Lynton & Barnstaple Railway.

Three lively pictures of the L&B. Underneath all this exterior is a 2-6-2 wheel arrangement (narrow gauge). The three earliest engines built by Manning Wardle of Leeds were named Yeo, Exe and Taw, after Exmoor rivers. The same company built Lew and Lyd in 1925 to a similar design. Owing to a locomotive builder's strike, the order for another went to America, Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, hence the Americanisms (cowcatcher etc). The locos had work done at eastleigh works and carried the E code.  This was named Lyn. Replicas of Lyd and Lyn now run on the heritage line

64. The top two are of Lew, another was Lyn, picture 3.

65. Lew, back view.

66. And this is the Baldwin (Philadelphia) Lyn, 2-4-2 with three domes and a three-quarters tank. Lyn received modifications in Eastleigh, receiving the stove-pipe chimney in place of the original copper-capped one. I am told that the location of this shot is Pilton depot, Barnstaple.

Miscellaneous

Here are a couple of curious tank engines and other dock scenes in the collection. The photos generally were poor but have scrubbed up well.

59.  A somewhat bizarre tank engine! Peter Smart says: one of the Alexander Shanks, of Arbroath, tram engines.  No 108 was delivered in November in 1877.  Your photo was taken at Nine Elms in 1906.

60. LSWR number 736 was later taken over by the King Arthur class Escalibur. Peter Smart says: one of the C14 class motor tanks.  Your photo shows No 736 when new and painted in photographic grey at Nine Elms on 28th September 1906.    

61. The collection contains a few dock scenes. The prints are very poor: we are seeing them here as CH would have loved to see them but never did. The back of this reads: 1/2/28, H&D. 680. Mauritania in the Floating Dry Dock. 4.5.25occ. Inf. Over exposed. Photographic code crackers, let me know. I have cured the over-exposure.

62. The following two were very pale and underexposed - again I have corrected them.

63.

LSWR Traffic

All the photographs in this post have details on the back indicating that the are CH photos. His comments are given in the titles.
47. T14 'Paddleboat' type, No. (E)443. Rear note says 'North Cornwall Express' and "as built". Geoff: "11.00 a.m. North Cornwall and Bude" F.E.Mackay, RM Feb 1912, his 250th published. Mackay glass plate negatives were destroyed on his death in the 1930s so it is exciting to find photo-quality images.

48. LSWR (E)738, King Pellinore. The reverse says "Up Ilfracombe", the number, and "oil". If you enlarge, you can see the oil tank in the tender. Location is possibly Earlsfield near Clapham. Note the electrified rail. 1921.

49. LSWR N15 (E)450, Sir Kay, Clapham Junction. The 9 is the Nine Elms duty number. This train became the Atlantic Coast Express from 1926, though the date of this picture is uncertain.

50. The rear says "Up Bournemouth Excursion, 330A, so an H15 "rebt" (rebuilt) and a hieroglyph I am still working on (looks like "2gnd". David Vidler comments: The rectangular board carries the train reporting number used to identify trains on summer Saturdays. This says to me 1930s rather than 1920s. 330 carries a Nine Elms duty number and was allocated there for the summer of 1935. It returned to Salisbury when the N15X started to arrive at Nine Elms. Geoff Smith suggests:  The building on the bridge looks like Weybridge, and the curvature looks right. 

51. The rear says "Up Southampton, 137". So a K10, which looks right.Note the third rail. Venue possibly Clapham Cutting? The headcode is Waterloo-Southampton via Alton, although it seems to be a long train for one from Southampton by that route - could be a short working from Alton.

52.Rear says "Up local. 33K OB" [or maybe 073]. (E)33 was an M7 tank. David Vidler says: Headcode is Waterloo-Portsmouth via Woking although with an M7 it is likely that it started from Guildford or Woking. The train is formed with two 4 plus van sets and two loose coaches  - and the M7 is still blowing off at the safety valves. Could it be a train of empties? It is long for a local train. Geoff Smith suggests Weybridge, as in picture 50.

53. Rear says "Down Aldershot". Anoither M7 tank. Peter of SEmG says: Photo 53 is  interesting because it shows M7 No 126 which was the only member of the class to be superheated.  The location is Clapham Cutting. DV comments: Headcode is for 'Specials for Race Meetings and Special Events'. The C on the top disc indicates that it is the third of a series of trains for the event. The rear carriages look like one of the sets of 6-wheelers kept for race meetings. 

