0-4-4 Steam Locomotives in Great Britain

Class 67 (Locobase 10346)

Data from Alfred Rosling Bennett, "Early Locomotives of the Metropolitan Railway,", The Railway Magazine, Vol 23 (1908), p. 207.

Bennett explains that James Stirling was producing a batch of 4-coupled forward tank locomotives for the South Eastern. The Metropolitan's locomotive superintendent Hanbury arranged to piggy-back this quartet onto the larger SER order and save some money. Hanbury was able to install a dome containing a steam regulator on the boiler These were the first 0-4-4Ts for the Metropolitan.

The class was rebuilt in 1901-1902 with larger boilers and grates. The grates now measured 16.7 sq ft, the firebox 95.6 sq ft and the boiler in total amounted to 1,145.6 sq ft and was pressed to 150 psi.

Class E (Locobase 10191)

Data from "Four-Coupled Bogie Tank Locomotives, Metropolitan Ry", The Locomotive Magazine, Vol VI (July 1901), p. 116. See also the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre website, [], last accessed 19 April 2009.

Chief Mechanical Engineer T F Clark saw the need for a powerful commuter locomotive on the Baker Street to Verney Junction service. And this septet, three of which came from the Met's own shops and 4 from Hawthorn, Leslie, filled the bill quite well. Soon after their introduction, however, the many of the lines were electrified and the class served the Aylesbury line for decades. The first three were retired in 1935 (78, 79, 82) and the next in 1940 (80, by then numbered L47). Quite probably wartime demands initially delayed further retirements. In any case, the last 3 survived until 1963-1964, when 77 and 80 were scrapped.

No 1, which had been first, was now last and benefited from a burgeoning locomotive-preservation movement. A major overhaul in 2001 qualified it for a 10-year boiler certificate that would expire in 2011, 115 years after its service entry.

See Locobase 10184 for the F-class radial tanks that were based on this class.