LCDR Europa class

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LCDR Europa class (later C class)
LCDR C Class.jpg
London Chatham & Dover Railway C (Europa) class America
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
Designer William Martley
Builder
Serial numberSS: 2331–2334
Build date1873–1876
Total produced6
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 •  Whyte 2-4-0
 •  UIC 1B n2
Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Leading dia. 4 ft 6 in (1,372 mm)
Driver dia.6 ft 6 in (1,981 mm)
Adhesive weight 24 long tons 6 cwt (24.7 t)
Loco weight36 long tons 5 cwt (36.8 t)
Total weight66 long tons 16 cwt (67.9 t)
Fuel typeCoal
Fuel capacity3.5 long tons (3.6 t)
Water cap.2,400 imp gal (11,000 L; 2,900 US gal)
Firebox:​
 • Type 
 • Grate area16+1⁄4 sq ft (1.51 m2)
Boiler:
​
 • Diameter4 ft 3 in (1.295 m)
 • Tube plates10 ft 10 in (3.302 m)
Boiler pressure140 psi (0.97 MPa)
Heating surface:​
 • Firebox100 sq ft (9.3 m2)
 • Tubes1,080 sq ft (100 m2)
 • Total surface 
Cylinders Two
Cylinder size 17 in × 24 in (432 mm × 610 mm)
Valve gear Stephenson
Career
Operators
Class LCDR:Europa → C
Withdrawn1907–1909
DispositionAll scrapped

The LCDR C class or Europa Class was a class of 2-4-0 steam locomotives of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR). The class was designed by William Martley and introduced in 1873, intended for the heaviest express services between London and Dover. [1]

Contents

History

The LCDR was successful in winning a government contract for the delivery of British mails to the Continent from the South Eastern Railway (SER) in 1873 and required a new class of locomotives for the mail trains as the punctuality of these services was essential to its retention. [2] William Martley the locomotive superintendent of the railway designed the class and obtained permission for four locomotives to be built by Sharp, Stewart and Company at a cost of £2,930 per locomotive to be delivered by October 1873. These were named Europa, Asia, Africa and America but, like other LCDR locomotives built before 1875, were unnumbered when new.

The locomotives performed well and Martley therefore sought authority to purchase a further five, but this request was refused. He was however granted authority to build the locomotives at the company’s own Longhedge Railway Works in 1874. Work on two of these had barely started at the time of Martley’s death in the same year. Construction of these was halted, but eventually restarted and completed in 1876 by Martley’s successor William Kirtley, although the order for the three remaining examples was cancelled. The boilers for these three, which had been supplied by Nasmyth, Wilson & Co. in late 1875, were later used by Kirtley for other purposes.

The two new locomotives were numbered 57 and 58; in the meantime, the first four members of the class were numbered 53-56 in January 1875, although their names were retained until they were reboilered in 1892. [3] These numbers were increased by 459 to become 512–517 following the amalgamation of the LCDR and SER to become the South Eastern and Chatham Railway in 1899. Under William Kirtley's classification scheme the locomotives became the 'C class'.

NameBuilderWorks no.BuiltLCDR NumberSECR NumberWithdrawn
Europa Sharp Stewart 2331September 187353512April 1909
Asia Sharp Stewart2332September 187354513February 1909
Africa Sharp Stewart2333October 187355514January 1908
America Sharp Stewart2334October 187356515December 1907
India [a] Longhedge 4August 187657516May 1908
Ethiopia [a] Longhedge5November 187658517February 1909
Agulhas Longhedge(Cancelled)———
Malabar Longhedge(Cancelled)———
Coromandel Longhedge(Cancelled)———

Use

The class was used on both the Dover-Calais boat trains and on new services to Flushing via Queenborough Pier after May 1876. After 1876 they were replaced on the heaviest services by the LCDR M class 4-4-0 , although they continued to be used on express services until the turn of the century and were considered worthy of re-boilering between 1890 and 1892. [4]

Withdrawal

The class was withdrawn and scrapped between December 1907 April 1909. The four earliest examples had each accumulated more than one million miles by then.

Notes

  1. 1 2 Name not carried

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The LCDR Aeolus class was a class of four 4-4-0 steam locomotives. They were supplied to the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) by R. & W. Hawthorn & Co. acting as agents for Robert Stephenson & Co. which built the locomotives, but had subcontracted some components to Hawthorn. They were delivered to the LCDR between September 1860 and April 1861. They were all renewed by William Martley as 2-4-0T at the LCDR's Longhedge works in 1872–73, using components from the original locomotives, including the boilers.

The LCDR Brigand class was a pair of steam locomotives of the 0-4-2 wheel arrangement supplied to the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR). They were designed by Patrick Stirling for the Glasgow and South Western Railway (GSWR), which ordered twenty in 1860 from Sharp, Stewart & Co.. At this time, the LCDR needed more locomotives but had little money available, so their locomotive superintendent, William Martley, visited various manufacturers to find out what was available quickly and cheaply. He arranged for two of the locomotives ordered by the GSWR to be delivered instead to the LCDR – they arrived in August 1861, two more being ordered from Sharp, Stewart for the GSWR as replacements.

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The LCDR Acis class was a class of fourteen 0-6-0 steam locomotives designed by William Martley for the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) to haul goods trains.

The LCDR Dawn and Bluebell classes were two classes of six 2-4-0 steam locomotives designed by William Martley for the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) to haul passenger trains.

References

  1. ↑ Bradley 1979, pp. 68–72.
  2. ↑ Bradley 1979, p. 68.
  3. ↑ Bradley 1979, pp. 68–69.
  4. ↑ Bradley 1979, p. 72.
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