54. Rear says "Up Portsmouth". Location as in 50 and 52?

55. (E)422, an L12. Rear says "Down Folkestone, Sandling Jun[ction?] 422". Sandling is near Maidstone, so an LSWR type on Ashford territory? I am told that Sandling Junction was "between Ashford and Folkestone, once the junction for the Hythe and Sandgate branch.  A favourite spot for railway photographers in those days." DV comments: 10 L12s were transferred to the Eastern Section and worked between London and Deal until the L1s arrived in 1926. The L12s were then used elsewhere on the Eastern and Central Sections until returned to the Western Section in WW2.

56. Rear says "Down Bournemouth". Note electrified 3rd rail.

57. Rear says "Down Salisbury 423B". Another L12. DV says: the power class should be E not B. The train is formed with one 4 plus van set and two loose coaches. Geoff Smith says: 57 : Clapham Cutting, Heathfield Road bridge, with Trinity Road in the background. 

58. Rear says "Down Pullman Ltd (Brighton)  304 H.6. Funnel cut down". 304 was a T9 (Greyhound type). Geoff: 58 : "... July 1930 ... Sunday Third Class Brighton Sunday Pullman near Hassocks", credited to Real Photographs in "The Drummond Greyhounds", Bradley. 

40-46 Brighton Belles...

Here are a few engines from the Brighton Works. Passenger trains were electified, the 'little green trains', so locomotives were freight only. The London, Brighton and South Coast railway connected the south coast with Victoria terminus in London. Notice the B over the number, for Brighton. After grouping in 1923, Southern had engines from Ashford, Brighton and Eastleigh, all with the same number sequence so distinguished them with the A, B or E suffix. Later (B) 349 would become 2349, and in BR 32349. Here are a few. Goods engines had a green livery, passenger engines umber.

40. First, class K, a nice-looking mogul, number (B)349 [later 2349 and 32349].  The first 2-6-0 at Brighton, built to have good power and acceleration in busy London traffic, avoiding the need to double-head two 0-6-0 'Vulcans'. This one began service in 1920, the first of the class being introduced in 1913

41. The last two of the K class were the first to be built with 'top feed', having two domes - these were 350 and 351. Here, 350 is clean and coaled up ready to go. Someone somewhere I am sure can tell me the technical details.

42. Other K class locos were converted to top-feed as the came in for overhaul, Here is (B)347 in the mid-1920s. Top feed was also fitted during rebuilding to a few of the smaller and earlier 0-6-0 32x class.

43. Class E4X 0-6-2, started by Stroudley and completed by R.J Billinton from 1897, designed for passenger traffic. Four had a complete rebuild by Marsh, including this one - hence the X. In LBSCR days the livery would have been umber.

44. Presumably Class D though it had been scrapped by 1944. An 1870s design, it frequently was seen in passenger livery with named engines like Carlshalton, Sydenham, Groombridge and Denbies. In the 1920s they are however in goods black. Comment below says: Photo 44 is of the sole example of class D1x, a rebuilt large boiler D1. I have never seen a photo of this loco before, indeed I was not aware of the class's existence. Please keep up your work on these photos, although quite a few are well known to enthusiasts like myself, many are not and there are some real gems in them.

45. Class E2, 0-6-0 built around 1916 with extended side tanks. They worked on passenger as well as goods trains and survived well into BR days, some through to the end of steam.

46. Class I1X, a 4-4-2 tank. The I1 (note, the letter I and the number 1) was a poor engine in every way. A few were rebuilt and much improved under Southern operation, and carried the X as a result.  Few survived into BR days.

Lord Nelson and friends...

34. The top two show Lord Nelson with Gladstone,  at an open day at Nine Elms in 1927. LB&SCR class B1 214 Gladstone,the first of this class, has even then been given a perfect museum livery thanks to the Stephenson Locomotive Society in 1927 (it is now in the NRM). There is a front view and a side view. DV says: not at Eastleigh but Nine Elms with the remains of the old coal stage in the background. The two engines were exhibited at Waterloo on 14 May 1927.

