London & South Western 0-2-2 Locomotives in Great_Britain

Class 1 (Locobase 10417)

Data from "Motor Coach No 1, L & S W Ry,", Railway Notes, The Locomotive Magazine, Vol IX (5 December 1903), p. 326 and "Steam Motor Carriages on Railways," Vol VII (16 May 1903), p. 344-345. Boiler pressure is an estimate.

Intended to work the seaside traffic between Fratton and Southsea and jointly operated by the L & S W and the London, Brighton and South Coast, this rail motor went into service with a vertical boiler. The steam motor could be driven from either end of the integrated motive-power unit and the coach, which held 10 first-class and 33 third-class seats. It had shown itself capable of reaching 30 mph within 30 seconds of starting.

Bright futures were forecast for such vehicles as they might solve "the great problem of suburban traffic." Offering "...cheap rapid transit during those periods of the day when the running of heavy engines and long trains is not warranted by the number of passengers borne," such steam motors would allow power appropriate to demand to be marshalled regardless of requirement.

Or so it was believed. In the same year, the Locomotive Magazine began describing motor cars as competitors and was quite clear-eyed about its advantages.

As far as the L & SW's rail motor was concerned, the vertical boiler was not sufficient and a snub-nosed horizontal boiler measuring all of 1 ft 2 1/2 inches was substituted. The firebox made the most of its direct heating surface by accommodating 119 water tubes, each measuring 1 3/4" in outside diameter. So the quite unbelievable ratio of firebox heating surface to total evaporative heatings surface (over 70%!) was a valid measurement.

Class unknown (Locobase 10545)

See "Railway Notes - London & South Western Ry," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol XII (15 February, 1906), p.18.

This rail motor design featured the water-tube firebox design being explored by Dugald Drummond at the time. The firebox had 76 sq ft (7.06 sq m) of heating surface and the water tubes an additional 119 sq ft (11.06 sq m). The front, powered bogie rode under a cab that showed very little evidence of a locomotive boiler.