft. 7ins, and the cylinder bore expanded to 22ins. With a number of other amendments to various moving parts, the N15 ultimately gave a smooth ride and produced a boiler pressure of 180 lbs. sq. in. and a tractive effort of 26,245 lbs (slightly variable in some examples).

However, as with everything in life there is usually a price to pay for comfort, quality and reliability. In this particular case such was the extreme force inflicted on the railway tracks where the N15 ran, it was reported to have been one of the highest for locomotive wear and tear on tracks and sleepers.

Despite this potential drawback, in August 1918 the first N15 steam locomotive was out-shopped from Eastleigh Works, Hampshire, UK, at a production cost of £6,740. It bore the number 736. Before the year was out two more locos of the class, Nos. 737 and 738, had been manufactured.

Following the end of World War 1, and the subsequent lifting of the wartime 60 mph speed restriction, a number of faults began to appear as a result of faster running times; severe reductions in steam pressure; occasional frame fractures and hot axle boxes became fairly common.

Regardless of these problems, manufacture of the class continued.

30769 'Sir Balan'

Between June 1922 and March 1923, ten further steam locomotives were completed and subsequently despatched to the Nine Elms, Salisbury and ExmouthJunction (Exeter) sheds to take up main line duties.

In 1924, Richard Maunsell, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the SouthernRailway, decided to improve the overall performance of the N15. After a succession of trials involving 'the worst of the bunch' - N15 No 742 Camelot - Maunsell made a number of modifications that greatly improved performance involving blastpipe and chimney redesign, exhaust/draughting enhancement and increased boiler pressure.

30771 'Sir Sagramore

As a result of these advancements to the N15, the Southern Railway wanted more of the same. With Eastleigh Works unable to manufacture them at the time, construction was switched to Scotland and the NorthBritish Locomotive Company, (NBL), Glasgow. By 20^th July, 20 engines were in service.

Nicknamed 'Scotchmen' or 'Scotch Arthurs', the new locomotives began to develop faults. Although nothing was actually proved, it was believed that these defects had come about due to NBL cutting corners during production.

For the final batch of N15s, No's 793 – 806, building of the locos was switched back to the Eastleigh Works between 1926 and 1927; essentially produced for the London to Brighton Line, known as the 'Central Section'.

The majority of the 74 'King Arthurs' were seen all over Southern England, from Dover in Kent to the south-west for more than 30 years before withdrawal of the class inevitably began.

The first locomotive to go in January 1953 was Urie N15 No. 30754 'The Green Knight' with a fractured frame.

Two years later four more Urie's were withdrawn and scrapped – 30740 Merlin, 30743 Lyonnesse, 30746 Pendragon and 30752 Linette.

The final Urie loco, No. 30738 'King Pellinore', was withdrawn from Basingstoke shed in March 1958 and cut up.

However, the Maunsell locos continued in service until the very early 1960's until the last of the class, No. 30770 'Sir Prianius', was withdrawn in November 1962.

Following withdrawal from main line service in October 1961, one particular locomotive No. 30777 'Sir Lamiel', (a 'Scotch Arthur') was saved from scrapping and is now part of the National Collection in the National Railway Museum at York, UK. Though it can at times be seen providing the motive power for various 'specials' across England.

 

More steam locomotive 'Photos and History' pages.

 

Photos and History of Q1 Class 0-6-0 UK Steam Locomotive

Photos and History of GWR 'City' Class 4-4-0 UK Steam Locomotive

King Arthur Class Steam Locomotive on YouTube:

Best of Class No.777 'Sir Lamiel'.

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