SECR E class

SECR E class
SECR E class at Cannon Street
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Harry Wainwright Builder Ashford Works Build date 1906–1908 Total produced 26
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 4-4-0  • UIC E: 2′B n2 E1: 2′B h2 Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Leading dia. 3 ft 6 in (1.067 m) Driver dia. 6 ft 6 in (1.981 m) Length 55 ft 3 in (16.840 m) Loco weight 52 long tons 5 cwt (117,000 lb or 53.1 t) Tender weight 39 long tons 2 cwt (87,600 lb or 39.7 t) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 4 long tons 0 cwt (9,000 lb or 4.1 t) Water cap 3,450 imp gal (15,700 l; 4,140 US gal) Firebox:  • Firegrate area 21 1⁄4 sq ft (1.97 m2) Boiler pressure 180 lbf/in2 (1.24 MPa) Heating surface 1,532 sq ft (142.3 m2)  • Tubes 1,396 sq ft (129.7 m2)  • Firebox 136 sq ft (12.6 m2) Cylinders Two, inside Cylinder size 19 in × 26 in (483 mm × 660 mm) Valve gear Stephenson
Career Operators South Eastern and Chatham Railway → Southern Railway → Southern Region of British Railways Class E Withdrawn E: 1944–1956 E1: 1949–1961 Disposition 11 rebuilt to E1 class all later scrapped

The SECR E class was a class of 4-4-0 tender locomotives designed by Harry Wainwright for express passenger trains on the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. It was a larger version of the D class incorporating a Belpaire firebox

Following the success of his D class 4-4-0 design, Wainwright obtained authority to build a further five similar locomotives incorporating a Belpaire firebox to provide additional power. These were built at Ashford railway works during the last few months of 1905 and entered traffic early in 1906. Once the design had proved to be successful, further orders were placed until 26 had been constructed at Ashford by April 1909. In 1911 and 1912 two examples of the class received boilers with superheaters, which significantly improved their fuel efficiency, but unfortunately the additional weight prevented them from working over the lines of the former London Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) and so no further examples were so treated.

In 1917 the SECR Board decided that when the London to Dover and Folkestone boat trains were reinstated after the war, they would be centred on London Victoria railway station, using the LCDR lines. This created a serious problem of producing a locomotive with sufficient power but with an acceptable axle load. Richard Maunsell therefore ordered the rebuilding one example with a larger cylinders, boiler and firebox, whilst at the same time reducing unnecessary weight elsewhere in the locomotive. This work was largely undertaken by his Chief Locomotive Draughtsman James Clayton. The experimental rebuilding was implemented following the Armistice in November 1918 and proved to be successful. A further ten examples were rebuilt by Beyer, Peacock and Company during 1919 and 1920, and ten more were supposed to follow in 1921, although at the last minute ten further D class locomotives were rebuilt instead.