Urie H15 class 4-6-0

Urie H15 class 4-6-0

Robert Urie's first design for the LSWR was the result of a crying need for a locomotive with power, freight haulage capacity and reliability. The result of his deliberations was the 2-cylinder simple H15 with outside Walschaerts valve gear and easy accessiblity for maintenance, which latter was a major and welcome departure from his predecessor's 4-6-0 designs.

There was one externally obvious design difference within the class with some having a lower running plate which was raised in order to clear the cylinder casing, whereas the remainder had a straight running plate above the driving wheels which made them difficult to distinguish from the later Maunsell S15 when viewed from a distance. The type with the lower running plate had a single straight splasher above the driving wheels in the same form as the N15s.

The earlier built locos had a new style of tender with external bogie frames and large capacity - 5,200 galls of water and 7 tons of coal. Nº335 and the 1924 built locos had the more usual "watercart" tenders with 5,000 galls and 5 tons.

BR 30489

Nº30489, looking in a sorry state, was one of the original 1914 build but was one of the last to be withdrawn in January 1961.
Note the new style of bogie tender.

photograph: Mike Morant collection

A couple ran for a while with saturated boilers for comparison purposes but Urie was a fervent proponent of superheaters and so, eventually, the entire class was fitted with them. With their 21" x 28" cylinders allied with 6' 0" driving wheels and a free-steaming boiler they proved to be excellent workhorses. Indeed, they were so well built that 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.

Twenty six engines were constructed in total in seven batches over a period of twelve years. The first two batches of five in each were constructed in 1914. These were numbers 482 - 491. A further fifteen were constructed in three batches during 1924 with the final one appearing in January 1925. Those later builds received the numbers 521 - 524, 330 - 334 and 473 - 478. The 330 - 334 batch consisted of rebuilds of F13 class locos, this rebuilding was first earmarked by Urie and then subsequently authorised by Maunsell. The 1924 built engines all had the running plate level from the front rise to the rear fall whilst the other members of the class had a rise in the running plate above the cylinders.

One of the 1924 built engines, Nº474, is being prepared for departure from Waterloo on what appears to be a bright summer's day in 1935.

photograph: Mike Morant collection

SR 474

The mathemeticians amongst you will have noted already that the above notes amount to only twenty five in total. There was an oddity amongst the final quantity, No. 335, which brings the final total to 26.

SR 335

Nº335 in Southern livery at Salisbury shed. This loco was a rebuild of an E14 class 4-6-0 and kept that class's 175 lb boiler and 4,500 gallon tender, making it quite an oddity in a class of variations.

photograph: Mike Morant collection

Before Urie's reign started, his predecessor (Drummond) had set aside E14 class 4-6-0 No. 335 for major modifications as a result of poor performance. Urie knew of this state of affairs when he took office and had so little regard for the loco's design that he gained authorisation, under the auspices of a rebuilding order, to use it as the basis of a completely new locomotive. This engine became H15 No. 335 and was the only one built as a one-off project.

Nº30335 was withdrawn in June 1959 and is seen here awaiting the cutter's torch at Eastleigh.

photograph: Mike Morant collection

BR 30335

These locomotives were a bit of a test-bed for superheating, something the LSWR was rather late in adopting. Engines numbered 482-5 were fitted with Schmidt apparatus, numbered 486-9 with Robinson's apparatus whilst 490 and 491 were built to use saturated steam. The result was Urie's own design, known as the Eastleigh Superheater, that was later fitted to 490 and 491. In June 1927 Nº491 was fitted with a King Arthur boiler working at 200 lb sq in, and fitted with a Maunsell style superheater. Subsequently the other nine of the above engines were fitted with Maunsell superheaters, but retained their original boilers.
Comparisons of the different types are below:

