Maunsell L1 Class 4-4-0
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| Photograph: Mike Morant collection |
| L1 class Nº 31786 in early BR livery. The full legend occupies nearly the entire length of the tender which is of the same type fitted to the N class moguls and common to all the L1s. ;All bar two of the class carried this livery - 1753 & 1782 were the exceptions - 31756 retained it until 1953. |
| The design and introduction of Maunsell's L class 4-4-0
smacks, in modern-day terminology, of creative accountancy as his
vastly more capable N15 class was already in production and
destined for the Kent coast express turns in addition to which
his Lord Nelson prototype was about to undergo rigorous road
testing with the intention that they would be used on the same
routes. However, there was an outstanding works order for 15
express engines still on the books from the time of the grouping
in 1923 and he obviously considered that there was a dire need
for Kentish motive power to supplement the existing fleet until
the Arthur and Nelson projects were successfully completed.
The L1s bore a strong resemblance to his rebuilds of the Ds and Es and visually owed much, as usual, to the Derby influence at Ashford during his tenure. There was no capacity available for the construction of these engines and so the entire building project was contracted out to the North British Locomotive Company who delivered all 15 of the class during 1926. They proved, in common with his other 4-4-0 rebuilds, to be reliable, strong locomotives and all survived in service well beyond 30 years with the last survivor, 31786, being retained until 1962 - slightly longer than the rest of the class - for use on a couple of enthusiasts' railtours early in that year. Due to a lack of capacity in the design department the class was little different from the L class siblings and had only a slightly higher tractive effort with the main differences being of the cosmetic variety. The N class smokebox and chimney, a side-window cab and the mogul tender were the only significant external technical changes from the L class. During the long and fruitful life of the L1 class the only obvious changes were the removal of the smokebox-mounted snifter valves and changes of number and livery. |
| Nº31753 is in splendid fettle with commendably clean BR lined black livery and burnished wheel
rims.
photograph: Mike Morant collection |
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Another, later, photograph of Nº31786, this time taken at Nine Elms.
photograph: Mike Morant collection |
Technical Details
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| Original Nº | SR Nº # | BR Nº | Build date | Withdrawn |
| A 753 | 1753 | 31753 | 1926 | Oct 1961 |
| A 754 | 1754 | 31754 | 1926 | Nov 1961 |
| A 755 | 1755 | 31755 | 1926 | Aug 1959 |
| A 756 | 1756 | 31756 | 1926 | Oct 1961 |
| A 757 | 1757 | 31757 | 1926 | Dec 1961 |
| A 758 | 1758 | 31758 | 1926 | Oct 1959 |
| A 759 | 1759 | 31759 | 1926 | Nov 1961 |
| A 782 | 1782 | 31782 | 1926 | Feb 1961 |
| A 783 | 1783 | 31783 | 1926 | Nov 1961 |
| A 784 | 1784 | 31784 | 1926 | Feb 1960 |
| A 785 | 1785 | 31785 | 1926 | Jan 1960 |
| A 786 | 1786 | 31786 | 1926 | Feb 1962 |
| A 787 | 1787 | 31787 | 1926 | Jan 1961 |
| A 788 | 1788 | 31788 | 1926 | Jan 1960 |
| A 789 | 1789 | 31789 | 1926 | Nov 1961 |
| # This class entered service prior to the SR's renumbering scheme and so, like their
pre-grouping relatives, they sported SECR numbers with the 'A' prefix thereby indicating their Ashford origins. |
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This page was last updated 30th April 2011
