LSWR Class H15
Encyclopedia
The LSWR/SR H15 class was a class of 2-cylinder 4-6-0
steam locomotive
s designed by Robert Urie
for mixed-traffic duties on the LSWR
. Further batches were constructed by Richard Maunsell
for the SR
.
The resultant design was an outside 2-cylinder locomotive fitted with outside Walschaerts valve gear for ease of maintenance, with all the working parts relatively accessible when compared to previous designs operating on the LSWR system.
Ten locomotives (numbers 482–491) were built new by Eastleigh Works
with 180 lb/in2 boilers. They appeared in January to July 1914. Urie was a proponent of superheating
, so in order to gain experience and data on performance and fuel economy, four of the locomotives (482–485) were fitted with Schmidt
superheaters, four (486–489) with Robinson superheaters, and two (490–491) were built as saturated locomotives. The last two had a lower weight than the first eight.
While the data gained from this small experiment showed the benefits of superheating, neither design of superheater was deemed suitable by Urie, so he designed and patented his own: the Eastleigh superheater, which was subsequently fitted to all members of the H15 class.
An additional locomotive was a rebuild of the 1905-vintage E14 class
locomotive, number 335, undertaken in December 1914. This one-locomotive class had been earmarked by Urie's predecessor, Dugald Drummond
, for major modifications in the light of poor operational performance. Urie however, instead of modifying it, rebuilt it as the eleventh member of the H15 class.. It was the first locomotive to be fitted with an Eastleigh superheater, but it retained its original boiler pressure of 175 lb/in2.
However, improvements were made to the overall design whilst the locomotive was under production at Eastleigh Works
. The earlier class members mounted a lower running plate that was raised above the cylinders for clearance. These locomotives also sported a single, straight splasher above the driving wheels, an embellishment that would feature on Urie's later N15 class
. The later production locomotives did not feature this design, with a higher-mounted straight running plate above the driving wheels, a feature that was perpetuated on the later S15 class design by Urie.
A total of 26 locomotives were completed in six batches, including number 335, over a period of twelve years. The first two batches of five in each were constructed in 1914. A further fifteen locomotives were constructed in three consecutive batches during 1924, the final one appearing in January 1925, and these were constructed under the auspices of Richard Maunsell, Urie's successor. Amongst the final batches of the class was another rebuild project concerning five members of the Drummond F13 Class. Maunsell's own batch of ten locomotives were a continuation of the design set out by Urie with number 491.
The class was provided with a 5,000 gallon Drummond 'watercart' eight-wheeled tender design that enabled them to travel on the long distances of the LSWR network which never had water troughs. Further modifications to the class were made by Maunsell during the mid-1930s with the provision of smoke deflectors.
hauling stone trains.
The Drummond F13 rebuild were notable for having very tall cabs, requiring footplate
staff shorter than 6 foot in height to stand on improvised stools to reach some controls. This resulted in those class members with this feature being nicknamed 'Cathedrals'. This nickname does not seem to have been applied to the rest of the class, although crews from Guildford
depot referred to the others as the 'City Breed'. All members of the class had been withdrawn by 1961 as a result of the BR 1955 Modernisation Plan, and no locomotives survived into preservation.
The first Southern livery, as displayed by the 1924 batch, continued that of the LSWR, though with the number displayed on the tender. However, from 1925, a darker Olive-type green was substituted, and the entire class was so outshopped.
Wheels were green with black tyres. Primrose Yellow 'Southern' and locomotive number transfers were placed on the tender tank.
By 1939, after Oliver Bulleid
's appointment as Chief Mechanical Engineer
, the locomotives had been outshopped in an unlined black livery to denote their freight status subject to livery experimentation. 'Southern' remained on the tender, though the number transfer was moved to the cabside, both in 'Sunshine Yellow' lettering. During wartime service, a further modification to the livery was made with a green shading on the 'Sunshine' lettering. The final Southern livery reverted to 'Sunshine Yellow' lettering and numbering.
The first two batches of five were numbered 482–491. The later batches received the numbers 521–524, 330–334 (F13 rebuilds) and 473–478, and the final member was number E14 rebuild 335, which provided the basis for the entire class.
Livery immediately after Nationalisation was transitional, with 'British Railways' on the tender in Southern Yellow. Numbers were initially given an 'S' prefix. From the early 1950s the class was given the new BR mixed traffic Black with red/white lining.
