LB&SCR B4 Class - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The B4 class were 4-4-0

4-4-0

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels...

steam locomotives for express passenger work on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway 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...

. They were designed by R. J. Billinton

R. J. Billinton

Robert John Billinton was the Locomotive, Carriage, Wagon and Marine Superintendent of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway from 1890 until his death.-Early career:...

and were either built at Brighton works

Brighton railway works

Brighton railway works was one of the earliest railway-owned locomotive repair works, founded in 1840 by the London and Brighton Railway in Brighton, England, and thus pre-dating the more famous railway works at Crewe, Doncaster and Swindon...

1899–1902 or else by Messrs Sharp, Stewart and Company in 1901. Twelve members of the class were rebuilt from 1922–1924 by L. B. Billinton

L. B. Billinton

Lawson Boskovsky Billinton was the locomotive engineer of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway from 1912 for ten years until his retirement in 1922....

with a larger boiler, cylinders and a superheater

Superheater

A superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into dry steam used for power generation or processes. There are three types of superheaters namely: radiant, convection, and separately fired...

. The rebuilt locomotives were classified B4X.

Construction

The performance of Robert Billinton’s

R. J. Billinton

Robert John Billinton was the Locomotive, Carriage, Wagon and Marine Superintendent of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway from 1890 until his death.-Early career:...

B2 class

LB&SCR B2 class

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway B2 class was a class of small 4-4-0 steam locomotives intended for express passenger work on the LB&SCR London to Portsmouth line. They were designed by R. J. Billinton and built at Brighton works from 1895 to 1897...

4-4-0

locomotives of 1895–1897 had proved to be disappointing and they had not been able to replace the earlier Stroudley’s

William Stroudley

William Stroudley was one of Britain's most famous steam locomotive engineers of the nineteenth century, working principally for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway...

B1 class

LB&SCR B1 Class

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway B1 Class is a class of 0-4-2 express passenger steam locomotives, known from the name of the first, No. 214, as the "Gladstones".-History:...

0-4-2

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-2 represents the wheel arrangement with no leading wheels, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle...

on the heaviest London to Brighton

Brighton

Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

express trains. Billinton therefore sought authority for the construction of twenty-five larger and more powerful 4-4-0

4-4-0

B4 class locomotives. The first two of these, Nos. 52 and 53, were completed at Brighton works

Brighton railway works

between December 1899 and January 1900, both of which performed well and demonstrated that the new design was sound. However during the spring of 1900 a backlog of repair work at Brighton meant that the third (No. 54) was not completed until May 1900. The railway therefore approached Sharp, Stewart and Company to supply twenty-five further examples over the next twelve months. These were all delivered between June and October 1901. By 1901 Brighton had overcome the backlog of repair work and five further locomotive boilers were ordered from Sharp, Stewart and Company to be used on additional locomotives to be built at Brighton between June and September 1902.

Use

The B4 class successfully hauled the heaviest express trains on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway

until around 1912 when they were gradually replaced by the larger H1

LB&SCR H1 class

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway H1 class was a class of 4-4-2 steam locomotives for express passenger work. They were designed by D. E. Marsh and were built by Messrs Kitson & Co...

, H2

LB&SCR H2 class

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway H2 class was a class of 4-4-2 steam locomotives for express passenger work. They were designed when D. E. Marsh was officially Locomotive Superintendent, and were built at Brighton Works in 1911 and 1912...

, J1

LB&SCR J1 class

The LB&SCR J1 and J2 classes were 4-6-2 steam tank locomotives designed by D. E. Marsh for express passenger services on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway.-History:...

and J2 classes. Thereafter they were regularly used on slower and lighter services. According to O.S. Nock the B4 class "were among the finest passenger locomotives of their day".

Rebuilds

In 1918 No. 46 was rebuilt by Lawson Billinton

L. B. Billinton

Lawson Boskovsky Billinton was the locomotive engineer of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway from 1912 for ten years until his retirement in 1922....

with a new boiler including a Robinson superheater

Superheating

In physics, superheating is the phenomenon in which a liquid is heated to a temperature higher than its boiling point, without boiling...

