Masterclass
Richard Foster provides the fascinating history while Grahame Hedges shows you how to model one of these powerful – and strangely beautiful – beasts.
Richard Foster and Grahame Hedges show you how to model the Maunsell ‘Z’.
Fratton shed, near Portsmouth, became a dumping ground for preserved steam locomotives without a permanent home. If you were lucky enough to bunk it in 1963, you’d have seen the likes of ‘T9’ No. 30120, Beattie ‘Well Tank’ No. 30587, Lord Nelson and two Maunsell ‘Schools’, all left to await their fate. Tucked alongside was Maunsell ‘Z’ No. 30952. You might have gawked at this ungainly monster with its large overhangs, protruding cylinders, huge bunker and the smokebox strangely smaller in diameter than the boiler cladding and crowned by an ugly door with dogclips. Despite its looks, there was something about the ‘Z’. Snapping the beast with your Box Brownie, you couldn’t help hoping that someone might come along to save it. The ‘Zs’ might not have been the prettiest locomotives to run on Britain’s railways but their quirky looks and sheer power ensured that they maintained a cult following among enthusiasts. For a railway company that relied mainly on passenger traffic rather than freight, the
Southern Railway handled considerable goods traffic through its yards in the London suburbs. The ‘Zs’ were designed to serve this traffic but became unfortunate pawns in the game of railway – and, indeed global – economics.
HUMP SHUNTERS
The London & South Western Railway opened Feltham marshalling yard, in south-west London, in 1918. A large locomotive depot sprang up to serve it, being home to locomotives dedicated to hump shunting and trip freights – ‘G16’ 4-8-0Ts and ‘H16’ 4-6-2Ts – as well as ‘S15’ and ‘H15’ 4-6-0s for heavy freight duties. The LSWR had placed an order for more ‘G16s’ just before the Grouping but new Southern Railway Chief Mechanical Engineer Richard Maunsell cancelled it. Maunsell and his team penned a new design, better suited to heavy shunting, and eight new 0-8-0Ts were authorised on March 17 1926. The first would not enter service until March 1929. The boiler was based on the London Brighton & South Coast’s ‘C3’ 0-6-0 as it was saturated (superheating was deemed unnecessary) and it had a small grate area. However, its large steam capacity was perfect for a locomotive that needed to deliver short bursts of power between times of sitting idle. That boiler generated steam for three 16in by 28in cylinders. This might seem like overkill but it provided greater acceleration and was better at providing power at slow speed. The Gwr-style protruding cylinders were based on those fitted to ‘U1’ and ‘N1’ 2-6-0s but there was no Holcroft conjugated valve gear.
“‘Zs’ weren’t the prettiest locomotives, but their looks and power ensured a cult following ”
Maunsell originally wanted this option but Civil Engineering objected to the length of the front overhang. A 2-8-0T reduced the overhang but at the expense of adhesion. In the end, three sets of Walschaerts valve gear were employed but the arrangement of the inside set would later cause operational issues as standards of maintenance declined. The length may have been 39ft 4in over buffers but those four axles were arranged in such a way that the new design could cope with curves as tight as 4½ chains. The styling was pure Ashford but the eight ‘Zs’ emerged from Brighton Works between March and September 1929. A further ten ‘Zs’ were authorised for 1930 but, a month after No. 957 entered service, the New York stock exchange crashed and the world swiftly plunged into financial crisis. The subsequent
drop in trade affected Britain’s railways and one of the Southern’s measures was to cancel its order for new shunters. The ‘Zs’ were initially distributed to Bricklayers Arms (for Hither Green yard), Eastleigh, Gillingham (for Hoo sidings), Exmouth Junction, West Croydon (for Norwood) and Salisbury (for Milford yard). Crews immediately preferred their new steeds’ power and performance over older shunters and the bigger, more spacious cabs also found favour.
