London, Brighton & South Coast 2-6-0 Locomotives in Great_Britain

Class K (Locobase 2745)

Data from "New Express Goods 'Mogul', LB&SC Ry.", Locomotive Magazine, Volume XIX [19] (15 November 1913), pp. 249-250; and "2-6-0 Locomotive, London, Brighton & South Coast", Locomotive Magazine, Volume XXVI [26] (15 September 1920), p. 190. See also "LBSCR K class 2-6-0" archived on the Southern E-Group's website at []; and "LB&SCR K class", Wikipedia at [], last accessed 7 April 2017. 337 appeared in September 1913, 338 in December, 339-341 came in March, June, and November, respectively. The railway added five more in October-December 1916. Production resumed with 347-350 produced in December 1920, and 351-353 in January-March 1923.

The 2-6-0 was "an entirely new type" for the LB&SC that was developed by Colonel LB Billinton just before World War I to handle fast freight service from the Continent, this design was built in several batches. The E-Group account describes the design of the "very handsome "K" Class mogul" as "one of the most successful LBSC designs ever produced." E-Group notes that a design imperative sprang from the need "to eliminate double-heading of C2X class 0-6-0s, [so] they had to have good acceleration for working heavy goods trains in the London area, thereby minimising delays to the suburban services."

Among the other unprecedented features was the Belpaire firebox. The design used 10" (254 mm) piston valves to supply the cylinders. A tender-mounted feedwater heater used exhaust steam from the cylinders.

New arrangement and features notwithstanding, the LM report stressed that the accompanying photo displayed "the usual British conservatism in neatness of design and pleasing disposition of details has been carefully observed."

After the war, Billinton added to some of the locomotives a top-mounted, exhaust-heated feed-water supply in the form of a second dome ahead of the Belpaire firebox. The engine had inside valve motion and outside cylinders.

Wikipedia cites Bradley, D. L. (1974). The Locomotives of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway. Part 3. Railway Correspondence and Travel Society as its source for a key observation on the K class's post-Grouping fortunes following a Spring 1924 run-off by the Southern of heavy freight locomotives operated by the constituent companies.

Wikipedia reports: "They were found to be capable and reliable but more expensive to run than the alternative Maunsell N and Urie S15 classes and so no more were built. This may have been a false economy," Wikipedia continues, "since many of the 'N' class ultimately had to undergo expensive rebuilding of their frames and the replacement of their cylinders, whereas members of the 'K' class remained in sound working order throughout their working lives."

On the other hand, Steamindex cites the appraisal of Holcroft, H. Locomotive adventure: fifty years with steam. London, Ian Allan, [1962], summarizing the reasons for passing over the Ks: "[The K] rivalled Maunsell's N class engines in working heavy freight trains but lacked their versatility on fast passenger work, for which [the K] was less suitable on account of its inclined cylinders, large, heavy pistons and lower boiler pressure." See [], last accessed 7 April 2017.

The entire class was withdrawn from British Railway service in November-December 1962.

(Note: Lawson Billinton certainly agreed with the high praise directed at the Moguls. After his early retirement at age 40 when R E L Maunsell had been selected as the new Southern Railway's Chief Mechanical Engineer, Billinton lived for three decades on a large estate in Sussex. He built a one-sixth scale model of the K class from a set of drawings of the original, completing it in the early 1940s . See [], last accessed 7 April 2017) for an account and photos of Billinton's 9 1/2" gauge engine.)