The Metropolitan Railway was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the capital's financial heart in the City to what were to become the Middlesex suburbs. Its first line connected the main-line railway termini at Paddington, Euston, and King's Cross to the City. The first section was built beneath the New Road using cut-and-cover between Paddington and King's Cross and in tunnel and cuttings beside Farringdon Road from King's Cross to near Smithfield, near the City. It opened to the public on 10 January 1863 with gas-lit wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives, the world's first passenger-carrying designated underground railway.
The Mersey Railway was the passenger railway connecting the communities of Liverpool, Birkenhead, England. It is currently a part of the Merseyrail network. It was extended further into the Wirral Peninsula, which lies on the opposite bank of the River Mersey to Liverpool. Both sides of the river were connected via the Mersey Railway Tunnel. The railway opened in 1886 with four stations using steam locomotives hauling unheated wooden carriages; in the next six years the line was extended with the opening of three more stations. Using the first tunnel under the Mersey, the line is the world's oldest underground railway outside London.
London Underground rolling stock includes the electric multiple-unit trains used on the London Underground. These come in two sizes, smaller deep-level tube trains and larger sub-surface trains of a similar size to those on British main lines, both running on standard gauge tracks. New trains are designed for the maximum number of standing passengers and for speed of access to the cars.
The Hunslet Engine Company is a locomotive building company, founded in 1864 in Hunslet, England. It manufactured steam locomotives for over 100 years and currently manufactures diesel shunting locomotives. The company owns a substantial fleet of Industrial and depot shunting locomotives which are available for hire. The company is part of Ed Murray & Sons Ltd.
The Metropolitan District Railway, also known as the District Railway, was a passenger railway that served London, England, from 1868 to 1933. Established in 1864 to complete an "inner circle" of lines connecting railway termini in London, the first part of the line opened using gas-lit wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives. The Metropolitan Railway operated all services until the District Railway introduced its own trains in 1871. The railway was soon extended westwards through Earl's Court to Fulham, Richmond, Ealing and Hounslow. After completing the inner circle and reaching Whitechapel in 1884, it was extended to Upminster in Essex in 1902.
The Metropolitan Railway E Class is a class of 0-4-4T steam locomotives. A total of seven locomotives were built between 1896 and 1901 for the Metropolitan Railway: three by the railway at their Neasden Works and four by Hawthorn Leslie and Company in Newcastle upon Tyne.
The Metropolitan Railway H Class consisted of eight 4-4-4T steam locomotives, numbered 103 to 110. They were built by Kerr, Stuart & Co of Stoke on Trent in 1920 at a cost of £11,575 each. A "notable addition" to the Metropolitan Railway, these locomotives were purchased for the express passenger trains on the mainline between Harrow —the change point from electric locomotives—and Aylesbury or Verney Junction.
A condensing steam locomotive is a type of locomotive designed to recover exhaust steam, either in order to improve range between taking on boiler water, or to reduce emission of steam inside enclosed spaces. The apparatus takes the exhaust steam that would normally be used to produce a draft for the firebox, and routes it through a heat exchanger, into the boiler water tanks. Installations vary depending on the purpose, design and the type of locomotive to which it is fitted. It differs from the usual closed cycle condensing steam engine, in that the function of the condenser is primarily either to recover water, or to avoid excessive emissions to the atmosphere, rather than maintaining a vacuum to improve both efficiency and power.
The Metropolitan Railway A Class and B Class were 4-4-0T condensing steam locomotives built for the Metropolitan Railway by Beyer Peacock, first used in 1864. A total of 40 A Class and 26 of the slightly different B Class were delivered by 1885. Used underground, the locomotives condensed their steam, and coke or smokeless coal was burnt to reduce the smoke.
The Metropolitan Railway C class was a group of four 0-4-4T steam tank locomotives built in 1891 by Neilson and Company. They were to a design by James Stirling, originally the Q class of the South Eastern Railway, and were fitted with condensing apparatus for working in tunnels.
The Metropolitan Railway D Class was a group of six 2-4-0T locomotives built for the Metropolitan Railway in 1894-1895 by Sharp, Stewart and Company.
The Widened Lines is a double-track railway line forming part of the Thameslink route between St Pancras and Farringdon within Central London.
The New South Wales Z12 class was a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives operated by the New South Wales Government Railways of Australia.
The GWR 455 Class, also called the "Metropolitan" or "Metro" Tanks, was a series of 140 2-4-0T locomotives built for the Great Western Railway, originally for their London suburban services, including running on the underground section of the Metropolitan Railway, the source of their nickname. Later on the class was seen on many other parts of the GWR system. Sixty "Metro" Tanks were built, from 1868 onwards, during the lifetime of their designer, Joseph Armstrong. His successor William Dean regarded the class so highly that he would add a further 80, the final 20 examples appearing as late as 1899. The "Metros" were all built at Swindon Works, in nine lots of ten or 20 engines each.
London's Metropolitan Railway (MR) amalgamated with other underground railways, tramway companies and bus operators on 1 July 1933, to form the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB); the MR became the Board's Metropolitan line.
Metropolitan Railway electric locomotives were used on London's Metropolitan Railway with conventional carriage stock. On the outer suburban routes an electric locomotive was used at the Baker Street end that was exchanged for a steam locomotive en route.
The SER Q class was a class of 0-4-4T steam locomotives of the South Eastern Railway. The class was designed by James Stirling and introduced in 1881.
Tube-gauge steam locomotives may appear to be an unlikely possibility, because of the problems of using such a machine in the confines of a tunnel less than 12-foot (3.7 m) in diameter, but the London Underground had three such vehicles over the years. Two were built by the Hunslet Engine Company in 1899, and the third by Kerr, Stuart and Company in 1922.
The first Metropolitan Railway steam locomotives were ordered in 1864 for the Metropolitan Railway, to replace the Great Western Railway locomotive that had opened their first line the previous year. A total of 116 locomotives were built, of which two survive in preservation.
The London Underground opened in 1863 with gas-lit wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives. The Metropolitan and District railways both used carriages exclusively until they electrified in the early 20th century. The District railway replaced all its carriages for electric multiple units, whereas the Metropolitan still used carriages on the outer suburban routes where an electric locomotive at the Baker Street end was exchanged for a steam locomotive en route.