The class was numbered according to the BR Standard Numbering System, given the series 30482–30491; 30521–30524; 30330–30334 (F13 rebuilds) and finally 30473–30478.
4-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This wheel arrangement became the second-most popular...
steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s designed by Robert Urie
Robert Urie
Robert Wallace Urie was a Scottish locomotive engineer who was the last chief mechanical engineer of the London and South Western Railway....
for mixed-traffic duties on the LSWR
London and South Western Railway
The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter, with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth. It also had many routes connecting towns in...
. Further batches were constructed 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....
for the SR
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...
.
Construction history
The H15 class represented Robert Urie's first design for the LSWR. It was created in response to a desperate lack of adequate locomotives in service on the LSWR that could be utilised for heavy freight duties. Reliability was also an issue, with ageing locomotive designs taking their toll on the LSWR's resources.The resultant design was an outside 2-cylinder locomotive fitted with outside Walschaerts valve gear for ease of maintenance, with all the working parts relatively accessible when compared to previous designs operating on the LSWR system.
Ten locomotives (numbers 482–491) were built new by Eastleigh Works
Eastleigh Works
Eastleigh Works is a locomotive, carriage and wagon building and repair facility in the town of Eastleigh in the county of Hampshire in England.-History under the LSWR:...
with 180 lb/in2 boilers. They appeared in January to July 1914. Urie was a proponent of superheating
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...
, so in order to gain experience and data on performance and fuel economy, four of the locomotives (482–485) were fitted with Schmidt
Wilhelm Schmidt (engineer)
Wilhelm Schmidt, known as Hot Steam Schmidt was a German engineer and inventor who achieved the breakthrough in the development of superheated steam technology for steam engines....
superheaters, four (486–489) with Robinson superheaters, and two (490–491) were built as saturated locomotives. The last two had a lower weight than the first eight.
While the data gained from this small experiment showed the benefits of superheating, neither design of superheater was deemed suitable by Urie, so he designed and patented his own: the Eastleigh superheater, which was subsequently fitted to all members of the H15 class.
An additional locomotive was a rebuild of the 1905-vintage E14 class
LSWR E14 class
The LSWR E14 Class was a class of 4-6-0 locomotive designed by Dugald Drummond for the London and South Western Railway.- Background :The indifferent feedback gained upon the release of Drummond's first 4-6-0 design, the F13 class meant that he went back to the drawing board to create a new,...
locomotive, number 335, undertaken in December 1914. This one-locomotive class had been earmarked by Urie's predecessor, Dugald Drummond
Dugald Drummond
Dugald Drummond was a Scottish steam locomotive engineer. He had a career with the North British Railway, LB&SCR, Caledonian Railway and London and South Western Railway...
, for major modifications in the light of poor operational performance. Urie however, instead of modifying it, rebuilt it as the eleventh member of the H15 class.. It was the first locomotive to be fitted with an Eastleigh superheater, but it retained its original boiler pressure of 175 lb/in2.
However, improvements were made to the overall design whilst the locomotive was under production at Eastleigh Works
Eastleigh Works
Eastleigh Works is a locomotive, carriage and wagon building and repair facility in the town of Eastleigh in the county of Hampshire in England.-History under the LSWR:...
. The earlier class members mounted a lower running plate that was raised above the cylinders for clearance. These locomotives also sported a single, straight splasher above the driving wheels, an embellishment that would feature on Urie's later N15 class
LSWR N15 Class
The LSWR N15 class was a British 2–cylinder 4-6-0 express passenger steam locomotive designed by Robert W. Urie. The class has a complex build history spanning three sub-classes and eight years of construction from 1919 to 1926...
. The later production locomotives did not feature this design, with a higher-mounted straight running plate above the driving wheels, a feature that was perpetuated on the later S15 class design by Urie.
