METROPOLITAN RAILWAY ‘E’ 0-4-4T
Designer: ........................................................................................................................... T.F. Clark
Builder: ...... Neasden – Nos. 77/78/1 (1897-1898); Hawthorn Leslie – Nos. 79-82 (1900-1901)
Driving wheel diameter: .................................................................................................... 5ft 6in
Cylinders: .................................................................................................................. 17¼in by 26in
Boiler pressure: .......................................................................................................... 160lbs/sq in
Tractive effort: .................................................................................................................. 15,420lb
Thomas Clark became Locomotive & Carriage Superintendent in 1896 and quickly put together a design for the first, 100% Metropolitan Railway locomotive. Previous designs, such as the Beyer Peacock ‘A’ 4-4-0T and the Sharp Stewart ‘D’ 2-4-0T, were designed by their builders to Met specifications.
Clark’s handsome ‘E’ 0-4-4Ts were not a wholly original design though. South Eastern Railway engineer James Stirling had designed an 0-4-4T for the Met (‘C’ class) but these were not a great success.
The ‘E’ was an improved ‘C’, and what an improvement it was. ‘Es’ were hugely capable and successful locomotives and it was only the Met’s electrification programme curtailed the fleet to just seven. They all became LT property but two were swiftly withdrawn. The remainder became part of the Departmental fleet and one was even transferred to Lillie Bridge.
They were used on spoil trains to Croxley Tip, near Watford, regular Neasden-lillie Bridge shuttles and even out to Upminster via the Inner Circle line. In the 1950s, they were even used to cover Sunday passengers services on the Aylesbury line if BR’S depot at Neasden couldn’t find a locomotive and crew.
As some of the oldest main line locomotives in Britain, they became favourites for hauling railtours. No. L44, for example, worked the Uxbridge branch’s 50th birthday special in 1954 (it had worked the opening train in 1904) and it had the melancholy duty of working the last steam service to Chesham in 1962. It took a prime role in marking the Metropolitan’s centenary in 1963.
When LT apprentice Jim Stringer discovered that ‘F’ No. 52 had a cracked frame, he decided to turn his attention to saving No. L44 for posterity. Thanks to his efforts, No. L44, or Metropolitan No. 1 as it’s better known, was able to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the opening of the world’s first underground railway in 2013. Where can I see one? Metropolitan No. 1 is based at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre at Quainton Road but visits other railways.
Can I model them? See page 41.