. The resulting improved fuel efficiency encouraged Billinton to rebuild members of the class, using his K class

LB&SCR K class

London Brighton and South Coast Railway Class K were powerful 2-6-0 mixed traffic locomotives designed by L. B. Billinton for the London Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1913. They appeared shortly before the First World War and the first ten examples of the class did prodigious work during...

superheated boiler, when their existing boilers became due for renewal. The rebuilt locomotives were classified B4X. However, since the original frames, boiler and firebox, could no longer be used, they were virtually new engines. Twelve members of the class were 'rebuilt' between August 1922 and January 1924, but further were deferred by Richard Maunsell

Richard Maunsell

Richard Edward Lloyd Maunsell held the post of Chief Mechanical Engineer of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway from 1913 until the 1923 Grouping and then the post of CME of the Southern Railway in England until 1937....

of Southern Railway (Great Britain)

Southern Railway (Great Britain)

The Southern Railway was a British railway company established in the 1923 Grouping. It linked London with the Channel ports, South West England, South coast resorts and Kent...

when it became apparent that their performance at high speed was not entirely satisfactory.

The B4 and B4x classes continued with secondary duties but thirteen members of the class were withdrawn between 1934 and 1939. The remainder would have followed soon after if the Second World War had not brought about a temporary reprieve. Six B4s and twelve B4Xs passed to British Railways in 1948. All had been withdrawn by 1951. None has survived.

Locomotive summary

LB&SCR No.	Builder	Rebuilt B4X	LBSCR Name	Renamed/date	1st SR No.	2nd SR No.	BR No.
42	Brighton	—	His Majesty		B42	2042	–
43	Brighton		Duchess of Fife		B43	2043	32043
44	Brighton	—	Cecil Rhodes		B44	2044	—
45	Brighton		Bessborough		B45	2045	—
46	Brighton	—	Prince of Wales		B46	2046	—
47	Sharp, Stewart & Co.	—	Canada		B47	2047	—
48	Sharp, Stewart & Co.	—	Australia		B48	2048	—
49	Sharp, Stewart & Co.	—	Queensland*	Duchess of Norfolk/1904	B49	2049	—
50	Sharp, Stewart & Co.		Tasmania		B50	2050	—
51	Sharp, Stewart & Co.	—	Wolferton		B51	2051	—
52	Brighton		Siemens	Sussex/1908	B52	2052	—
53	Brighton	—	Sirdar	Richmond/1906	B53	2053	—
54	Brighton	—	Empress	Princess Royal/1906	B54	2054	—
55	Sharp, Stewart & Co.		Emperor		B55	2055	—
56	Sharp, Stewart & Co.		Roberts		B56	2056	—
57	Sharp, Stewart & Co.	—	Buller		B57	2057	—
58	Sharp, Stewart & Co.	—	Kitchener		B58	2058	—
59	Sharp, Stewart & Co.	—	Baden Powell Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, Bt, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB , also known as B-P or Lord Baden-Powell, was a lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, and founder of the Scout Movement....		B59	2059	—
60	Sharp, Stewart & Co.		Kimberley		B60	2060	s2060
61	Sharp, Stewart & Co.	—	Ladysmith Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal Ladysmith is a city in the Uthukela District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is north-west of Durban and south of Johannesburg. Important industries in the area include food processing, textile and tyre production...		B61	2061	—
62	Sharp, Stewart & Co.	—	Mafeking Siege of Mafeking The Siege of Mafeking was the most famous British action in the Second Boer War. It took place at the town of Mafeking in South Africa over a period of 217 days, from October 1899 to May 1900, and turned Robert Baden-Powell, who went on to found the Scouting Movement, into a national hero...		B62	2062	—
63	Sharp, Stewart & Co.	—	Pretoria		B63	2063	—
64	Sharp, Stewart & Co.	—	Windsor	Norfolk/1908	B64	2064	—
65	Sharp, Stewart & Co.	—	Sandringham		B65	2065	—
66	Sharp, Stewart & Co.	—	Balmoral	Billinton/1906	B66	2066	—
67	Sharp, Stewart & Co.		Osborne		B67	2067	—
68	Sharp, Stewart & Co.	—	Marlborough		B68	2068	—
69	Sharp, Stewart & Co.	—	Bagshot		B69	2069	—
70	Sharp, Stewart & Co.		Holyrood	Devonshire/1907.03	B70	2070	—
71	Sharp, Stewart & Co.		Goodwood		B71	2071	32071
72	Sharp, Stewart & Co.		Sussex		B72	2072	32072
73	Sharp, Stewart & Co.		Westminster		B73	2073	—
74	Sharp, Stewart & Co.	—	Cornwall		B74	2074	—

External links

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