SER R1 class

SECR R1 class
Two R1 locomotives 1069 and 1147 at Ashford 1946. These have been cut down to operate on the restrictive Canterbury & Whitstable line
Type and origin Only differences from R class are shown Power type Steam Rebuild date 1910–1922 Number rebuilt 13
Specifications
Career Operators South Eastern and Chatham Railway → Southern Railway → Southern Region of British Railways Class SECR/SR: R1 Withdrawn 1949–1960 Disposition All scrapped

The SER R class was a class of 0-6-0T locomotives on the South Eastern Railway.

For many years the South Eastern Railway (SER) had possessed very few locomotives designed for shunting. When trains were to be shunted, this was usually carried out any locomotive which happened to be idle at the time, which was often unsuitable; and sometimes this caused delays to other trains which should have been run using the commandeered locomotive.

Several other railways favoured the 0-6-0T wheel arrangement for shunting, and so in 1887 it was decided to introduce a class of 0-6-0T locomotives specifically for shunting and for hauling local goods trains. The R class locomotives were designed by James Stirling as a new class, and 25 were built at Ashford Works between 1888 and 1898. As was typical of Stirling's designs, several components were shared with existing designs; the domeless boilers were of the same type as was fitted to the his O class 0-6-0 and Q class 0-4-4T.

Their SER numbers were scattered between 10 and 174, and in a continuous block from 335 to 342. These numbers were retained under the South Eastern and Chatham Railway, although from 1900 the livery changed from black to green.

Between 1910 and 1922, 13 of the SER R class 0-6-0T were rebuilt by the SECR with Wainwright-design domed boilers of the same type as were used on the SECR H class 0-4-4T. These rebuilds were classified R1, but their capabilities and duties did not change substantially.

Many of the locomotives were renumbered up to three times: from 1924 the Southern Railway (SR) applied the prefix "A", ie A10 etc, the work being completed in 1927; from 1931 the SR dropped the "A" and increased the numbers by 1000 (ie 1010 etc.); and from 1948, under British Railways, the numbers were further increased by 30000, becoming 31010 etc.