Urie locos of the LSWR/S.R.

The LSWR S15 class was a British 2-cylinder 4-6-0 freight steam locomotive designed by Robert W. Urie, based on his H15 class and N15 class locomotives. The class had a complex build history, spanning several years of construction from 1920 to 1936. The first examples were constructed for the London and South Western Railway (LSWR), where they hauled freight trains to the south coast ports and further west to Exeter, as well as occasional passenger work in conjunction with their larger-wheeled N15 class counterparts.
Following the Grouping of railway companies in 1923, the LSWR became part of the Southern Railway, and the Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) of the newly formed company, Richard Maunsell, increased the S15 class strength to 45 locomotives. Maunsell incorporated several improvements, notably to the steam circuit and the locomotive's loading gauge, allowing it to operate on routes with height and width restrictions.
The new locomotives were built in three batches at Eastleigh, and were in service with the Southern Railway for 14 years. The locomotives continued in operation with the Southern Region of British Railways until 1966. Seven examples have been preserved for use on heritage railways, and are currently in varying states of repair. These locomotives were given the nickname "Goods Arthurs" due to their similar appearance to the N15 Class locomotives
During the First World War, the LSWR management wished to address the requirement for a modern, standard heavy freight locomotive to work from London's freight yards to the southwest of England. As the LSWR lacked existing freight designs capable of undertaking this task, a new design was needed to serve the south coast ports of Portsmouth, Weymouth and Southampton. The design was also to power traffic including milk trains, which required fast transit to the dairies in London.Robert Urie used this opportunity to develop his recent H15 class design further, applying the 4-6-0 locomotive concept to a purpose-built freight design built to order number S15. It was this order number that gave the class the name "S15"

First batch – Urie 1920–21

This was the third design by Robert Urie for the LSWR. The outline was made during the First World War, and incorporated lessons learned from the operation of his H15 class, a design that was to provide the basis for future standardisation on the LSWR. To economise on maintenance, the S15 class had interchangeable components that could be used on a similar design, the N15 class passenger locomotive, which had the same overall appearance.[1] Details such as the boiler, the two-cylinders and valve gear were standardised between the classes, although a taper boiler was used on the S15 and N15 classes, as opposed to the parallel boiler of the H15 class. The only other major difference was the smaller diameter of the driving wheels. Smaller diameter wheels gave better traction, essential for a fast freight locomotive.
By May 1921 sixteen were in service, and were mostly allocated to the London area, including the new marshalling yard at Feltham. Despite being mechanically sound, changes were made to Urie's original design after the Grouping of railway companies in 1923.
Urie retired as Locomotive Superintendent when the LSWR was amalgamated into the Southern Railway in 1923. Richard Maunsell was given the newly created post of CME to the Southern Railway, and decided to revise the cylinder arrangement of the locomotive. In doing so, he delayed the construction of further locomotives until the modifications had been made. When the modifications were trialled in service, it became evident amongst locomotive crews that Maunsell had taken a sound design and made it better, achieving a consistent locomotive capable of undertaking all the tasks for which it was intended. With the successful implementation of the modifications, permission was given by the management of the Southern Railway for a second batch of locomotives to be constructed.
In November 1941, during World War II, Nos. 496-499 were loaned to the Great Western Railway to assist with increased freight traffic on that railway. They were returned to the SR between March and July 1943

This collection features the 1st batch of locos built under Urie
Including this photo of
30506 and a Bulleid light Pacific reversing out of Vauxhall station
https://tinyurl.com/9mjtvmn8
Full collection starts here with
30497 at Salisbury 1960
https://tinyurl.com/rscvcsh7

Neil.
https://tinyurl.com/9mjtvmn8

 

71/76 30508 arriving at Clapham yard

Cheers, Neil

 

By May 1921 sixteen were in service, and were mostly allocated to the London area, including the new marshalling yard at Feltham. Despite being mechanically sound, changes were made to Urie's original design after the Grouping of railway companies in 1923.

Urie retired as Locomotive Superintendent when the LSWR was amalgamated into the Southern Railway in 1923. Richard Maunsell was given the newly created post of CME to the Southern Railway, and decided to revise the cylinder arrangement of the locomotive. In doing so, he delayed the construction of further locomotives until the modifications had been made.[8] When the modifications were trialled in service, it became evident amongst locomotive crews that Maunsell had taken a sound design and made it better, achieving a consistent locomotive capable of undertaking all the tasks for which it was intended. With the successful implementation of the modifications, permission was given by the management of the Southern Railway for a second batch of locomotives to be constructed.
This collection features the 2nd batch of locos which were further developed by Maunsell
Including this photo of
30840 backing onto a parcels service at Waterloo alongside 82010
https://tinyurl.com/tt4m4c4v
and in a line up at Feltham
30844 with 80095 & 33009 at Feltham July 1964
https://tinyurl.com/2yp8rbks
Full collection of over 20 new photos starts here with
30823 Eastleigh 25th May 1953
https://tinyurl.com/netbpz76

Neil.

