The SECR N class was a type of 2-6-0 steam locomotive designed in 1914 by Richard Maunsell for mixed-traffic duties on the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. Built between 1917 and 1934, it was the first non-Great Western Railway type to use and improve upon the basic design principles established by GWR Chief Mechanical Engineer George Jackson Churchward. Eighty N-class locomotives were built in three batches between the First and Second World Wars. Fifty were assembled from kits of parts made at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, giving rise to the nickname of \”Woolworths\”. They worked over most of the Southern Railway network, and were used by the Southern Region of British Railways
About SECR N class in brief
The SECR N class was a type of 2-6-0 steam locomotive designed in 1914 by Richard Maunsell for mixed-traffic duties on the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. Built between 1917 and 1934, it was the first non-Great Western Railway type to use and improve upon the basic design principles established by GWR Chief Mechanical Engineer George Jackson Churchward. Eighty N-class locomotives were built in three batches between the First and Second World Wars. Fifty were assembled from kits of parts made at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, giving rise to the nickname of \”Woolworths\”. They worked over most of the Southern Railway network, and were used by the Southern Region of British Railways until the last was withdrawn in 1966. One N class locomotive is preserved on the Swanage Railway in Dorset, undergoing overhaul. It influenced future locomotive development in Britain and provided the basis for the 3 cylinder N1 class of 1922. It also included the K class 2-4-4T passenger tank locomotive. The class replaced obsolete 0-8-0s as part of the SECR’s fleet standardisation programme, as they used parts interchangeable with those of other classes. It had a longer wheel arrangement to permit greater stability on tight track curves, which constrained the size of locomotive operating on SECR. A longer boiler could also accommodate a larger 0-6, giving sufficient power to avoid double-heading on heavier trains. These features were developed by George Churchward, using a Belpaire firebox that sloped downwards towards the cab instead of towards the firebox.
The locomotive had sharply tapered valves for running up to 70mph, and a domeless boiler and a right-hand driving position for driving right-to-left trains. It was intended to provide a sturdy mixed-Traffic locomotive with high route availability. Intended to replace several obsolete 0 6 0 types, the N class was the first step in the SEC R’s Fleet standardisation programme. The SECR K class was also a 2 6-4 passenger tank engine, also by Maun Sell, and used a round-topped version of a smokebox regulator located in the smokebox instead of the cab. The N class was based on the GWR 4300 Class design, improved with Midland Railway concepts, and had a larger boiler than the K-class. It worked on the London, Chatham and Dover Railway between 1910 and 1913, and was used to reach the cross-Channel ferries at Dover and Folkestone between 1910-1913. An increasing number of passengers used theSECR between Tonbridge and Hither Green marshalling yard, and heavy goods trains stretched the capabilities of existing locomotive and infrastructure. The economies in construction meant that only locomotiving with low axle loadings could run safely on the track. The railway’s Operating Department had to use mismatched classes of underpowered and obsolete 4-4 0 and 0- 6-0 locomotive because they could run within restrictions imposed by the infrastructure.
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This page is based on the article SECR N class published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 23, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
