lord nelson class class lord nelson class type cylinder steam locomotive designed intended continental boat trains london victoria dover harbour later express passenger work south west england sixteen constructed representing powerful successful southern design named famous class continued operate british railways withdrawn example class engine lord nelson saved scrapping seen running mainline tours preserved railways britain background improved king arthur class locomotives capable heaviest express passenger work london growth demand continental traffic travelling dover wished begin operating long ton short ton express trains routes peak periods require powerful locomotive able pull heavier loads sustained speeds mph electrified lines london existing cylinder design possible weight restrictions imposed railway civil engineer examining practice british railways chief mechanical engineer secured agreement cylinder design improved boiler drive divided coupled axle inside cylinders middle coupled axle outside cylinders giving better weight distribution reduced hammer blow new design inevitable compromise need additional power weight acceptable limit unusual features design setting standard locomotive types design necessitated sets valve gear gave rise beats revolution usual designed draw fire second difference fire sections rear portion horizontal sloped away sharply construction history prototype named lord nelson ordered railway works june production proceeded slowly insistence ensure weight kept minimum stage locomotive appear august tested variety duties year sufficiently encouraging results initial order locomotives delivery april placed originally scheduled allocated depot fitted wheeled suitable continental ports construction decided equip half class wheeled necessary longer west england routes depot batch locomotives ordered previous batch delivered apparent likely reduce demand continental travel second order reduced naming locomotives locomotives named famous royal_navy class named lord nelson result rest locomotives belonged lord nelson class modifications performance new locomotives mixed depending experience crew circumstances operating times better smaller predecessors undertook number experiments try improve performance new locomotives fitted smaller driving wheels improve performance heavily graded london dover line difference marginal fitted longer heavier boiler little improvement class fitting smoke late 1920s aware reputation poor steaming enjoyed class attempted address fitting twin problem ultimately solved replacement chief mechanical engineer southern fitted larger diameter chimneys multiple jet effectively transformed performance class highly respected operational details location details current status preserved locomotive list lord nelson class locomotives period introduction network lord nelson class held title powerful locomotive britain claim based effort advanced design locomotive led introducing class order regain title lost castle class locomotives lord constructed planned ton trains class regularly ton trains golden arrow second world war frequently heavily laden station southampton docks lord difficult inexperienced crews fire properly long specific crews proven experience firing locomotives allocated relatively locomotives class crews train royal class loosely based design accidents incidents member lord nelson class involved major accident january entailed leading driving wheels jumping track locomotive ran yards point lord hampshire august enemy action bomb fell track ahead train unable stop time received direct hit enemy bomb april severely damaged returned service june suffered failure lack water april killing injuring driver sir involved december poor condition permanent way november lord hauling passenger train run hampshire error people killed howard hauling passenger train overran signals trap points hampshire july withdrawal preservation class gradually superseded link expresses 1940s growing numbers 1950s frequently called peak periods failures rebuilding late 1950s subsequent increased reliability rendered lord nelson surplus operational requirements gradually phased service entire class withdrawn survivor class lord nelson preserved run national rail network based numbering lord nelson class initially painted lined olive green later changed lighter shade mid-1930s locomotives painted semi matt finish replaced southern war years locomotives painted wartime black retained word southern yellow tender war reverted standard sunshine yellow lining boiler rings numbers allocated locomotives variation practice constructed given prefix number distinguish locomotives pre grouping railway companies carried number case lord nelson class numbering ranged eventually superseded numbers prefix initial applied following railways modified southern green sunshine yellow british railways tender southern numbering system temporarily retained prefix superseded british railways numbering system locomotives carried british railways green orange black lining stage locomotives renumbered standard british railways procedure
SR Lord Nelson class