The life and times of ‘N15’

The Urie and Maunsell ‘King Arthur’ class 4-6-0s were a mainstay of Southern passenger services for over three decades. Andrew Wilson uncovers the working life of one of the last at work.

Passing though Clapham Junction or Wandsworth Town twice a day from September 1961 to July 1968, I was fortunate enough to see some of the last ‘N15’ or ‘King Arthur’ class 4-6-0s in service. The final two I remember at work were Nos 30451 Sir Lamorak and 30804 Sir Cador of Cornwall, the former on a down semi-fast to

Basingstoke at Clapham Junction and the latter on an engineer’s train at Wandsworth Town. Both remain as vivid in my memory as the days when they were seen. Of the two,

Sir Lamorak was the more intriguing, being in a batch of ten that were numerically isolated from all other ‘King Arthurs’. Also, having to study the works of Tennyson at school meant reference to Thomas Malory’s Idylls of the King, through which a certain familiarity with the Knights of the Round Table was acquired, further adding to the mystique of the ‘N15s’. Not all the knights in my Ian Allan Southern Region ABC, however, were referred to, but Sir Lamorak was there for those interested enough to persevere.

Sir Lamorak first appears in the prose Tristan by an unknown author, and later in Malory’s compilation Le Morte d’Arthur. Malory refers to him as King Arthur’s third best knight, only inferior to Sir Lancelot and Sir Tristan. Sir Lamorak was not exceptionally popular in the romantic tradition of the Round Table, being confined to the periphery and subordinate to more prominent characters. One of the sons of King Pellinore, he was named after his uncle. Some years later when King Pellinore is killed, Sir Lamorak is ambushed by Sir Gawain, Sir Gaheris, Sir Agravain and Sir Mordred, who fight him together, but it is Sir Mordred who delivers the blow that kills him from behind.

On the London & South Western Railway in August 1918, Robert Urie’s first express version of his mixed traffic ‘H15’ class emerged from Eastleigh Works as ‘N15’ No 736. With 6ft 7in coupled wheels, two outside 22in x 28in cylinders, Walschaerts valve gear, a tapered boiler, stovepipe chimney and raised footplating, No 736 was handsome and modern in appearance and made Drummond’s 4-6-0s appear very dated. Eastleigh Works had received an order for 20 engines and tenders, with the last, No 755, completed in March 1923.

In traffic, the Urie ‘N15s’ had regular drivers, and during the immediate post-war period the wartime maximum speed restriction of 60mph was still in force. In 1922 the class was booked to work through from Waterloo to Exeter, with re-manning at Salisbury. Performance, however, was erratic and the engines were often in trouble for steam, and yet on favourable stretches of line they proved more than capable of running at 75mph or more.

When Richard Maunsell moved from Ashford to Eastleigh as chief mechanical engineer of the Southern Railway, he was quick to assess the L&SWR’s most modern express locomotives and realised their potential. James Clayton, his personal assistant, was instructed to redesign the Urie front end, following the principles used on the South Eastern & Chatham Railway ‘N’ class 2-6-0 and ‘K’ class 2-6-4T. The drawings for the modified ‘N15’ were signed off by Maunsell in April 1924.

Sir Lamorak was one of the ten improved ‘N15s’ built at Eastleigh Works in 1925, and was completed in June as No E451. Before the grouping, Urie had received authorization to order Eastleigh to rebuild ten of the Drummond four-cylinder ‘G14’ class 4-6-0s (Nos 448-457) as two-cylinder 4-6-0s. However, as no work on the rebuilds had started by the grouping, Maunsell was able to alter the order and obtain Board approval to replace the ‘G14s’ with Clayton’s modified ‘N15’ design, which would use the Drummond cabs, tenders and bogies, as well as retaining the same running numbers. The Eastleigh drawing office schemed out new cylinders, long-travel valves, ‘N’ class superheaters, outside steam pipes and accounted for a boiler pressure raised to 200psi. Table One provides the principal dimensions for these ‘N15’ locomotives,

Nos 448-457. All ten were built to the generous L&SWR loading gauge and received

a high-arch cab roof. Crosshead driven vacuum pumps were fitted under the bottom left-hand slidebar, while the Urie stovepipe chimney was replaced by a more elegant lipped variant. The book cost was £6,320 each; despite being to all intents and purposes new engines, they were regarded as rebuilds.

