LB&SCR B2 class

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) B2 class was a class of small 4-4-0 steam locomotives intended for express passenger work on the LB&SCR London to Portsmouth line. They were designed by R. J. Billinton and built at Brighton works from 1895 to 1897. They proved to be reliable locomotives but barely adequate for the heaviest trains and acquired the nickname Grasshoppers. As a result the B3 class was developed from the B2, and the B2X class was later rebuilt from these locomotives with larger boilers.

LB&SCR B2, B2X and B3 classes
B3 class No. 213 Bessemer as built
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerR. J. Billinton
BuilderBrighton Works
Build date1895–1898
Total produced25
Rebuild date1907–1916
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte4-4-0
 • UIC2'Bn
Gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Leading dia.3 ft 6 in (1.067 m)
Driver dia.6 ft 9 in (2.057 m)
Total weightB2: 76 long tons 156 cwt (85.1 t)
B3: 78 long tons 4 cwt (79.5 t)
Fuel typeCoal
Boiler pressure160 psi (11.03 bar; 1.10 MPa)
CylindersTwo, inside
Cylinder size18 in × 26 in (457 mm × 660 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effortB2 14,144 lbf (62.9 kN)
B2X 15,028 lbf (66.8 kN)
Career
ClassB2, B3, B2x
Withdrawn1929–1933
DispositionAll Scrapped

History

When R. J. Billinton took over as chief mechanical engineer of the LB&SCR in 1890, following the sudden death of William Stroudley, the London to Brighton trains were adequately served by Stroudley's Gladstone class but the lighter Portsmouth expresses were beginning to struggle behind his G class singles. Billinton therefore designed a small 4-4-0, specifically for these services. However, during the course of 1892-1893 the London-to-Brighton trains began to increase in weight, and the board of governors of the railway agreed to invest money in larger turntables and so Billinton was able to enlarge his design further to make them more generally useful.[1]

Three locomotives appeared in 1895, with a further eight in 1896 and fourteen in 1897. They were named after famous politicians, bankers and railway engineers. The new design was clearly influenced by the locomotives of Samuel Waite Johnson on the Midland Railway, for whom Billinton had previously worked, and were the first LB&SCR locomotives to have leading bogie wheels. It incorporated Billinton's C2 class boiler. They proved to be adequate for the lightly loaded Portsmouth express trains but barely so for heavier trains. They also tended to ride unevenly and consequently acquired the nickname of grasshoppers by their crews.

B3 and B2X classes

As a result of the complaints about the use of the class on the Brighton line, Billinton fitted the last locomotive in the class No. 213 Bessemer, with a larger boiler when new, which thereafter became known as the B3 class. This caused a slight improvement in performance but not one significant enough to alter the entire class at that time. However, once the original boilers were worn out, it became more of an economic proposition to do so. Thus between October 1907 and 1910, Billinton's successor Douglas Earle Marsh rebuilt the entire class (including 213 Bessemer) with the improved boiler used on his C3 class, thereby creating the B2X class.

The rebuilt locomotives were a significant improvement in both looks and performance and were used on the heaviest expresses to Portsmouth and Hastings and semi-fast trains on the Brighton line.

Post-grouping

All 25 locomotives were still in regular use in December 1922, at the grouping of the railways of southern England to form the Southern Railway. The class continued to find useful work on secondary passenger services between London and the south coast until 1929, when the impending electrification of the Brighton line began to make them redundant. They were thus all withdrawn between June 1929 and March 1933, and none have survived in preservation.

Accidents and incidents
  • On 9 July 1928, B2X locomotive No. B210 was in a sidelong collision with an electric multiple unit at London Bridge due to the driver misreading signals. Two people were killed and nine were injured, six seriously.[2]

Locomotive summary
LB&SCR no.Build dateRebuilt B2xLBSCR nameRenamed/dateSR no.Date withdrawn
171June 1897August 1910Nevill-2171May 1931
201January 1897January 1909Rosebery-22011930
202February 18971909Trevithick-2202September 1931
203March 1897February 1909Henry Fletcher-2203October 1930
204March 1897March 1911Telford-2204July 1929
205April 1897March 1910Hackworth-2205November 1931
206April 1897January 1909Smeaton-2206March 1933
207June 1897July 1909Brunel-2207October 1931
208August 1897January 1911Abercorn-2208June 1929
209September 1897April 1913Wolfe Barry-2209September 1930
210October 1897February 1909Fairbairn-2210July 1931
211November 1897June 1910Whitworth-2211October 1930
212January 1898February 1910Armstrong-2212July 1930
213January 1898November 1908Bessemer-2213April 1932
314June 1895April 1911Charles C. Macrae-2314April 1930
315June 1895March 1909DuncannonJ. Gay2315April 1933
316June 1895July 1916Goldsmid-23161930
317June 1896October 1908Gerald Loder-2317June 1929
318June 1896July 1910Rothschild-2318July 1930
319September 1896June 1914John FowlerLeconfield2319April 1930
320September 1896July 1910Rastrick-23201932
321September 1896October 1907John Rennie-2321September 1930
322September 1896September 1908G.P. Bidder-2322June 1931
323December 1896September 1908William Cubitt-2323November 1932
324January 1897May 1913John Hawkshaw-23241932

References
  1. Bradley, D.L. (1972). The locomotives of the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway: Part 2. The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society. p. 109. ISBN 0-901115-21-5.
  2. Moody, G. T. (1979) [1957]. Southern Electric 1909-1979 (Fifth ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan Ltd. p. 37. ISBN 0 7110 0924 4.
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