SE&CR Class H No. 263

No. 263 is a Class H 0-4-4 tank engine steam locomotive that was built in 1905 by Ashford Works. It along with the rest of its class were designed for suburban passenger work along the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR). 
In 1923 SECR locomotives were absorbed into the fleet of the Southern Railway (SR) causing it to be renumbered to 1263. Upon nationalisation of the railways in 1948, it was renumbered once again and became British Railways (BR) 31263. 
By January 1964 it was the final member of the class still in revenue service when it was officially withdrawn after 59 years of running. It remained in storage for ten months until it was purchased directly from BR by the H-Class Trust. It was later preserved at the South Eastern Steam Centre at Ashford, but in 1975 the Trustees decided that the locomotive would fair better if it was instead based on the Bluebell Railway in Sussex, where it ran between 1976 and 1982.
In 2008 ownership of No. 263 was officially transferred to the Bluebell Railway Trust which would serve to fund its overhaul allowing it to return to service in July 2012.
No. 263's boiler certificate expired in February 2022 and is currently undergoing an overhaul to return to active service again in the near future.
==Gallery==
File:263 3arch petere1949 28jul12m.jpg
Category:0-4-4T steam locomotives
Category:0-4-4T locomotives
Category:Tank locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:Preserved locomotives
Category:Preserved steam locomotives
Category:Bluebell Railway
Category:Built in 1905
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Standard gauge locomotives
Category:Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain
Category:4 foot 8 1⁄2 inch gauge
Category:SE&CR
Category:South Eastern and Chatham Railway
Category:Ashford Works locomotives
Category:Sole survivor
Category:0-4-4 locomotives
Category:0-4-4 steam locomotives
Category:Passenger locomotives