METROPOLITAN RAILWAY ‘K’ 2-6-4T
Designer: ............................. George Hally/ ............................................ Richard Maunsell
Builder: .................. Armstrong Whitwort ........................................ Nos. 111-116 (1925)
Driving wheel diameter: ............... 5ft 6in
Cylinders: ................................ 19in by 28in
Boiler pressure: ..................... 200lbs/sq in
Tractive effort: ............................. 24,400lb
Here’s a design with a story behind it… did you know that nationalisation of Britain’s railways was first mooted in the 1920s? It got to the point the South Eastern & Chatham Railway’s ‘N’ 2-6-0, designed by Richard Maunsell with help from former GWR draughtsman Harold Holcroft, was selected as one of the standard designs for the nationalised railway. The Government thought that it had found a neat arrangement for Woolwich Arsenal, which was facing a severe shortage of work now that the ‘Great War’ had come to an end. An order for 100 ‘Ns’ was placed with Woolwich Arsenal… but then the Government decided against nationalisation.
The result, however, was the Grouping of 1923. Meanwhile, there was a stack of ‘N’ parts kicking around.
George Hally became the Metropolitan’s chief mechanical engineer in 1923 and had already given some thought to a powerful mixed traffic locomotive when he became aware of those Woolwich Arsenal parts. Hally penned a design around key ‘N’ components and ordered Armstrong Whitworth to gather enough parts to assemble six locomotives.
The new ‘Ks’ were the Met’s biggest steam locomotives and banned from its tunnels beyond Finchley Road, where there were extensive exchange sidings with the LMS. Although designated ‘mixed traffic’, the ‘Ks’ were almost extensively used on goods trains between Finchley Road and Verney Junction (later Aylesbury).
They became LNER stock in 1937. Classified ‘L2’ and numbered 6158-6163, they were transferred to the LNER’S shed at Neasden. Aside from working trial trains on the Great
Eastern after overhaul at Stratford, the ‘Ks’ spent their careers on the Met main line.
No. 6161 was the first to be withdrawn in 1943 and only two passed into BR ownership. They were allocated the numbers 69070 and 69071, but the numbers were never carried for they were both withdrawn in October 1948.
Can I see one? No, all six ‘Ks’ were scrapped.
Can I model them? South Eastern Finecast produces a 4mm:1ft scale kit (www.sefinecast.co.uk).