35.

36. Next,  Isle of Wight 02 tank no. W22 heading for Ventnor from Sandown. Peter of SEmG notes: It is reproduced in ‘Isle of Wight Album’ (Ian Allan, 1967) and is credited to H. Gordon Tidey. The coaches are ex-North London Railway four-wheelers."

Picture removed for copyright reasons.

37. And now back on the main Southampton to Portsmouth line:
LSWR T7  720 (missing from 1944 ABC). The smoke blinkers are unusual. Peter at SEmG comments: " Class T7 was a solitary loco and the first of Drummond's double singles, the driving wheels were not coupled, there were 4 cylinders, the inside pair driving the leading pair od driving wheels and the outside pair the trailing pair.  A second attempt at this arrangement gave rise to the E10 class of 5 locos which had larger boilers."

38. LSWR H15  no. (E)491. Bournemouth line.

39. LSWR Drummond D15 no (E)470 before superheating. DV says: Bournemouth line train - 470 had been superheated in 1917 - note extended smokebox.

For the curious...

These six photographs are curious in various ways, some to do with age, others with events. I would love some help with the vary early ones!
28. A763 was named Betty Balfour by a signwriter during the general strike (1926) and de-named a year later at its next routine painting. It was the only named engine of this class. A similar photograph, but with two men standing in front of the engine, is included in Locomotives Illustrated 23. There is also a picture apparently appears in D L Bradley's 'Locomotives of the SECR' (first edition) though I haven't seen it.

29. Of of the SECR (Ashford based but not built) 'Rivers', (A) 797 River Mole, a 2-6-4 K class tank, 1925. I think it is a smart looking tank, but the class had an unfortunate history. After a serious accident at Bearsted (River Frome) in 1927, followed by another at Dunton Green (River Clay), when both engines became derailed (though without serious injuries) caused in all probability by the state of the track, the whole class were withdrawn and rebuilt as tender engines in 1928. I haven't so far found photographs of the rebuild.

30. Now for the oldies: Stirling  Victorian engine 377, with a very distinctive tender. Thanks, Peter for the detail: "an ex-South Eastern Railway Stirling loco as rebuilt by Wainwright into class O1. The full SR number is (A) 377 and the SECR ownership plate is still on the cabside, making the photo only just post-1923".

31. Pencilled on the back is 'No 162'. I can just make out the 16 using magnification. Class 302. Peter Smart says: W.G. Beatie  single framed Beyer goods engine built by Beyer Peacock in 1878 originally named "Severn". It was rebuilt by Adams in 1886 and not withdrawn until December 1924.

32. This and the next seem similar except for the external springs.  LSWR 273-A, (class 302). Peter Smart says: 32  273A & 33 286A show  Beyer Double Framed goods engines.  These originate from 1866 and were ordered when Nine Elms works were unable to supply urgently required goods engines in a reasonable time scale. Both your photos show them as rebuilt by Adams.  They had been laid aside but were reinstated after the WD had requisitioned a number of Adams 395 class 0-6-0s and remained in service until 1924.  273A was withdrawn in 5/24 and 286A in 3/24

33. and 246-A (class 302)

Southern Locomotives, 1920s.

I have had for the last forty years two small suitcases full of railway photographs some taken in the1920s by Cyril Hawkesworth, including some glass negatives and others collected on postcards. They were gifted to me by his dying widow around 1970 just hours before they were due to be thrown into a skip. Photographs clearly taken bu Hawksworth are set out in a separate collection. Cyril collected railway photographs from commercial companies, and where appropriate I will declare these sources. I am attempting to share them for research purposes, though it takes time to rephotograph and research each picture.  Each is rephotographed digitally and enhanced, so these photographs are crisper and clearer than the originals. One photograph, of T9 4-4-0 No.300 "near Earlsfield" appears (unacknowledged) in O.S.Nock's Southern Steam. Some books misidentify classes - I have come across two photos of U1s misnamed as N15 because the Ashford (A) and Eastleigh (E) numbering system in the early days of Southern was not understood. I use O.S. Nock's Southern Steam, Ian Allen's ABC of Railway Locomotives 1944 Edition (reprints are available from NRM), and the excellent Southern Email Group website. Nevertheless, I am always happy to be corrected. I will be happy for any comments about the engines featured. Cyril died unknown - he was married and moved away and after 1929 this collection stops. In time this collection will be deposited with an appropriate museum so that it survives a few more generations. Thanks to David Vidler for corrections and additions. Headcodes are given in David Wragg, The Southern Railways Handbook, appendix 1. This collection is not for profit, and apologies if I am unaware of copyright status.
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1.SR N15 (E)801 Sir Durnore (King Arthur Class) at Victoria. From the last batch built in Eastleigh, 1928.