Nos E448-E457 had the distinction of becoming the first ‘N15s’ to carry the names of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. In January 1925 the chairman of the Southern Railway had appointed the assistant editor of the London Evening Standard, John Elliot, as his personal assistant and head of publicity and advertising. Elliot was well aware of the public interest in the naming of the Great Western Railway’s new 4-6-0s after castles and had the idea of naming the ‘N15s’ after people and places connected with the Arthurian legends. When the first of the class, No E453, was shown to the press and general public at Waterloo, it carried the name King Arthur. Although numerically No E451 preceded No E453, Sir Lamorak was in fact

the ninth of the ten locomotives to enter traffic. Ever eager for publicity, the Southern Railway released a full list of names – in two different railway journals the name of

No E451 was given as Sir Llamorak, but when No E451 entered traffic from Nine Elms shed the nameplates carried Sir Lamorak.

The retention of the Drummond cab restricted Nos E448-457 to the Western Section of the Southern Railway. As a result, the first allocation of No E451 was to Nine Elms, along with Nos E450 and E452, with Nos E448 and E449 at Exmouth Junction, and Nos E453-457 at Salisbury. As all ten retained their original cabs, they never strayed from the Western Division. At Nine Elms No E451 joined a dozen of the Urie ‘N15s’ – Nos 736, 739-742, 746 and 751-755 – but with the arrival of the three Maunsell ‘N15s’

Nos 738-740 were sent to Exmouth Junction on loan.

The livery was Maunsell’s version of Urie’s sage or olive green, which was a deeper and more attractive shade of green, edged in black and with a white lining. Oval cast cab-side number-plates were fitted, and the running number was carried on the front buffer beam, with the ‘o’ of ‘No.’ underlined. The tender also carried the number but with the ‘E’ prefix that applied to the Western Division locomotives maintained at Eastleigh.

‘SOUTHERN’ was also carried on the tender above the number. The brass nameplates were designed to fit on the long driving wheel splasher and included the individual name and ‘KING ARTHUR CLASS’ beneath, except on No E453. Located centrally over the centre driving wheel, they were both stylish and unostentatious.

One of the original Urie ‘N15s’, No 742, received modified smokebox arrangements based on the ‘N’ class, and when indicator trials were undertaken the transformation was complete. The steaming was rock steady at 170-180psi, while the indicated horsepower was constantly between 1,000 and 1,200. As no alterations had been made to the valve gear, Maunsell ordered similar tests for one of the modified ‘N15s’ and the barely run-in No E451 Sir Lamorak was selected.

No E451 was duly fitted with indicator shields and the necessary testing equipment before being put to work on the ‘Atlantic

Coast Express’, which was loaded to 14 coaches, 440 tons tare and some 475 tons gross. Between Waterloo and Salisbury a series of 14 indicator cards was taken (Table Two), and for 86 minutes the regulator was fully open. As far as Hurstbourne, 61 miles from Waterloo, boiler pressure was maintained between 193 and 203psi. The coal burnt per train mile was 41.8lb, and the coal

used per indicated horsepower hour worked out at 2.2lbs, almost equal to the 2.12lbs recorded by GWR 4-6-0 No 4074 Caldicot Castle in the 1925 trials against LNER Gresley ‘A1’ Pacific No 4474 Victor Wild. While the ‘Castle’ was lauded for its economy, the performance of Sir Lamorak received little attention, but Maunsell had the satisfaction of knowing that he and Clayton had designed a locomotive of high efficiency. The average indicated horsepower of No E451 was 1,155½ at speeds between 48mph and 76mph. With cut-offs varying between 20 and 25%, this was most satisfactory for an engine with a nominal tractive effort of 25,320lbs, and was on a par with that of Caldicot Castle.

While still carrying the indicator shields, another test was arranged using No E451 Sir Lamorak, but this time with the normal 10-coach load of the ‘Atlantic Coast Express’, a tare weight of 281 tons, gross 300 tons. The driver was told to work the engine hard. The results were spectacular, with arrival at Salisbury 16 minutes early, much to the dismay of the unprepared station staff. The most striking part of the run was the 39 minutes taken from Clapham Junction to Basingstoke, a distance of 43.9 miles on a mean rising gradient of 1 in 1,000, at an average speed of 67½mph. Basingstoke was passed in 45½ minutes, Andover in 61 minutes and Salisbury was reached in 76½ minutes.

