|
|
Locomotives Of The Southern RailwayThe Southern Railway took a key role in expanding the 750v dc third rail electrified network begun by the London & South Western Railway. As a result of this, and its smaller operating area, its steam locomotive stock was the smallest of the 'Big Four' companies. Yet its locomotives were unique and of great interest. For an explanation of numbering and classification, see British Locomotive and Multiple Unit Numbering and Classification. =Background= Post-Nationalisation British Rail completed construction of the 'West Country' and 'Merchant Navy' locomotive designs, but did not build any further orders. It abandoned the 'Leader' class experiments, and Bulleid left the UK to carry forward his unusual locomotive designs in Ireland. Withdrawal Withdrawal of ex-SR locomotives happened mainly towards the end of steam on the Southern Region (in 1967), the pre-Grouping designs having gone before then as electrification continued to spread across the region. =Locomotives of SR Design= With the heavy emphasis on electrification for the London Suburban area and the Brighton Main line there was little need for new steam design on the part of the Southern Railway management. The main steam tasks were the boat trains (Dover, Folkestone and Newhaven), the West Of England services and freight. The designers had some interesting constraints. Due to the hangover from SE&CR days most of the lines in Kent were of fairy light construction and would not take the weight of a modern express locomotive until well into the 1930's. Hence the extensive rebuilding (and new construction) of 4-4-0 designs at a time when other lines were busily building pacifics or heavy 4-6-0s. The ex-SER lines also had the problem of the narrow Bo-Peep tunnel on the Hastings line, requiring locomotive and rolling stock rather narrower than needed elsewhere. This problem persisted into BR days until eventually reduced traffic levels allowed the tunnel to be singled and gave clearance for normal stock. Services for west of Southampton/Salisbury had a different set of problems as neither the Southern or it's constituents ever installed a water trough, thus leading to large tenders with vast water capacity. New designs were Maunsell also rebuilt, modified or continued the new construction of earlier classes Bulleid was also responsible for the mechanical part of the three Electric Locomotives (numbered CC1-CC3 and later British Rail Class 70) produced at Ashford Works in 1941 (1st one) and 1948 (other two). The electrical part was the responsibility of the SR Chief Electrical Engineer, Raworth. =Locomotives of Constituent Companies= UK Southern Railway locomotives
|
 |