LBSCR class H1 and H2 "Atlantic" 4-4-2
| The Atlantic's had their nameplates on the splashers of
the trailing driving wheels. This one is 32425's.
photograph Mike Morant |
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| The last of the Atlantics to survive was Nº32424 Beachy Head whose swansong was an enthusiasts' special over the route she had made her own - to Newhaven - on 13th April 1958, before going to Brighton loco shed for the very last time. Her final journey was to Eastleigh for withdrawal, not only under her own steam but also with a 12 coach ECS behind her. |
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Nº32425 Trevose Head at East Croydon with what
appears to have been the relief down Newhaven Boat Train. Date of photo not
known.
photograph by Mike Morant |
| Nº32425 Trevose Head on foreign metals at Bourne
End, Buckinghamshire with "The Riverside Special" on 29th July 1956.
There was a second H2 there so, presumably, there was a relief Special!
photograph by Mike Morant |
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A sad sight! Trevose Head withdrawn and minus connecting
and coupling rods, photographed at Slade Green where she was used from 30th
December 1956 to April 1957 as a boiler to heat the electric depot while the
permanent plant was being converted from coal to oil.
photograph: Mike Morant collection |
| LCGB Southern Counties Limited of 24th February 1957. The last Marsh H2, Nº32424 Beachy
Head photographed at Sanderstead as she heads for East Grinstead and Horsted Keynes, which would be the end of
her stint.
photograph: Mike Morant collection |
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Now seen taking water by Oxted's Signalbox, the Southern Counties Limited's imaginative
itinerary had started out from Marylebone, of all places, with Nº32424 taking over this duty at Kew East
Junction from a pair of Robinson N5 0-6-2Ts.
photograph: Mike Morant collection |
| Nº32424 Beachy Head passing New Wandsworth goods
yard with the Farewell Atlantic Tour on 13th April 1958. The 6 Pul/6 Pan has
been diverted to the down slow line on this occasion!
photograph: Mike Morant collection |
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Some ten minutes later Beachy Head storms over the brow
of the hill from Streatham Common and into Norbury station with the Farewell
Atlantic Tour.
photograph by Mike Morant |
| Beachy Head's stint finished at Newhaven where Standard 4MT
Nº80154 took over for the leg to Brighton. Here both engines are seen at Newhaven MPD.
photograph: Mike Morant collection |
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| It is noteworthy that not only was Beachy Head the last of the Brighton Atlantics, she was also the last surviving British Railways express locomotive of that wheel arrangement and it is a crime that none was preserved. However, with plans advancing at the Bluebell Railway to build a new Brighton Atlantic (utilising a GNR Atlantic boiler) it may not be all that long before we can travel behind a 4-4-2 locomotive once more. |
All photographs are copyright
This page was updated 15 April 2011
