Brighton Works
What was the operator of LB&amp;SCR E4 class from 1897 to Dec 1922?
LB&amp;SCR E4 class The London , Brighton and South Coast Railway E4 Class is a class of 0-6-2T side tank steam locomotive designed by Robert Billinton . They were introduced in 1897 and were essentially a larger version of the E3 Class . The cylinder diameter was reduced from by the Southern Railway . History . 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 . They were very similar to the E3 tank engines from 1891 , but the key differences were that their driving wheels were enlarged from 4 foot 6 inches to 5 foot and their boiler pressure was increased to 160 lb . Several were named after towns , villages and geographical features in the LB&SCR area , for example No . 469 Beachy Head . Some of their names would be re-used for H2 Atlantics a few years later . They were so successful that they were more commonly assigned to passenger trains as opposed to freight work , which is what they were originally intended for . During World War I the Railway Operating Division borrowed several members of the class include Nos . 470 , 481 , 498 , 504 , 506 , 518 , 519 , 562 , 563 , 564 , 565 , 577 and 580 for work in France . They first worked at an ammunition dump in Audruicq , France in November 1917 and were later sent to the Arras area in February 1918 . All of them were returned to England in 1919 . After Grouping they were primarily to be found around the Central section of the Southern Railway , with some going away from their traditional routes to places like Waterloo , Eastleigh and Tonbridge . Seventy-five members of the class were built by Brighton Works between December 1897 and September 1903 . All of the class survived to enter Southern Railway ownership in 1923 . One example , No . 2483 Hellingly , was severely damaged as a result of enemy action against Eastbourne motive power depot in 1942 during a Luftwaffe air raid event known as the Baedeker Blitz . Hellingly was scrapped in July 1944 . One engine , No . 2510 , was tested on the railways of the Isle of Wright in 1947 , albeit unsuccessfully . The class continued in regular use following the nationalisation of the Southern Railway as 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 requirements , and withdrawals commenced in 1955 . Most of the class were withdrawn between 1958 and 1964 . Accidents and incidents . - Locomotive No . 32468 ran into the buffers at station , Brighton , East Sussex - date unknown . Operations . The E4 class were initially used on local passenger and freight services , and on branch lines . 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 . Numbering . British Railways ( BR ) numbers were 32463-32520 , 32556-32566 and 32577-32582 . E4X class . In 1909 , four locomotives were rebuilt by D . E . Marsh with larger boilers and designated E4X . These became BR numbers 32466 , 32477 , 32478 and 32489 . Preservation . One of the last survivors in 1963 was No . 32473 . This was purchased by a group of preservationists and brought to the Bluebell Railway in East Sussex , where it has remained ever since , except for visits to other lines such as the Severn Valley Railway and Isle of Wight Steam Railway . The engine was withdrawn from traffic in 1971 and dismantled . Work however did not start in earnest until the 1980s and following a long overhaul , she returned to traffic in 1997 to celebrate her centenary in 1998 . After a short period running in the genuine LB&SCR livery it carried after 1912 , with the companys initials painted on the side tanks , these were re-lettered with its earlier LB&SCR name of Birch Grove . In 2005 she was repainted into British Railways lined black mixed traffic livery . Following withdrawal from service in May 2008 , the locomotive was soon brought into the Bluebell workshops for a fast track overhaul , including a repaint into 1920s Southern Railway green to match much of the lines coaching stock . This was completed during January 2010 , with the engine relaunched into traffic on 30 January 2010 . 32473 is the only ex LB&SCR preserved locomotive not to be designed by William Stroudley . Models . Bachmann branchlines produce several models of the E4 tank including examples in SR olive green , BR black and LBSCR umber livery . References . - Sources - Ian Allan ABC of British Railways Locomotives , 1949 , part 2 , page 35 - Bradley , D.L . ( 1974 ) Locomotives of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway , Part 3 . Railway Correspondence and Travel Society . External links . - E4 Class ( SEMG gallery ) - Railuk database , E4 - Railuk database , E4X - Bluebell Railway page on Birch Grove - Bluebell Railway Villa Team page covering 1983-1998 overhaul