2. SR N15 (E)773 Sir Lavaine

3. LSWR N15 742 Camelot - one of the original Urie builds, 742 and her sisters were poor steamers and had to be given redesigned smokeboxes and valveports. Compare her with the previous two photos and you will see subtle differences. They were enormous engines, two big to fit into some eastern stations without hitting the platform edge.

4. The A above number 755 stands for Ashford, Kent so this is a class L1, later numbered 1755. A works photo showing new paint.

5. Again an Ashford engine, (A) 735 (later 1735) is class D1 though very similar to the class L1.

6. Ashford engine (A)763, class L.

7. LSWR H15 no. (E)335.  The white circle headcodes could stand for London to Portsmouth/Southsea or to Exeter. The number 25 is a Nine Elms duty number

8. LSWR  T9 number (E)114, Waterloo to Portsmouth.

9. LSWR N15 (E)742 Camelot. The white circle headcodes stand for express from London to either Southampton or more likely Exeter and Plymouth.

10. LSWR Class T9 no. (E) 284. . Geoff: 10 : "284 passes Esher with a Weymouth express September 1923. H. Gordon Tidey" in "The Drummond Greyhounds" Bradley 1977, p.60. In Bradley, a white catalogue number appears on the platform edge. The 'T' prefix you have noted in "Greyhounds" I understood to have been used by John Smith to distinguish negs/plates by H.Gordon Tidey, which effectively confirms the photographer and explains why it doesn't appear on your print. However, that doesn't quite square with the Wikipedia entry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._Gordon_Tidey 

11. LSWR class S15 no. (E)498, works photo, in works photographic grey.

12. Ashford engine (A)781, class L, and interesting contrast to the class L1 above.

13. Another class L (A)776. The white circle headcodes stand for the Victoria to Ramsgate route.

14. LSWR  (E)850 Lord Nelson with bright new paint. The Lord Nelsons were introduced right at the end of Cyril's period of photography, around 1928-9. The white circle headcodes may stand for  Southampton to Andover by Eastleigh. David Vidler notes: "the restriction 1 carriages indicate an Eastern Section train". Geoff:  Climbing Grosvenor Bank, out of Victoria, Eastern Section. 

15. Repeat of 53.

16. The M7 (E)375.

17. NSWR class N15 (King Arthur class) 755 The Red Knight. The triple headcode suggests the Brighton to Bournemouth direct line. The 52 is the Nine Elms duty number.

18. LSWR class L12 (E)417

19. LSWR class A12 (E)618 in  Strawberry Hill (David V)

20. (E)120 DV says: Eastleigh shed - possibly 1927 when 120 was newly superheated.

21. LSWR class D15, (E)464. Eastleigh shed.

22. LSWR Class N15, (E)755 The Red Knight without nameplate, works photo. Names were added only in 1925. Naming was not an LSWR tradition and it met resistance. 736-755 were thus unnamed when first introduced.

23. LSWR Class N15, 737 King Uther without nameplates, works photo. Oil burner: DV says: can be dated as 1921 when running as oilburner.

24. Class N15, (E)753 Melisande. Eastleigh Shed. 1926

25. LSWR, Class S15, (E)515, works photo, oilburner. DVsays: can be dated as 1921 when running as oilburner.

26. LSWR class A12, (E)624. The van after the first two carriages is interesting. DV says: I think this could be an Alton train. It is possible that it was Waterloo-Southampton via Alton but I doubt that an A12 would have been trusted with a train that size over the Mid-Hants line.

27. LSWR class T9, (E) 302 perhaps?  The back of the photo is inscribed 'Up White Star Line'. DV says: The black centre to the disc indicates a special train - the Ironclad Pantry Brake First behind the engine confirms that is a Southampton boat train.