Metropolitan Railway E Class
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 L48 at Neasden, 1961 |
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| Power type | Steam |
|---|---|
| Builder | Yorkshire Engine Company |
| Build date | 1896-1901 |
| Configuration | 0-4-4T |
| Fuel type | Coal |
| Career | Metropolitan Railway |
| Disposition | All scrapped |
The Metropolitan Railway E Class is a class of 0-4-4T steam locomotives.
A total of seven locomotives were built between 1896 and 1901 for the Metropolitan Railway: three by themselves at their Neasden Works and four by Hawthorn Leslie in Newcastle. One locomotive became Metropolitan Railway No.1 and was a replacement for A Class (4-4-0T) No.1 which had been scrapped. The other locomotives were numbered 77 to 82.
The E Class were displaced from the main passenger trains by the 4-4-4T H Class in 1920, moving to lesser jobs such as trains on the Chesham Branch, goods trains and engineering duties.
Following the second world war one E Class locomotive was regularly stationed at Rickmansworth station to cover a failure of LNER locomotives working Metropolitan Line trains north of this point.
The first locomotive was scrapped in 1935 before it could be given a new London Transport number, something that only four locomotives would receive. No.1 became L44, while nos. 77, 80 and 81 became L46–L48. L44 (No.1) had the honour of working the last steam-hauled LT passenger train in 1961, and survived in use until 1965; it is now preserved at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre.
No.1 was maintained in main-line condition and made occasional forays onto its old home lines during the "Steam on the Met" events which took place between 1989 and 2000. It received a full overhaul in 2001.
In 2007 No.1 made its first visit away from Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, arriving at the Bluebell Railway on 24 July in order to take part in the "Bluebell 125" celebrations. While there it will be paired with four original Metropolitan Railway carriages which have been restored by the Bluebell.
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