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SECR P class
The South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR) P class is a class of 0-6-0T steam locomotive designed by Harry Wainwright.
They were inspired by, and loosely based on, the more successful LB&SCR A1 class "Terriers" and eight were built in 1909 and 1910. They were originally intended for lightweight passenger trains, to replace underpowered steam railmotors. Certain cost-saving design compromises had been made, compared to the Terrier design, and the P class were found to be underpowered, having only 73% of the Terrier's tractive effort. The P class were later re-allocated to shunting and station pilot duties.
All eight locomotives passed into Southern Railway ownership at The Grouping in 1923, and into British Railways ownership at Nationalisation in 1948. Withdrawals took place between 1955 and 1961, but four examples have been preserved.
The first two locomotives, built in 1909, were numbered 753 and 754. The 1910-built locomotives re-used numbers of withdrawn locomotives and were numbered 27, 178, 323, 325, 555 and 558. In 1915, Two locomotives (27 and 753, known by the ROD as numbers 5027 and 5753 ) were transferred to the Government and used by the Railway Operating Division, arriving in France in May 1915. They were initially used during the construction of exchange sidings, and later to shunt the sidings and docks at Boulogne, but they proved to have insufficient power, and were returned to England in October 1916, to be replaced with the LCDR T class locomotive.
All eight passed to the Southern Railway upon its formation in 1923, and were given an 'A' prefix to their SECR numbers. in 1925, A753 and A754 were renumbered A556 and A557. In 1923, the Southern abolished the number prefixes, and increased the P class numbers by 1000. Upon Nationalisation in 1948, British Railways added 30000 to their SR number.
The class survived intact until 1955, when 31555 became the first locomotive to be withdrawn; 31557 followed in 1957. In 1958, 31178 was sold to Bowaters; and three locomotives were withdrawn in 1960: 31323, 31325 and 31558. The last two, 31027 and 31556, were withdrawn the following year.
Half of the class have been preserved:
The youngest member of the class, No. 323 Bluebell is one of the first two engines which worked passenger trains during the first year of the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society. It arrived at the Bluebell in 1960 and remained a stalwart in the Bluebell's locomotive fleet between 1960 and 1998 when it was withdrawn pending overhaul. During this time it also visited the East Somerset Railway for four years between 1980 and 1984.
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SECR P class
The South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR) P class is a class of 0-6-0T steam locomotive designed by Harry Wainwright.
They were inspired by, and loosely based on, the more successful LB&SCR A1 class "Terriers" and eight were built in 1909 and 1910. They were originally intended for lightweight passenger trains, to replace underpowered steam railmotors. Certain cost-saving design compromises had been made, compared to the Terrier design, and the P class were found to be underpowered, having only 73% of the Terrier's tractive effort. The P class were later re-allocated to shunting and station pilot duties.
All eight locomotives passed into Southern Railway ownership at The Grouping in 1923, and into British Railways ownership at Nationalisation in 1948. Withdrawals took place between 1955 and 1961, but four examples have been preserved.
The first two locomotives, built in 1909, were numbered 753 and 754. The 1910-built locomotives re-used numbers of withdrawn locomotives and were numbered 27, 178, 323, 325, 555 and 558. In 1915, Two locomotives (27 and 753, known by the ROD as numbers 5027 and 5753 ) were transferred to the Government and used by the Railway Operating Division, arriving in France in May 1915. They were initially used during the construction of exchange sidings, and later to shunt the sidings and docks at Boulogne, but they proved to have insufficient power, and were returned to England in October 1916, to be replaced with the LCDR T class locomotive.
All eight passed to the Southern Railway upon its formation in 1923, and were given an 'A' prefix to their SECR numbers. in 1925, A753 and A754 were renumbered A556 and A557. In 1923, the Southern abolished the number prefixes, and increased the P class numbers by 1000. Upon Nationalisation in 1948, British Railways added 30000 to their SR number.
The class survived intact until 1955, when 31555 became the first locomotive to be withdrawn; 31557 followed in 1957. In 1958, 31178 was sold to Bowaters; and three locomotives were withdrawn in 1960: 31323, 31325 and 31558. The last two, 31027 and 31556, were withdrawn the following year.
Half of the class have been preserved:
The youngest member of the class, No. 323 Bluebell is one of the first two engines which worked passenger trains during the first year of the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society. It arrived at the Bluebell in 1960 and remained a stalwart in the Bluebell's locomotive fleet between 1960 and 1998 when it was withdrawn pending overhaul. During this time it also visited the East Somerset Railway for four years between 1980 and 1984.