Factfile: No. 32424 Beachy Head

So urgent was the need for new express locomotives upon his appointment as LBSCR Locomotive, Carriage & Wagon Superintendent that Douglas Marsh made arrangements with his previous employer, Henry Ivatt of the Great Northern Railway, to send a set of ‘C1’ 4-4-2 drawings to Kitsons of Leeds. The result were five ‘H1’ 4‑4‑2s of 1905. They weren’t exact copies of the GNR ‘C1s’ – they were a bit longer, had larger cylinders, a high‑pressure boiler and screw reverser. Marsh was taken ill in 1911 and, when faced with a need for more express locomotives, his assistant Lawson Billinton ordered more 4-4-2s. The six new locomotives, built at Brighton, became the ‘H2’. There were key detail differences, such as the shaped smokebox saddle and a running plate that didn’t undulate over the cylinders and driving wheels. The six ‘H2s’ were unnamed until 1925 when the Southern Railway’s publicity department insisted that all 11 4-4-2s carry names of well known South Coast landmarks. No. 424 became Beachy Head, having received Southern olive green in September 1924. Beachy Head was based at Newhaven at nationalisation. It moved to Eastbourne during that summer and was at Brighton in early 1949. All the ‘H1s’ had been withdrawn by the end of 1951, while ‘H2’ No. 32423 The Needles had gone two years previously. Nos. 32421 South Foreland, 32422 North Foreland, 32425 Trevose Head and 32426 St. Alban’s Head were all withdrawn during 1956. Beachy Head, meanwhile, was employed on duties to Bournemouth until it was laid aside on February 24 1957. It was steamed again on June 18 and, surprisingly, was kept going after it suffered damage to its cylinders. It was back on Bournemouth duties again until stored again at the end of 1957. It’s impossible to imagine on today’s railway, but the Railway Correspondence & Travel Society requested Beachy Head for use on its ‘Sussex Coast Limited’ railtour on April 13 1958. The 4‑4‑2 was retained and then steamed in early April for trials. Declared fit, it worked the special from London Victoria to Newhaven Harbour. It was then withdrawn in May 1958 and had been cut up at Eastleigh Works by the month’s end. Had the Bluebell Railway opened a few years earlier, it might have been able to save Beachy Head. The next best option was to build a new one. Work started on a replica in 2000 using an old GNR ‘Atlantic’ boiler found on a farm in Essex and a redundant LBSCR tender chassis. For more on this fascinating project, see www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/ bluebell/locos/atlantic/

DAVE COBBE COLLECTION/RAIL PHOTOPRINTS 1: A fine portrait of ‘H2’ 4-4-2 No. 32424 Beachy Head at Norwood shed on the day of its final run from London to Newhaven, April 13 1958. At some point, the lining on the rear splasher has been changed.

MIKE MORANT COLLECTION 4: The easiest way to tell an ‘H1’ from an ‘H2’ LBSCR ‘Atlantic’ – the running plate drops down between the cylinders and the driving wheels. No. 2041 Peverill Point was withdrawn in March 1944 and was finally scrapped at the EX-RAF depot at Dinton in July 1948.

MIKE MORANT COLLECTION 2: ‘H2’ No. 425 at Redhill station in 1922. It has original pattern chimney and dome and the cab roof has square corners.

MIKE MORANT COLLECTON 3: ‘H2’ No. 2422 North Foreland is ex-works at Eastleigh in 1937. It’s in full Southern condition, with rounded-off cab, lower chimney and dome. All ‘H2s’ were modified to fit the Eastern Section loading gauge between 1935-1937. The protrusions behind the chimney are the snifting valves for the Maunsell superheaters, fitted in 1934.