SER R and R1 classes, 0-6-0T
R1 Class Nº1010 in Southern Railway days, complete with shortened chimney. photograph: Mike Morant collection |
| The SER R Class 0-6-0T was the first of a series of 0-6-0 tanks
provided for the SER by J. Stirling. Prior to this the SER had been the only
line of its size in Britain not using tank locomotives of this wheel
arrangement, although three had been trialled many years earlier on the Folkestone Harbour branch. Principally
built for shunting, the R Class was rarely seen in London being used in the
main in Kent for such duties, also some passenger trains on the Whitstable
branch and the Elham Valley line. Built with round-top cabs they were the only
Stirling locos so treated, all his other classes having the more usual square
type of cab. The boiler was the same as on the Q Class and the frames were the
same as on the O Class tender locomotive.
Wainwright subsequently fitted two of the class, numbers 153 and 336, with new boilers pitched 73/8" higher to accommodate a deeper firebox. Starting in 1910 Wainwright then rebuilt another thirteen locos as class R1 with his domed boiler and "Pagoda" cab ¶. Leading sandboxes under the footplate were provided on some of the locos, whilst those assigned for working the Folkestone Harbour branch had additional sandboxes in front of the driving wheels. This added to the confusion of class identities within the SECR as there had already been a SECR R1 Class in existence since 1900, being a larger version of the LCDR R Class locos! ¶ Locos numbered 10, 107 and 147 kept their Stirling rounded cabs and had their chimneys cut down for working through Tyler Tunnel on the Whitsable branch. |
| R Class Nº1070, date and location unknown. Note the height
of the "normal" chimney when compared with that fitted to Nº1010
above.
photograph: Mike Morant collection |
 |
 |
R1 Class Nº31107 at Folkestone Harbour. From the direction
of the smoke it would appear this loco was banking the train up the gradient.
photograph: Mike Morant collection |
| R1 Class Nº31128, date and location unknown.
photograph: Mike Morant collection |
 |
| In 1938 Bulleid gave one locomotives, Nº1010 a replacement
boiler with "Ross" safety valves and Urie stove pipe chimney. Later
two more, numbers 1147 and 1339 were given the same treatment.
The first loco to be withdrawn was Nº341 as early as 1914, but no more were withdrawn until 1934. None of the R Class survived the war years, but all thirteen of the R1 Class survived into British Railways' ownership, with the last being withdrawn in March 1960. These locos had been particularly well known for their work on the Folkestone Harbour boat trains. It could take as many as four locos to lift a heavy train up the gradient from the Harbour station. |
Technical Details |
||
| R Class Introduced: 1888 Driving Wheel: 5 ft 2 ins Water Capacity: 750 gals Cylinders (2): 18 in x 26 in Boiler Pressure: 140 lb sq in Tractive Effort: 16,170 lb Coal Capacity: 1 ton 15 cwt Weight: 42 tons 10 cwt |
R1 Class
Introduced: 1910 Boiler Pressure: 160 lb sq in Tractive Effort: 18,480 lb |
|
| The SER was, if anything, the worst of the Southern Companies
when it came to numbering locomotive classes out of consecutive order and the R
Class was no exception! The following table is set out in order of build: |
|||||
| SER/SE&CR Nº | SR Nº # | BR Nº | Built | Rebuilt as R1 | Withdrawn |
| 335 | 1335 | 31335 | Jun 1888 | 1915 | Jul 1955 |
| 336 | 1336 | - | Jun 1888 | - | Jun 1941 |
| 337 | 1337 | 31337 | Jun 1888 | 1922 | Feb 1960 |
| 338 | 1338 | - | Jun 1888 | - | Mar 1934 |
| 339 | 1339 | 31339 | Feb 1889 | 1911 | Jun 1958 |
| 340 | 1340 | 31340 | Mar 1889 | 1913 | Feb 1959 |
| 341 | - | - | 1889 | - | 1914 |
| 342 | 1342 | - | Apr 1889 | - | Jul 1931 |
| 77 | 1077 | - | Nov 1890 | - | Dec 1932 |
| 147 | 1147 | 31147 | Nov 1890 | 1912 ¶ | Sep 1958 |
| 10 | 1010 | 31010 | Dec 1890 | 1913 ¶ | Aug 1959 |
| 152 | 1152 | - | Jul 1892 | - | Jan 1934 |
| 153 | 1153 | - | Jul 1892 | - | Mar 1935 |
| 154 | 1154 | 31154 | Jul 1892 | 1912 | Aug 1955 |
| 124 | 1124 | - | Oct 1892 | - | Sep 1943 |
| 128 | 1128 | 31128 | Oct 1892 | 1913 | Aug 1959 |
| 174 | 1174 | 31174 | Oct 1892 | 1914 | Aug 1959 |
| 47 | 1047 | 31047 | Aug 1895 | 1913 | Mar 1960 |
| 125 | 1125 | - | Sep 1895 | - | Mar 1937 |
| 127 | 1127 | 31127 | Aug 1895 | 1914 | Jan 1949 |
| 126 | 1126 | - | Sep 1895 | - | Mar 1934 |
| 69 | 1069 | 31069 | Jun 1898 | 1910 | Jun 1958 |
| 70 | 1070 | - | Jun 1898 | - | Apr 1942 |
| 107 | 1107 | 31107 | Jun 1898 | 1914 ¶ | Aug 1959 |
| 155 | 1155 | - | Jun 1898 | - | Oct 1939 |
| ¶ | Kept Stirling rounded cab and had chimney cut down for working through Tyler Tunnel on the Whitsable branch. | ||||
| # | Between 1923 and 1928 SR numbers were the SE&CR numbers with the prefix A. However, the new SR numbers may not have been carried until some time later. | ||||
All photographs are copyright
return to picture gallery page
This page was created 4 April 2008
