Maunsell L1 Class 4-4-0

The Southern Railway L1 class was a class of 4-4-0 steam tender locomotives built for express passenger service on the South Eastern Main Line of the Southern Railway. They were designed by Richard Maunsell as a development of Harry Wainwright's L class.

Harry Wainwright had built two useful and attractive 4-4-0 classes for the South Eastern and Chatham Railway between 1902 and 1908; the D class and the E class, and had completed designs for a larger L class at the time of his retirement at the end of 1913. However, by 1918 they were beginning to struggle with the heaviest express trains. Wainwright's successor, Richard Maunsell, therefore rebuilt several examples of the D and E classes immediately before the grouping of the SECR with other railways to form the Southern Railway in 1923.

When Maunsell was appointed as Chief Mechanical Engineer of the new railway he turned his attention to designing new K & K1 class 2-6-4 tank engines. However, in 1926 there was an urgent requirement for fifteen more powerful 4-4-0 locomotives for the London to Folkestone express trains. Maunsell did not rebuild the L class as the locomotives were still relatively new and useful in their present form. He rather amended Wainwright's drawings to form his own L1 class, and supplied them to the North British Locomotive Company.



Including this double header with Bulleid Pacific on the ‘Night Fery’


31755+ 34xxx Night Ferry at St Mary Cray Junction


https://railway-photography.smugmug...omotives/Maunsell-SR-L1-class-4-4-0/i-wRV644p


Collection of 41 photos starts with the S.R. era


1753


https://railway-photography.smugmug...omotives/Maunsell-SR-L1-class-4-4-0/i-F3rz6V5



to



1788



https://railway-photography.smugmug...omotives/Maunsell-SR-L1-class-4-4-0/i-JFnPnqr



B.R. era



31753



https://railway-photography.smugmug...omotives/Maunsell-SR-L1-class-4-4-0/i-v3pNVfP



to 31789



https://railway-photography.smugmug...omotives/Maunsell-SR-L1-class-4-4-0/i-QFpF7FG



Neil

 

They look rather like a 2P but I assume that they performance was much better?

 

Chalk and cheese - the Maunsell L1 was a superb design. The Midland-ish appearance comes from the influence of James Clayton in the drawing office, but in ability streets apart.

Tom

 

One piece of evidence being that some of them survived the Kent Coast electrification and were sent to Nine Elms where they were to be found on for example the xx54 fast to Woking then all stations to Basingstoke trains as late as 1961. They didn't quite outlast the Schools, but not that much in it.