Southern Railway O2 class 0-4-4T Bonchurch on the Isle of Wight in about 1952


The LSWR O2 Class is a class of 0-4-4T steam locomotive designed for the L& SWR by William Adams. Sixty were constructed during the late 19th century. The class is usually best associated with the Isle of Wight railway system, with the Isle of Wight Central Railway making enquires as to the possibility of purchasing some class members in the early twentieth century. This plan, however, fell through, and it was not until after Grouping in 1923, that the newly formed Southern Railway was forced to resolve the desperate locomotive power situation on the Isle of Wight The electrification of the LSWR's suburban network meant a cascade of newer, more powerful designs such as the M7s and T1s into the O2's rural a result, several O2s became surplus to mainland requirements. Two of these spare engines were modified at Eastleigh works, with the addition of a Westinghouse Air Brake to allow compatibility with the Isle of Wight coaching stock. They were shipped across the Solent in 1923 & trialled extensively on services across the island, but particularly the intensive Ryde-Ventnor line services, where they proved highly successful. Further engines were then shipped across through the 1920s and 1930s. The final two O2s went over in 1949, after Nationalisation, resulting in a total of 23 locomotives on the island Due to tunnel restrictions at Ventnor, none of the final series of 10 with the higher cab roofs were sent to the island. Rheir compact nature was ideal for island duties, although the problem of the lack of adequate coal bunker space hampered the class. This meant that from 1932, a much larger extended bunker was fitted to W19 (formerly 206), and this design subsequently became the standard for all the island locomotives After the withdrawal of the last LB&SCR E1 class in 1960, the O2 became the single locomotive class on the island. They survived until the end of steam services on the Island, - an O2 operated the final train on 31 December 1966


Size: 3429px × 2127px
Location: Ryde, Isle of Wight
Photo credit: © Digbydachshund / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: .32, 0-4-4t, bonchurch, br, british, class, isle, locomotive, o2, railway, railways, southern, steam, wight