Cronk and Abbey

Cronk and Abbey are LSWR O2 class who used to work on the Peel Godred Branchline until it was electrified, they were sold to the Island of Chester!

## Technical Details:

The second of William Adam's 0-4-4 designs, the O2 Class was a development of his previous T1 class of 1888. The brief behind the design was to create a locomotive capable of mixed-traffic operations, a characteristic dictated by the relatively small wheel diameter and smaller cylinders, effectively to replace the obsolete Beattie Well Tank. As a result, a compact locomotive with high route availability was produced, a factor that would be essential during the later career of the class.

Production began in 1889, with the first 20 being constructed at the LSWR's Nine Elms works. The success of the locomotive ensured that a second batch of 30 locomotives was ordered the next year. A final batch of ten was constructed by 1895.

The class was initially used intensively on London suburban services, but began to be replaced on these as early as 1897 by the introduction of the more powerful Drummond M7 and T1 classes. As a result, the O2s were cascaded to lighter services, and became distributed throughout the LSWR system, being of particular use on restricted branch lines due to their relatively low weight and short wheelbase.

All of the O2s survived to be taken into Southern Railway ownership after the Grouping in 1923. They continued to be used across the former LSWR network, however, electrification and the introduction of more modern types started to make them redundant. This allowed the Southern Railway to send the first 2 spare examples across to the Isle of Wight (see below). Other redundant mainland locomotives were withdrawn, with eight going in the 1930s, and four more in the 1940s.

Despite the early withdrawals, a number of O2s lasted well into BR days, working various branch lines until closure began to take place in the late 1950s and early 1960s. As a result, the mainland O2s became redundant and the last to go was number 30225 in 1962.

The class is usually best associated with the Isle of Wight railway system, with the Isle of Wight Central Railway making enquires as to the possibility of purchasing some class members in the early twentieth century. This plan fell through, however, and it was not until after Grouping in 1923 that the newly formed Southern Railway was forced to resolve the desperate locomotive power situation on the Isle of Wight.

The solution to this problem presented itself when electrification of the LSWR's suburban network resulted in a cascade of newer, more powerful designs such as the M7s and T1s into the rural strongholds of the O2 class. As a result several O2s became surplus to mainland requirements. Two of these spare engines were modified at Eastleigh works with the addition of a Westinghouse air brakes to allow compatibility with the Isle of Wight coaching stock. These two O2s were shipped across the Solent in 1923 and trialled extensively on services across the island, but particularly the intensive Ryde–Ventnor services, on which they proved highly successful. Further engines were then shipped across in small batches during the 1920s and 1930s.

The final two O2s were sent to the island in 1949, after Nationalisation, resulting in a total of 23 locomotives on the island. Due to tunnel restrictions at Ventnor none of the final series of ten with the higher cab roofs were sent. Thanks to their compact nature, low weight and relatively high power they proved ideal for island duties, although the lack of adequate coal bunker space initially hampered the class. Thus from 1932 a much larger extended bunker was fitted to W19 (formerly 206), and this design subsequently became the standard for all the island locomotives. They handled trains of up to six bogie coaches on all the Island lines, including the 1-in-70 Apse bank from Shanklin to Wroxall.

After the withdrawal of the last LB&SCR E1 class in 1960, the O2 became the only locomotive class on the island. They survived in service until the end of steam services on the Island, with an O2 operating the final train on 31 December 1966.

Two, numbers W24 *Calbourne* and W31 *Chale*, were retained to work engineers' trains during the electrification of the surviving Ryde–Shanklin line. Both were withdrawn on completion of the electrification project in March 1967.