LBSC E2

Second Series[edit]The LBSC E2 were tank engines that Worked on the London Brighton And South Coast Railway, later merged into the Southern Railway, and were built from 1913-1916.

Background
By 1910 many of the Stroudley E1 class locomotives were worn out or inadequate for the heavier duties required of them. D. E. Marsh intended to rebuild some examples with a larger boiler, but only one E1X rebuild had been completed by the time of his unexpected retirement. Marsh's successor Billinton reversed this policy and instead ordered five new, more powerful locomotives from Brighton works. The new class included several features found on other LB&SCR classes including an I2 class boiler. They were delivered between June 1913 and January 1914.

Second Series
The new design was judged to be successful, except that they were found to have inadequate water supply. Thus when a further order for five locomotives was placed they were given extended side tanks. The second batch were delayed by the onset of the war but were eventually delivered between June 1915 and October 1916.

Use
The E2 class locomotives were mainly used for the heavier shunting and short distance freight duties in the London area and on the south coast, as their small coal bunkers made them unsuitable for long trips. These included empty stock workings at Victoria and London Bridge Stations.

Two were tried in 1914 as passenger locomotives on push-pull duties with the locomotives in the middle of a rake of six coaches, but the experiment was abandoned during the same year as they had insufficient coal capacity.

Following the electrification of the Brighton line in 1936 the class was used as replacements for the former London Chatham and Dover Railway T class at the Herne Hill marshalling yard, around Victoria station and at Dover harbour. During the Second World War they also replaced the SR Z class at Hither Green marshalling yard.

In the mid-1950s the class were tried out as shunters at Southampton Docks and found to be useful. Six examples were retained for this purpose until their replacement by British Rail Class 07 diesel shunters in 1962.

Withdrawal of the class took place between February 1961 and April 1963 and were all scrapped. None have survived to preservation. However a proposed project has been announced to build #110, the new member of the E2 Class. The modifications would be wheel arches, a large coal bunker, and a blue livery, just like Thomas the Tank Engine.

The Railway Series
Thee LBSC E2 is the basis for Thomas The Tank Engine, with slight modifications: extended tanks, color, splashers, and