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LBSCR I1/SR I1x Class 4-4-2T

photograph: Dave Searle collection.

I1 N°601 in LBSC livery, location unknown.

Marsh was noted for several things, one being the exercising of GNR influence when he arrived at Brighton and another being the builder of many disappointing engines. Unlike his H1 and H2 Atlantic express tender engines his Atlantic tanks (with the exception of the I3 class) were pretty much a poor bunch. The first of these to be built was N°595 in September 1906 and although followed by nineteen more locos of class I1, 595 differed in several ways from the following engines. She had, for example, copper feedwater heating pipes along and down to the tanks in the manner of the GNR condensing engines. The first three locos had a water capacity of 1,839 gals whereas the last seventeen carried 1,924, and in true Brighton tradition the last locos to be built carried lower numbers than the first, in this case the very lowest - numbers 1 to 10. These last ten used the coupled wheels and motion from recently scrapped Stroudley D1 and D2 class engines, reducing their wheelbase from 8 ft 9 ins to 7 ft 7 ins!

All twenty engines steamed very badly which is far from ideal in a loco built for heavy suburban traffic! In their early years their main feat was to show what good engines the D1 and E4 classes were! In 1921 Lawson Billinton fitted taller chimneys which improved the situation a little, but not by much.

Come the Southern Railway and the Maunsell era and at long last something worthwhile was made of the locos when they were rebuilt between 1923 and 1932 into class I1x. Maunsell gave them boilers from the B4 Class or unsuperheated ones from the I3 class. It has been suggested that they would also have benefitted from having piston valves but Maunsell didn't fit these. Following the rebuild the locos were considerably more useful and did sterling work on the Oxted line. A handful survived into BR ownership, though only one carried a BR number, and all had gone by July 1951.

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I1 600
Banstead
The June 1907 royal train bound for Epsom Downs, hauled by I1 N°600 at Banstead. The entire trip gained infamy because N°600 performed so poorly, even with Mr. Billinton on the footplate, that she lost seven minutes against the scheduled timings on the outward leg and a further eleven minutes on the return with the punctuality obsessed King Edward VII on board, who was allegedly far from amused.
Photograph: E T Vyse / Mike Morant collection.
I1 7
London Bridge
Still an I1, N°B7 photographed at London Bridge station during early Southern Railway days.
Photograph: Mike Morant collection.
I1x 2010
Tunbridge Wells
I1x N°2010 was photographed fully coaled and ready to go at Tunbridge Wells West during the 1930s. Note the changes to the cab and bunker..
Photograph: Mike Morant collection.
I1x 2595

The first I1 to be built, but not the first to be rebuilt as Class I1x, N°2595 is seen here at an unknown location in later Southern Railway days.
Photograph: Mike Morant collection.
I1x 2602
Bognor
Still bearing her former owner's name, I1x N°2602 was photographed here at Bognor loco shed on 27th May 1950.
Photograph by Les Darbyshire.

Technical Details

Introduced:
Driving Wheel:
Trailing Wheel:
Weight:
Cylinders (2):
Boiler Pressure:
Water Capacity:

Tractive Effort:

I1

1906
5 ft 6 ins
4 ft
66½ tons (Approx)
17½ in x 26 in
170 lb sq in
595-7 1,839 galls
598-10 1,924 galls
17,430 lbs

I1x

1925
5 ft 6 ins
4 ft
66½ tons (Approx)
17½ in x 26 in
170 lb sq in
595-7 1,839 galls
598-10 1,924 galls
17,430 lbs

Data

LBSC N°	SR N° #	BR N°	Built	Rebuilt as I1x	Withdrawn
595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	2595 2596 2597 2598 2599 2600 2601 2602 2603 2604 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010	- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 32005 - - - - -	Sep 1906 Nov 1906 Dec 1906 Jan 1907 Feb 1907 Mar 1907 Apr 1907 Apr 1907 Jun 1907 Apr 1907 Jun 1907 Jul 1907 Jul 1907 Aug 1907 Sep 1907 Oct 1907 Oct 1907 Nov 1907 Dec 1907 Dec 1907	Jan 1927 Jul 1925 May 1928 Nov 1925 Oct 1928 May 1927 Feb 1928 Dec 1926 Aug 1928 Aug 1927 Dec 1931 May 1931 Sep 1931 Jan 1932 Aug 1931 Feb 1932 Oct 1931 Feb 1931 Dec 1929 Oct 1929	Jun 1951 Jun 1951 Dec 1946 Sep 1948 Sep 1948 Oct 1944 Jan 1948 Jun 1951 Apr 1951 Sep 1948 Jul 1948 Jul 1951 Jul 1948 Nov 1948 Jun 1951 Sep 1948 Sep 1948 Jun 1951 Apr 1951 Sep 1948
# Between 1923 and 1928 SR numbers were the LBSC numbers with the added prefix 'B'

This page was last updated 12 September 2010