2-6-0 Steam Locomotives in Great Britain

Class N (Locobase 4193)

Data from E L Ahrons, The British Steam Locomotive from 1825 to 1925 (London: Ian Allan, 1926. See [] for details about the SE&CR as well as the Southern Ns.

RE Maunsell freight hauler sporting a Belpaire firebox and coned boiler. The writer notes that the 50 of the engines came from Woolwich Arsenal as part of a job-preservation scheme that predictably didn't pan out very well. They were assembled from parts at Ashford Works.

The article notes that 27 went to Ireland and 6 more were converted to 2-6-4T, and continues: "The fifty acquired by the Southern were variously distributed between the Eastern and Western sections. Those going West (where the influence of Ashford had not yet penetrated) soon gained a mournful reputation for multifarious failures, largely due to poor construction. The men bestowed on them the acid name of 'Woolworths'.

However on the Eastern section section (where they were also known as 'mongolipers') they were better understood, and superior repair facilities soon sorted out their teething troubles. They then gave excellent service."

Class N1 (Locobase 3186)

Data from "Three-Cylinder 'Mogul' Locomotive, Southern Railway (SE & CR Section)", Locomotive Magazine, Volume XXIX [29], No. 367 (15 March 1923), p. 61-64. See also "SR Maunsell N1 class 2-6-0" on the Southern Railway E-Mail Group website at [], last accessed 24 November 2024. (Thanks to Peter Christener for his 11 November 2024 email correcting the original comment by pointing out the Southern's later quintet.)

This was a Holcroft design (the protege of Maunsell's who pushed hardest for three-cylinder designs) based on RE Maunsell's Class N freight hauler (Locobase 2341) and also using a Belpaire firebox and coned boiler. Holcroft sought more power in the same space by using three smaller cylinders rather than the two of the Class N. Each cylinder received steam through an 8" (203 mm) piston valve.

The inside cylinder lay on the centerline inclined 1 in 8 to clear the lead driving axle and turn the rear driving axle one in concert with the outer two turning the middle driving axle. Southern cast the left and center cylinders in one casting that included the valve over the outside one and a valve to the left of the centerline cylinder. The shops then bolted that assembly to the right-hand outside cylinder. (The LM report gives details about Holcroft's lever system that translated valve motion from the left-hand outside cylinder the centerline installation.)

SEmG's history says that the 822 began trials at Bricklayers Arms to compare its performance to the Ns, "and was found to be no real improvement." SEmG also criticises the "slab-fronted section above the buffer beam, which did nothing to enhance the lines of the locomotive." (Locobase doesn't argue with this assessment, but feels Bulleid's low-cut smoke deflectors softened the effect.).

But for restrictions on certain routes, such as the tunnels on the Hastings line, the smaller outside cylinders allowed the 822 to pass. Eight years after the 822 entered service, Maunsell tweaked the design, eliminating the Holcroft levers and fitting the interior cylinder's valve with a third Walschaert gear train. Ashford produced five and altered the 822.

"They rode well", SEmG concludes," which made them useful for working summer Saturday relief trains to the Kent coast in the days before electrification. Following this electrification the class moved en bloc to Tonbridge where they worked through to Redhill and onto the Brighton line and other parts of the Central Section."

Class U (Locobase 3136)

Data from Bryan Attewell ([] Steam Locomotive simulator.

This design blends the cylinder dimensions of the South Eastern & Chatham's 1917 Moguls (Locobase 2341) with the Class M boiler. Twenty of the class were conversions of the unsuccessful K ("River") 2-6-4Ts that had shown such a penchant for derailing. Thirty more came from Brighton and Ashford in 1928, 1929, and 1931.