WRONG TIME AND PLACE…
No matter how good the ‘Z’ was, it always seemed to fall foul of the money men. When new, No. A955 went to Folkestone for trials on the steeply graded branch to the harbour. No. A955 alone was more powerful than a pair of Stirling 0-6-0Ts, but the Civil Engineering department baulked at spending over £ 23,000 on upgrading the route to take the ‘Z’s’ weight. Britain’s economic situation had improved towards the middle of the decade but there was a new threat to the ‘Zs’ in the form of diesel shunters. Maunsell’s three 350hp 0-6-0DES entered service in autumn 1937 and trials were held at Hither Green in early 1938 between them and the 0-8-0Ts. A ‘Z’ cost over £ 2,500 more to operate than the diesel. The Second World War gave the story of the ‘Zs’ an intriguing twist. Nos. 951, 955 and 956 were dispatched to the Cairnryan Military Railway near Stranraer in December 1942 where they were renumbered 213-215. What makes this more fascinating is that they were painted grey, with white bufferbeams. All lettering was apparently yellow and the natty ensemble was finished off with crimson coupling rods. No. 215 (formerly No. 956) was fitted with lorry headlamps. Their work in Scotland was brief and they were back on the Southern by the start of 1944, all carrying their old numbers and, presumably, a fresh coat of black paint. The ‘Zs’ led a peripatetic existence after the war. Eastleigh had No. 952, Exmouth Junction No. 954 and Salisbury No. 957. The rest were at Hither Green until growing numbers of diesels displaced them. The Hither Green quintet was distributed to Gillingham, Eastleigh, Ashford and Feltham. The latter yard hated its new arrival and it
was swiftly moved on to Nine Elms. Eastleigh could have provided a suitable home. The arrival of a diesel in 1950 pushed the ‘Zs’ onto the Fawley branch where their prodigious haulage power was put to good use. However, the diesel disappeared and Nos. 30950 and 30956 returned to more mundane shunting duties. This was short-lived. Dieselisation of Eastleigh pushed the ‘Zs’ away. Dover appeared to find No. 30952 useful but Brighton didn’t. No. 30950 was swiftly transferred to Tonbridge. Nos. 30953 and 30954 spent time on the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway, at Templecombe. Redbridge could have provided a welcome home for the ‘Zs’. Rising traffic from British Industrial Sand’s sidings meant that Redhill shed needed something more powerful than old LBSCR 0-6-0s. No. 30950 was trialled there alongside a diesel but, again, diesel power proved to be more efficient. Exmouth Junction would provide a sanctuary for the ‘Zs’ but even that wasn’t particularly smooth sailing. Old Stroudley ‘E1/R’ 0-6-2Ts were used to bank trains on the ferocious 1-in-37 grade between Exeter Central and the Western Region’s Exeter St David’s station. Nos. 30950 and 30956 were trialled there in February 1956 and were deemed a success. However, the Western Region didn’t want the ‘Zs’ on their metals.
IGNOBLE END
It took until August 1959 for the WR to relent. All eight ‘Zs’ were gathered at Exmouth Junction where they were used for banking, along with goods work around Central and trips out to Yeoford. Their idyllic existence in Devon didn’t last. No. 30950 was recalled to Eastleigh in August 1962 for overhaul. The spare boiler had even received a new firebox in readiness, but was never used. With No. 30950 in the Erecting Shop, it was decided to withdraw the whole class and replace them with Maunsell ‘W’ 2-6-4Ts instead. The ‘Ws’ were awful bankers and inefficient shunters but coped better with local trip work. But any protestations were meaningless for, by the end of December 1962, all the ‘Zs’ had been withdrawn. Rumours were that No. 30952 was subject to purchase for use at the Bluebell Railway and it was moved to Fratton for safekeeping. If any preservation attempt was under way, it came to nothing. No. 30952 had its rods removed and it was unceremoniously dragged to South Wales. It was finally scrapped at Cashmore’s yard at Newport in 1965.
◆ Thanks to Richard Strange for the allocation and disposal data.