 

The LSWR/SR H15 class was a class of 2-cylinder 4-6-0 steam locomotives designed by Robert Urie for mixed-traffic duties on the LSWR. Further batches were constructed by Richard Maunsell for the SR.
The H15 class represented Robert Urie's first design for the LSWR. It was created in response to a desperate lack of adequate locomotives in service on the LSWR that could be utilised for heavy freight duties. Reliability was also an issue, with ageing locomotive designs taking their toll on the LSWR's resources
The resultant design was an outside 2-cylinder locomotive fitted with outside Walschaerts valve gear for ease of maintenance, with all the working parts relatively accessible when compared to previous designs operating on the LSWR system
Ten locomotives (numbers 482–491) were built new by Eastleigh Works with 180 lbf/in2 (1.24 MPa) boilers. They appeared in January to July 1914. Urie was a proponent of superheating, so in order to gain experience and data on performance and fuel economy, four of the locomotives (482–485) were fitted with Schmidt superheaters, four (486–489) with Robinson superheaters, and two (490–491) were built as saturated locomotives. The last two had a lower weight than the first eight.
While the data gained from this small experiment showed the benefits of superheating,[6] neither design of superheater was deemed suitable by Urie, so he designed and patented his own: the Eastleigh superheater, which was subsequently fitted to all members of the H15 class
An additional locomotive was a rebuild of the 1905-vintage E14 class locomotive, number 335, undertaken in December 1914. This one-locomotive class had been earmarked by Urie's predecessor, Dugald Drummond, for major modifications in the light of poor operational performance. Urie however, instead of modifying it, rebuilt it as the eleventh member of the H15 class It was the first locomotive to be fitted with an Eastleigh superheater, but it retained its original boiler pressure of 175 lbf/in2 (1.21 MPa).[8]
However, improvements were made to the overall design whilst the locomotive was under production at Eastleigh Works. The earlier class members mounted a lower running plate that was raised above the cylinders for clearance.[3][page needed] These locomotives also sported a single, straight splasher above the driving wheels, an embellishment that would feature on Urie's later N15 class. The later production locomotives did not feature this design, with a higher-mounted straight running plate above the driving wheels, a feature that was perpetuated on the later S15 class design by Urie
A total of 26 locomotives were completed in six batches, including number 335, over a period of twelve years. The first two batches of five in each were constructed in 1914. A further fifteen locomotives were constructed in three consecutive batches during 1924, the final one appearing in January 1925, and these were constructed under the auspices of Richard Maunsell, Urie's successor. Amongst the final batches of the class was another rebuild project concerning five members of the Drummond F13 Class. Maunsell's own batch of ten locomotives were a continuation of the design set out by Urie with number 491
The class was given the BR Power Classification of 4P5F. Livery immediately after Nationalisation was transitional, with 'British Railways' on the tender in Southern Yellow. Numbers were initially given an 'S' prefix. From the early 1950s the class was given the new BR mixed traffic Black with red/white lining
The class was numbered according to the BR Standard Numbering System, given the series 30482–30491; 30521–30524; 30330–30334 (F13 rebuilds) and finally 30473–30478.[
I have added 10 new photos to this collection starting with a smart looking ex works

30522 at unknown location one of Maunsell’s updated locos built in 1924
https://tinyurl.com/43am3w9z
Full collection of new photos starts here with
330 Maunsell H15 rebuild with two outside cylinders of Drummond 4-cylinder Class F13
https://tinyurl.com/dtuh9zpw

Neil.

 

70/86 30834 Loco Jn , Nine Elms
72/86 30835 Guildford

Cheers, Neil

 

H15
5/93 521 Millbrook, Western Dock lines to the right
15/93 30487 Eastleigh West Jn box in background
48/93 30486 Eastleigh Works yard
65/93 334 Eastleigh Depot
88/93 Exeter Queen St ( now Central)
92/93 30487 Eastleigh Depot, not works.

Cheers, Neil

 

i have added a few new photos to the Urie H15 class
30482 Nine Elms 20th December 1958
https://tinyurl.com/25c498wb
30484 Feltham shed 30th April 1958
https://tinyurl.com/9ncsyb7t
30485 unknown location
https://tinyurl.com/3mzs5skp
30489 unknown location
https://tinyurl.com/3hs42fy2
30490 unknown location
https://tinyurl.com/yt6yxdsv

Neil

 

I have added some new photos to the collection of Robert Urie H16 4-6-2T class
Including this photo of
30517 passes 2BIL 2105 unknown location
https://tinyurl.com/2p7x5bab
full collection of new photos starts here with
30517
https://tinyurl.com/2y8hnkxs
to
30520
https://tinyurl.com/d7xppnmm

Neil

 

37/86 30831 Templecombe
72/86 30835 Guildford
85/86 30847 Battledown

Cheers, Neil

 

65/98 30485 Weybridge,
67/98 30486 Eastleigh Works
70/98 30487 Eastleigh West (SB in background)
83/98 30490 Salisbury

Cheers, Neil

 

I have added some new photos of Urie/Maunsell S15 locos
Including this photo of
30837 & 34037 Clovelly unknown location
https://tinyurl.com/u5eav8kr

11 new photos start here with
30331 Eastleigh station 21st April 1956 Maunsell S15 rebuild with two outside cylinders of Drummond 4-cylinder Class F13.
https://tinyurl.com/tznru64s
to
30837 unknown location with LCGB The S15 Commemorative Rail Tour (repeat) 9th January 1966
https://tinyurl.com/25esp8y8

Neil

 

A few gaps to fill in
91/97 30512 Eastleigh Shed
92/97 30514 Basingstoke Shed
95/97 30837 Bentley
97/97 30837 Eastleigh Shed - same snowplough in background as 94/97.

Cheers, Neil

 

I have added a new collection featuring Urie LSWR G16 4-8-0T
Including a couple of ex works photos
30494 ex works condition unknown location
https://tinyurl.com/2c6uv5uf
30495 ex works condition unknown location
https://tinyurl.com/uus69x5c
S.R era photos start here
492 at Feltham
https://tinyurl.com/hvryf8dt
B.R. era photos start here with
30493 Eastleigh October 1948 in early B.R. livery & logo
https://tinyurl.com/nc2889zz

Neil