SECR D class

(Redirected from SECR D1 class)

The SECR D class is a class of 4-4-0 tender locomotives designed by Harry Wainwright for the South Eastern and Chatham Railway.

SECR D class
The only preserved example seen in the great hall of the National Railway Museum
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerHarry Wainwright
Builder
Build date1901–1907
Total produced51
Specifications
Configuration:
 • Whyte4-4-0
 • UIC2′B n2
Gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
Leading dia.3 ft 7 in (1.092 m)
Driver dia.6 ft 8 in (2.032 m)
Loco weight50 long tons 0 cwt (112,000 lb or 50.8 t)
Tender weight38 long tons 5 cwt (85,700 lb or 38.9 t)
Fuel typeCoal
Water cap.3,300 imp gal (15,000 L; 4,000 US gal)
Firebox:
 • Grate area20+14 sq ft (1.88 m2)
Boiler pressure175 lbf/in2 (1.21 MPa)
Heating surface:
 • Firebox124 sq ft (11.5 m2)
 • Tubes1,381 sq ft (128.3 m2)
 • Total surface1,505 sq ft (139.8 m2)
CylindersTwo, inside
Cylinder size19 in × 26 in (483 mm × 660 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort17,450 lbf (77.62 kN)
Career
Operators
ClassD
Power class
  • D: 1P
  • D1: 2P
LocaleSouthern Region
Withdrawn
  • D: 1944–1956
  • D1:1944–1961
Disposition21 rebuilt to D1 class (1921–25)
one preserved; remainder scrapped

Overview

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The construction of the initial 20 engines was shared between Ashford railway works and the Glasgow builder, Sharp, Stewart and Company. The first of the class to enter service in 1901 was a Glasgow product, and by 1907 fifty-one were in traffic. Of these twenty-one were Ashford built while the rest were supplied by outside contractors. The D class was a Harry Wainwright design and he was responsible for the overall look of the engine. The detail work was undertaken by Robert Surtees, his chief draughtsman at Ashford works.

D1 class

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D1 31470 at Tonbridge 1958

In 1913, Richard Maunsell started the rebuilding of 21 D Class locomotives with Belpaire fireboxes to produce the more powerful D1 class. These bigger engines were needed to cope with increasing loads on the Kent Coast Line through Chatham.

Operation

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Initially the D class was put to work on the Kent coast and Hastings services out of London. By the 1930s the largest allocation of D class 4-4-0s was at Gillingham depot in Kent but they had by now been reduced to secondary train duties and were now carrying the livery of the Southern Railway. At the outbreak of World War II in 1939 some of the D class were placed into storage. Then in 1941 others were transferred to Nine Elms depot. A handful were based at Redhill on the Reading-Tonbridge cross-country line.

In 1948 British Railways inherited 28 of the Wainwright 4-4-0s. Their final years saw them concentrated at Guildford in Surrey and the last of the D class, No.31075, was withdrawn from there on 15 December 1956. [1] The last of the D1s, meanwhile, were Nos. 31489, 31739, and 31749 from Bricklayers Arms on 11 November 1961. [2]

Table of withdrawals[3]
Year Quantity in
service at
start of year
Quantity
withdrawn
Locomotive numbers Notes
1944 51 2 1742/47 1742 D class, 1747 D1 class
1947 49 1 1726 D class
1950 48 2 31736/38 31738 D class; 31736 D1 class
1951 46 11 31057/92, 31477/90, 31502, 31730–32/40/45/48 31502 and 31745 D1 class, remainder D class
1953 35 5 31501, 31728/33/44/50 All D class
1954 30 3 31493, 31729/46 All D class
1955 27 4 31496, 31586/91, 31734 All D class
1956 23 6 31075, 31488, 31549/74/77, 31737 All D class
1959 17 2 31470, 31741 Both D1 class
1960 15 5 31492/94, 51509, 31743/49 All D1 class
1961 10 10 31145, 31246/47, 31487/89, 31505/45, 31727/35/39 All D1 class

Preservation

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One engine, No.31737, has been preserved and is in its original livery – that of the South Eastern & Chatham Railway – at the National Railway Museum in York.

Models

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Dapol, in association with Rails of Sheffield and Locomotion, released a model of the D Class in OO scale in 2021.[4] On February 22, 2022, Dapol and Rails of Sheffield announced a further model of the D1 Class, which was released in June 2023. [5]

References

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  1. ^ "BRDatabase - the Complete British Railways Locomotive Database 1948-1997".
  2. ^ "BRDatabase - the Complete British Railways Locomotive Database 1948-1997".
  3. ^ Bradley 1980, pp. 22, 112–113.
  4. ^ "SECR D Class 4-4-0 No.737 – Locomotion Models".
  5. ^ "IN STOCK SECR Maunsell D1". 21 June 2023.
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