A total of 26 locomotives were completed in six batches, including number 335, over a period of twelve years. The first two batches of five in each were constructed in 1914. A further fifteen locomotives were constructed in three consecutive batches during 1924, the final one appearing in January 1925, and these were constructed under the auspices of Richard Maunsell, Urie's successor. Amongst the final batches of the class was another rebuild project concerning five members of the Drummond F13 Class. Maunsell's own batch of ten locomotives were a continuation of the design set out by Urie with number 491.
| Year | Order | Quantity | LSWR/SR numbers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1914 | |
|
482, 483, 485–487 | |
| 1914 | |
|
484, 488–491 | |
| 1914 | |
|
335 | rebuilt from E14 class LSWR E14 class The LSWR E14 Class was a class of 4-6-0 locomotive designed by Dugald Drummond for the London and South Western Railway.- Background :The indifferent feedback gained upon the release of Drummond's first 4-6-0 design, the F13 class meant that he went back to the drawing board to create a new,... |
| 1924 | |
|
473–477 | |
| 1924 | |
|
478, 521–524 | |
| 1924 | |
|
330–334 | "rebuilt" from F13 class LSWR F13 class The London and South Western Railway F13 class was a class of 4-6-0 locomotives designed by Dugald Drummond for the London and South Western Railway .- Background :... |
The class was provided with a 5,000 gallon Drummond 'watercart' eight-wheeled tender design that enabled them to travel on the long distances of the LSWR network which never had water troughs. Further modifications to the class were made by Maunsell during the mid-1930s with the provision of smoke deflectors.
Operational details
With their 21 × 28 inch cylinders allied with 6 ft 0 in driving wheels and a free-steaming boiler they proved to be excellent workhorses. General overhauls revealed that they were very well built. When 30487 was stripped down for general repairs in 1954 it was found that the frames showed little sign of forty years of hard graft. During their careers they were used on fast, heavy freights, and were particularly familiar around OkehamptonOkehampton
Okehampton is a town and civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and has an estimated population of 7,155.-History:...
hauling stone trains.
The Drummond F13 rebuild were notable for having very tall cabs, requiring footplate
Footplate
The footplate of a steam locomotive is a large metal plate that rests on top of the frames and is normally covered with wooden floorboards. It is usually the full width of the locomotive and extends from the front of the cab to the rear of cab or coal bunker just above the buffer beam. The...
staff shorter than 6 foot in height to stand on improvised stools to reach some controls. This resulted in those class members with this feature being nicknamed 'Cathedrals'. This nickname does not seem to have been applied to the rest of the class, although crews from Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
depot referred to the others as the 'City Breed'. All members of the class had been withdrawn by 1961 as a result of the BR 1955 Modernisation Plan, and no locomotives survived into preservation.
LSWR and Southern
Livery was initially LSWR Drummond Lined Passenger Green livery, this being complemented by purple-brown edging and double yellow lining. The initials 'LSWR' were located on the tender, and the number was placed on the cabside.The first Southern livery, as displayed by the 1924 batch, continued that of the LSWR, though with the number displayed on the tender. However, from 1925, a darker Olive-type green was substituted, and the entire class was so outshopped.
Wheels were green with black tyres. Primrose Yellow 'Southern' and locomotive number transfers were placed on the tender tank.
By 1939, after Oliver Bulleid
Oliver Bulleid
Oliver Vaughan Snell Bulleid was a British railway and mechanical engineer best known as the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Southern Railway between 1937 and the 1948 nationalisation, developing many well-known locomotives.- Early life and Great Northern Railway :He was born in Invercargill,...
's appointment as Chief Mechanical Engineer
Chief Mechanical Engineer
Chief Mechanical Engineer and Locomotive Superintendent are titles applied by British, Australian, and New Zealand railway companies to the person ultimately responsible to the board of the company for the building and maintaining of the locomotives and rolling stock...
, the locomotives had been outshopped in an unlined black livery to denote their freight status subject to livery experimentation. 'Southern' remained on the tender, though the number transfer was moved to the cabside, both in 'Sunshine Yellow' lettering. During wartime service, a further modification to the livery was made with a green shading on the 'Sunshine' lettering. The final Southern livery reverted to 'Sunshine Yellow' lettering and numbering.
The first two batches of five were numbered 482–491. The later batches received the numbers 521–524, 330–334 (F13 rebuilds) and 473–478, and the final member was number E14 rebuild 335, which provided the basis for the entire class.
Post-1948 (nationalisation)
The class was given the BR Power Classification of 4P5F.Livery immediately after Nationalisation was transitional, with 'British Railways' on the tender in Southern Yellow. Numbers were initially given an 'S' prefix. From the early 1950s the class was given the new BR mixed traffic Black with red/white lining.
The class was numbered according to the BR Standard Numbering System, given the series 30482–30491; 30521–30524; 30330–30334 (F13 rebuilds) and finally 30473–30478.