SR Stroudley Locomotives : A1 Terriers'

First collection of SR Locomotive class's are the Stroudley A1 Terriers

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) A1 Class is an English class of 0-6-0T steam locomotive. Designed by William Stroudley, 50 members of the class were built in 1872 and between 1874 and 1880, all at Brighton Works. The class has received several nicknames, initially being known as "Rooters"[1] by their south London crews. However, the engines were more famously known as "Terriers" on account of the distinctive 'bark' of the exhaust beat. Later in their careers, some engines were known as "Hayling Billy" on account of their work on the Hayling Island branch line. A pub of this name on the island was briefly home to the engine which is now No.W8 Freshwater.
After displacement from their original workings out of London Bridge and London Victoria by more powerful locomotives from the D class and the early stages of the LB&SCR overhead electrification scheme, some representatives of the class were sold to other operators, while the majority of the remainder were put to work on branch lines in Sussex and on non-revenue earning work such as shunting.
With these new uses being found, the class remained in use on the system, surviving to be taken into ownership by the Southern Railway from 1923 and by British Railways from 1948. Although the number of engines dwindled following the Second World War as the work they were used for was either dieselised or lost to rail through the closure of branch lines and yards, a number continued in operation through into the 1960s, most famously on the Hayling Island Branch Line in Hampshire. The withdrawal of the final members of the class finally came in 1963,[2] the line to Hayling having closed in November 1963
Originally known as "A" class, these diminutive tank locomotives were designed in 1870 to haul commuter trains on the heavily congested lines in South and South-East London. These included routes from London Bridge to both East and West Croydon, London Victoria to Sutton and the line from Victoria to London Bridge via. Peckham Rye and Denmark Hill, as well as operating on the East London Railway under the Thames through the Thames Tunnel designed by Marc Isambard Brunel. Six locomotives were built for these services during 1872, and were successful due to their high acceleration between the closely spaced station stops and the use of light-weight trains. A further 44 were built between June 1874 and September 1880 to complement the original six.
The locomotives were finished in the livery known as "Stroudley's Improved Engine Green", which was actually an ochre colour, not green. This is historically attributed to colour-blindness, an affliction from which Stroudley reportedly suffered.[4] The actual shade of the livery has been much disputed, with opinions ranging from a more yellow type of livery to a livery closer to brown, as worn by the model named Como in the Brighton Toy and Model Museum.[5]
Shortly after construction, No.40 Brighton was chosen by William Stroudley to represent the LB&SCR at the Paris Exhibition of 1878,[6] and won a gold medal for workmanship. On a run from Dieppe to Paris, arranged to persuade the Chemins de Fer de l'Ouest that the company's boat trains that met the LB&SCR ferries from Newhaven could make better time to the capital, Brighton maintained a speed of nearly fifty mph, previously unheard of on that line.[7]
During the last two decades of the 19th century, London was expanding outwards as suburbs became more built up and were absorbed into the built-up area of London itself. Towns such as Croydon, Sutton and Norwood, which had previously been commuter towns separate from London, grew to form one large area of housing. Much of this was because of the success of the 'Terriers' themselves, as they had sped up suburban passenger services, encouraging people to move out of the centre of London. Trains became progressively heavier while the need for shorter journey times remained the same. As a result, the engines gradually became largely unsuited for their original purpose, and they were replaced by the larger D class tank engines. However the 'Terriers' were so reliable that they were put on other work, often finding use on branch line passenger and freight workings and as shunting engines.

No.672 'Fenchurch' carrying the later LB&SCR umber livery. It is seen at Kingscote with a train of Metropolitan Railway carriages
Twenty-three members of the class were withdrawn between 1898 and 1905 but the majority of these were sold in working order rather than scrapped. Purchasers of these locomotives included the Newhaven Harbour Company, the Isle of Wight Central Railway (four locomotives), Pauling & Co. (five locomotives), the Kent and East Sussex Railway (two locomotives), the London and South Western Railway (two locomotives), and the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. Others were transferred from capital to departmental (non-revenue earning) stock as pilots at Brighton locomotive works and Lancing carriage works. It is likely that the remainder of the class would have been withdrawn over the next few years if the railway had not adopted push-pull or 'motor-train' working on many lightly used branch line services.[8] The "A1" class (as the locomotives were designated after 1905) were found ideally suited to conversion to this form of working.
Between 1911 and 1913 twelve survivors were re-boilered under the instruction Douglas Earle Marsh, Stroudley's successor as CME of the LB&SCR, with another four so treated after the Great War; these engines formed the A1X Class with an increased weight of 28.2 long tons (28.7 t).[9] Other changes made during the rebuilding were the extension of the smokebox (removing the smokebox "wings", and moving the sandboxes from this same area (where they formed a forward extension of the leading driving wheel splasher) to below the running plate (although some locos rebuilt later retained the original sandboxes). The tube which had been used as part of the original condensing arrangement between the smokebox and side-tank was also removed. The engines were repainted during this time in 'Marsh Umber' livery




8 Freshwater at Newport on the Isle of Wight



https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/SRSteam/Stoudley-designed-locos/Stroudley-Terriers/i-P4M4Rcv

Stroudley 'Terriers' - Railway-Photography
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railway photographs from the last 100 years

644

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Stroudley 'Terriers' - Railway-Photography
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railway photographs from the last 100 years

32636

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Stroudley 'Terriers' - Railway-Photography
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railway photographs from the last 100 years
32644


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Stroudley 'Terriers' - Railway-Photography
railway-photography.smugmug.com
railway photographs from the last 100 years
32661


https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/SRSteam/Stoudley-designed-locos/Stroudley-Terriers/i-2dPHpwn

Stroudley 'Terriers' - Railway-Photography
railway-photography.smugmug.com
railway photographs from the last 100 years
32662


https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/SRSteam/Stoudley-designed-locos/Stroudley-Terriers/i-CRMhJ62

Stroudley 'Terriers' - Railway-Photography
railway-photography.smugmug.com
railway photographs from the last 100 years
32670


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Stroudley 'Terriers' - Railway-Photography
railway-photography.smugmug.com
railway photographs from the last 100 years

32678

https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/SRSteam/Stoudley-designed-locos/Stroudley-Terriers/i-F638Jws

Stroudley 'Terriers' - Railway-Photography
railway-photography.smugmug.com
railway photographs from the last 100 years
Waddon awaiting export for preservation in Canada Eastleigh 21st July 1963


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Stroudley 'Terriers' - Railway-Photography
railway-photography.smugmug.com
railway photographs from the last 100 years
Neil

 

I have long doubted this story about "showing the Ouest how to run express trains" for a number of reasons. Firstly the L.B.S.C.R. was noted at the time for its slow expresses. Secondly, prior to 1870 France imposed a maximum speed of 74.5 m.p.h. on its railways which suggested speeds in excess of this were becoming a concern. Thirdly, the tank capacity of No. 40 was limited and running out of water over a route unknown to Driver Aylwin would have been a worry. Fourthly, it reeks of repeated rumour and distortion of the "we showed those foreigners a thing or two" kind. As an example, some accounts say this took place between Dieppe and Paris, others between Paris and Dieppe!

It is very possible than speeds of this kind did happen during the air brake demonstrations which certainly did take place.

If someone can point to a contemporary account by a reliable source then they will have done better than me and I have done a bit of research on No. 40's trip to Paris.

PH