LBSCR E4 Class 0-6-2T steam locomotive withdrawn 1959 at Brighton mpd on 05/10/1952 (Brighton Works Centenary)
The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway E4 Class is a class of 0-6-2Tside tank steam locomotive designed by Robert Billinton. They were introduced in 1897 and were essentially a larger version of the E3 Class. Cylinder diameter was reduced from 18 to inches (457 to 445 mm) by the Southern Railway. The E4 class of "radial tanks" were powerful for their size and were stalwarts of local passenger, freight and branch work for more than fifty years. Seventy-five members of the class were built by Brighton Works between December 1897 and September 1903. All of the class survived the transfer to Southern Railway ownership in 1923. One example was however destroyed as a result of enemy action against Eastbourne motive power depot in 1942. The remainder continued in regular use following the nationalisation of the Southern Railway to become a part of British Railways in 1948. However, with the arrival of Diesel Multiple Units and the reduction in the number of branch lines after The Reshaping of British Railways in 1963, the locomotives gradually became surplus to operational requirements, and withdrawals commenced in 1955. Most of the class were withdrawn between 1958 and 1964. Later in British Railways days, several examples were found new jobs as station pilots, most famously at London Waterloo, where they brought empty carriage rakes into the station from the yards at Clapham Junction. They were also used on services such as the locally famous Lancing Belle, which ran from Brighton to the Lancing Carriage Works of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, often double-headed with members of the same class or the larger E6 class.
Size: 2086px × 1311px
Location: Brighton Station, Sussex
Photo credit: © Digbydachshund / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: .32494, 0-6-2t, 32494, br, brighton, british, class, e4, lbscr, locomotive, railway, railways, southern, sr, steam
