page_title: SR L1 class
section_title: Operational details
hierarchical_section_title: SR L1 class / Operational details
caption_attribution_description: English: Birmingham - Margate express at Redhill. View NW, towards London: ex-LB&amp;SC London - Brighton main line and ex-SE&amp;C lines from Guildford and Reading and to Tonbridge etc. SR Maunsell class L1 4-4-0 No. 31782 (built 4/26, withdrawn 2/61) has coupled up to the rear of the 10.20 from Birmingham (Snow Hill), which has come to Redhill via Reading, and after crossing the main line will proceed to Margate via Tonbridge, Ashford and Canterbury West.
context_page_description: The Southern Railway L1 class was a class of 4-4-0 steam tender locomotives built for express passenger service on the South Eastern Main Line of the Southern Railway. They were designed by Richard Maunsell as a development of Harry Wainwright's L class.
context_section_description: The locomotives were used on express trains on the South Eastern main lines from London to Dover, Ramsgate, and Hastings. They remained on these duties until the mid-1930s when they were gradually replaced on the heavier trains by the newer ”King Arthur” and ”Schools” classes. They continued to be used on the former London Chatham and Dover Railway main line to Dover and Ramsgate until after the Second World War and the nationalisation of British Railways in 1948. The transfer of Bulleid “Light Pacifics” to these services in the early 1950s made the class largely redundant. Some were briefly transferred to Eastleigh and to replace worn out locomotives on cross-country services, but most spent their careers between London and the Kent coast. Withdrawal began in 1959. The final locomotive was withdrawn in February 1962. None remain.
caption: 31782 at Redhill 1955
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "EPSON scanner image", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "78", "Image YResolution": "78", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Centimeter", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2011:10:21 19:46:15", "Image ExifOffset": "204", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "342", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5259", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1197", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "687"}