		Saturated Steam	Schmidt Superheater	Robinson Superheater	"Eastleigh" Superheater	"Maunsell" Superheater
		490	482-5	486-9	490/1	491	482-90
Small tubes:	sq.ft	2,025	1,252	1,252	1,252	1,252	1,252
Large tubes:	sq.ft	-	507	464	464	464	464
Firebox:	sq.ft	167	167	167	167	162	167
Total:	sq.ft	2,191	1,296	1,883	1,883	1,878	1,883
Superheater:	sq.ft	-	360	333	308	337	337
Total combined:	sq.ft	-	2,286	2,216	2,191	2,215	2,220

BR 30330

Nº30330 is shown here at Nine Elms in June 1949, sporting the first BR livery style and, being one of the 1924 built locos, with the smaller tender.
The locomotive, built in November 1924, was one of the earliest H15 withdrawals, succumbing in May 1957.

photograph: Mike Morant collection

Technical Details:

Introduced:
Driving Wheel:
Bogie Wheel:
Length:
Total Weight:
Water Capacity:

Cylinders:
Boiler Pressure:

Tractive Effort:

Coal Capacity:

Power Classification:

Jan 1914
6 ft 0 in
3 ft 7 in
65 ft 6¾ in
137 tons 10 cwt (approx)
Nº335 - 4,500 gals
Nº482 - Nº491 5,200 gals
remainder 5,000 gals
(2) 21 in x 28 in
Nº335 - 175 lb. sq. in.
remainder - 180 lb. sq. in.
rebuilt Nº491 - 200 lb. sq. in.
Nº335 - 26,240 lb
remainder - 25,500 lb
rebuilt Nº491 - 29,150 lb
Nº482 - Nº491 7 tons
remainder 5 tons
4-P 5-F

LSWR/SR Nº #	BR Nº	Built	Superheater §	Maunsell S/H fitted	Withdrawn
486	30486	Dec 1913	R	Mar 1930	Jul 1959
485	30485	Jan 1914	S	Sep 1928	Jan 1955
487	30487	Jan 1914	R	May 1929	Nov 1957
482	30482	Feb 1914	S	Oct 1934	May 1959
488	30488	Mar 1914	R	Mar 1928	Apr 1959
483	30482	Mar 1914	S	Sep 1929	Jul 1957
484	30484	Apr 1914	S	Jan 1931	May 1959
489	30489	May 1914	R	Mar 1932	Jan 1961
490	30490	Jun 1914	- ¹	May 1929	Jun 1955
491	30491	Jul 1914	- ²	Jun 1927	Jan 1961
335	30335	Nov 1914	E	Dec 1927	Jun 1959
473	30473	Feb 1924	E	Nov 1931	Jul 1959
474	30474	Feb 1924	E	Jun 1931	Apr 1960
475	30475	Mar 1924	E	Jun 1930	Dec 1961
476	30476	Apr 1924	E	Jan 1929	Dec 1961
477	30477	May 1924	E	Dec 1929	Jun 1959
478	30478	Jun 1924	E	May 1930	Mar 1959
521	30521	Jul 1924	E	Sep 1929	Dec 1961
522	30522	Jul 1924	E	Apr 1929	Oct 1961
523	30523	Sep 1924	E	Jul 1929	Sep 1961
524	30524	Sep 1924	M	-	Feb 1961
330	30330	Oct 1924	M	-	May 1957
331	30331	Nov 1924	M	-	Mar 1961
332	30332	Nov 1924	M	-	Oct 1956
333	30333	Dec 1924	M	-	Oct 1958
334	30334	Jan 1925	M	-	Jun 1958
#	Between 1923 and 1928 SR numbers were the L&SWR numbers with the added prefix 'E', although the prefix may not have been removed until some time later!
§	S = Schmidt Superheater R = Robinson Superheater E = Eastleigh Superheater M = Maunsell Superheater ¹ Eastleigh S/H fitted Dec 1919 ² Eastleigh S/H fitted Oct 1917

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This page was last updated 29 August 2007