SECR N class

SECR/SR N class[1]
An official Southern Railway photograph of No. 1412 coupled to a breakdown crane in 1938. This was one of the final batch of N class locomotives built, and was equipped for left-hand drive.
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Richard Maunsell Builder SECR/SR Ashford Works Build date 1917–1934 Total produced 80
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 2-6-0  • UIC 1′C h2 Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Leading dia. 3 ft 1 in (0.940 m) Driver dia. 5 ft 6 in (1.676 m) Length 57 ft 10 in (17.63 m) Total weight 103 long tons 12 cwt (232,100 lb or 105.3 t) (116.1 short tons) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 5 long tons (5.1 t; 5.6 short tons) Water cap. 4,000 imp gal (18,000 L; 4,800 US gal) Boiler pressure 200 lbf/in2 (1.38 MPa) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 19 in × 28 in (483 mm × 711 mm) Valve gear Walschaerts
Performance figures Tractive effort 26,035 lbf (115.80 kN)
Career Operators South Eastern and Chatham Railway → Southern Railway → British Railways Class SECR / SR: N Power class SECR / SR: B BR: 4P5F Numbers SECR : 810-875, SR : 1810-1875,1400-1414, BR : 31810-31875,31400-31414 Nicknames "Woolworths" Locale Southern Region Withdrawn 1962–1966 Disposition One preserved, remainder scrapped

The SECR N class was a type of 2-6-0 ("mogul") steam locomotive designed in 1914 by Richard Maunsell for mixed-traffic duties on the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR). Built between 1917 and 1934, it was the first non-Great Western Railway (GWR) type to use and improve upon the basic design principles established by GWR Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) George Jackson Churchward.^[2] The N class was based on the GWR 4300 Class design, improved with Midland Railway concepts.^[3]

The N class was mechanically similar to the SECR K class 2-6-4 passenger tank engine, also by Maunsell. It influenced future 2-6-0 development in Britain and provided the basis for the 3 cylinder N1 class of 1922. Production was delayed by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, and the first N class rolled out of Ashford Works in 1917, three years after design work was completed. The class replaced obsolete 0-6-0s as part of the SECR's fleet standardisation, as they used parts interchangeable with those of other classes.

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 (SR) network, and were used by the Southern Region of British Railways (BR) until the last was withdrawn in 1966. One N class locomotive is preserved on the Swanage Railway in Dorset, undergoing overhaul.^[4]