LCDR Acis class

LCDR Acis class
LCDR H class
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerWilliam Martley
Builder
Serial number
  • SS: 1280–1281, 1303–1304, 1327–1328
  • RSC: 1386–1393
Build dateSeptember 1861 – December 1862
Total produced14
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte0-6-0
 • UICC n2
Gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Driver dia.5 ft 0 in (1.524 m)
Axle load:​
 • 1st coupled10 long tons 12 cwt (10.8 t)
 • 2nd coupled11 long tons 11 cwt (11.7 t)
 • 3rd coupled9 long tons 17 cwt (10.0 t)
Loco weight32 long tons 0 cwt (32.5 t)
Firebox:​
 • Grate area27.5 sq ft (2.55 m2)
Boiler:
​
 • Diameter4 ft 3 in (1.30 m)
 • Tube plates10 ft 6 in (3.200 m)
Boiler pressure120 lbf/in2 (830 kPa; 8.4 kgf/cm2)
Heating surface:​
 • Firebox122 sq ft (11.3 m2)
 • Tubes1,070 sq ft (99 m2)
 • Total surface1,192 sq ft (110.7 m2)
CylindersTwo, inside
Cylinder size17 in × 24 in (432 mm × 610 mm)
Career
Operators
WithdrawnJune 1903 – December 1908
DispositionAll scrapped

The LCDR Acis class was a class of fourteen 0-6-0 steam locomotives designed by William Martley for the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) to haul goods trains.

Between 1859 and 1860, the LCDR board considered the need for new locomotives to operate lines then under construction. After consultation with various engineers, including Charles Patrick Stewart (of Sharp, Stewart and Company), Robert Sinclair (of the Eastern Counties Railway) and Thomas Russell Crampton, they decided upon forty new locomotives: eight 1st class fast locomotives, seventeen general purpose passenger locomotives, and fifteen goods locomotives. After discussion with William Martley, the quantities needed for the two passenger types were revised to five and 24 respectively. Tenders were sought, and these were considered in July 1860, when orders were placed with several firms for what were to become the Echo, Tiger and Acis classes.[1]

The Acis class, intended to comprise 15 goods locomotives, were ordered from two firms: eight were ordered in July 1860 from Robert Stephenson and Company at £3,320 each; and after negotiations with various firms concerning prices and delivery dates, a further seven were ordered in August 1860 from Sharp, Stewart and Company at £3,284 each.[2] As with the Echo and Tiger classes, the locomotives were equipped with the Cudworth coal-burning firebox.[3] They were delivered to the LCDR between September 1861 and December 1862, but the Sharp Stewart order was reduced from seven to six in June 1862, and that firm was given an order for an additional locomotive of the Dawn class instead.[4]

Like other LCDR locomotives delivered prior to 1874, the locomotives had no numbers at first, being distinguished by name.[5] In November 1875, William Kirtley (who had replaced Martley following the latter's death in 1874) allotted the class letter H.[6] The locomotives were then given the numbers 113–126. All were still in service when the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR) was formed at the start of 1899: their numbers were increased by 459 to avoid duplication with former South Eastern Railway locomotives, and so they became SECR nos. 572–585. Four (nos. 574/5/9/85) were transferred to the duplicate list in 1903 and 1907 when their numbers were needed for new locomotives, and their numbers were suffixed with the letter "A". Withdrawal occurred between June 1903 and December 1908.[7]

Name Builder Works no. Built LCDR Number SECR Number Withdrawn
Acis Sharp, Stewart 1280 September 1861 113 572 June 1904
Calypso Sharp, Stewart 1281 September 1861 114 573 December 1904
Diomede Sharp, Stewart 1303 December 1861 115 574; 574A from February 1907 July 1908
Fortuna Sharp, Stewart 1304 December 1861 116 575; 575A from September 1903 February 1908
Gordius Sharp, Stewart 1327 June 1862 117 576 December 1904
Pyramus Sharp, Stewart 1328 June 1862 118 577 April 1908
Amphitrite Robert Stephenson 1386 August 1862 119 578 June 1904
Chloris Robert Stephenson 1387 August 1862 120 579; 579A from October 1903 December 1908
Ianthe Robert Stephenson 1388 September 1862 121 580 December 1903
Iris Robert Stephenson 1389 September 1862 122 581 June 1904
Phyllis Robert Stephenson 1390 October 1862 123 582 June 1903
Nestor Robert Stephenson 1391 October 1862 124 583 August 1903
Tacita Robert Stephenson 1392 October 1862 125 584 June 1903
Thisbe Robert Stephenson 1393 December 1862 126 585; 585A from June 1903 March 1906

The cancelled Sharp, Stewart locomotive was to have been named Sphynx, and this name was used for one of the Tiger class in August 1862.[7]

Notes

  1. ^ Bradley 1979, p. 33.
  2. ^ Bradley 1979, p. 41.
  3. ^ Bradley 1979, pp. 34, 38, 42.
  4. ^ Bradley 1979, pp. 45, 59.
  5. ^ Dendy Marshall & Kidner 1963, p. 349.
  6. ^ Bradley 1979, pp. 8, 14.
  7. ^ a b Bradley 1979, pp. 44, 45.

References

  • Bradley, D.L. (March 1979) [1960]. The Locomotive History of the London, Chatham & Dover Railway (2nd ed.). London: RCTS. ISBN 0-901115-47-9. OCLC 59838998.
  • Dendy Marshall, C.F.; Kidner, R.W. (1963) [1937]. History of the Southern Railway (2nd ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0059-X.