By the end of 1925 complaints had started to be made about drifting smoke and steam obscuring the cab and making it difficult to sight signals, an uncommon problem with the Urie engines – the Urie stovepipe chimney was taller than the lipped Maunsell variant, and this brought about a series of experiments with different types of smoke deflectors. Firstly, No E450 Sir Kay was fitted with a pair of totally ineffective metal wings behind the chimney. No E772 Sir Percivale was fitted with German-type deflectors, which were effective but an aesthetic disaster. No E783

Sir Gillemere had an ugly shovel like deflector fitted ahead of the chimney, and No 453

King Arthur was fitted with a pair of partially effective small straight plates. No 753

Melisande and No 772 Sir Gaheris were tried out with a curved strip of steel across the top of the smokebox, which proved to be completely ineffective. After some other deflectors were tested, Maunsell decided to fit plates based on those tried out on No 453, but curved at the front and extended down the drop plate ahead of the cylinders, and with slight inward angle to the handrails to follow the steam pipes. No 451 Sir Lamorak was fitted with a pair of these in December 1927 during its first intermediate repair at Eastleigh Works. The ‘E’ suffix to the locomotive’s running number was removed during a general repair at Eastleigh in May 1932.

Sir Lamorak remained at Nine Elms until January 1933 and was employed on expresses to Salisbury and Exeter. As mileage accumulated, more secondary work on semi-fast services was diagrammed, but even so, while at the London shed No 451 was averaging close to 49,000 miles a year. The arrival of five ‘Lord Nelson’ class 4-6-0s, No 851 and 854-857, between May and December 1928 inevitably brought about the dispersal of some of the shed’s ‘N15s’, which included seven of the Urie examples, 10 of the North British Locomotive Co-built ‘Scotchmen’, as well as Nos 450 and 451. Transferred to Salisbury, Sir Lamorak joined

Nos 450, 453-457 and 749, 751 and 754, and it would have two lengthy spells at the shed, firstly between January 1933 and January

1949, and then from December 1950 until withdrawn in June 1962, a total of 27½ years. The lengthy sojourn at Salisbury was broken in January 1949 when sent to Basingstoke and then back to Nine Elms in October 1950, but by the end of December 1950 Sir Lamorak was back in the familiar surroundings of Salisbury.

Salisbury used the modified ‘N15s’ on its principal passenger workings, up to Waterloo and down to Exeter, as well as on SalisburyExeter duties. The shed’s ‘N15’ turns also included working to Exeter one day, running up to Waterloo with a morning passenger train, and returning to Salisbury at the head of an express or semi-fast service. More mundane parcels and goods workings also came their way as they neared overhaul time, and also as many of the shed’s diagrams involved complex workings and manning requirements.

C J Allen recorded Sir Lamorak working an 11-coach train, some 375 tons tare, over the 88 mile switchback between Exeter and Salisbury at a time when he regarded the ‘N15s’ to be at the zenith of their performance. With the difficult 1 in 100 start to Exmouth Junction followed by a brief respite down to Broad Clyst, up trains faced the six mile climb at 1 in 100/135/170 to milepost 16¼, and another 2½ miles of undulations to Sidmouth Junction. Nevertheless, No 451 covered the 12 miles in 16 minutes, averaging 45mph. The 14.7 miles to Axminster Junction included the

1 in 80/90/100 4½ mile climb to Honiton tunnel and subsequent 1 in 80 descent, and over this section an average speed of 61mph was maintained. There then followed 11 miles against the collar and another 11 miles of switchback running, and this was covered in 23 minutes at an average speed of 57mph. The following 39.3 miles to Salisbury, again with little level running, was covered in

41½ minutes at an average speed of 57mph. At the time the fastest booked timing between Exeter (Central) and Salisbury was

93 minutes, and that with a limited load of

355 tons, so in working 375 tons over the 88 miles in 95 minutes was a fine achievement by locomotive and crew. Before the advent of the Bulleid Pacifics, it was not unknown for the ‘N15s’ to take loads of 475-500 tons unassisted over the route.

In 1937 Maunsell retired and

O V S Bulleid was recruited from the LNER as his replacement. The first change initiated by the new chief mechanical engineer that affected Sir Lamorak came in January 1939 after a general overhaul as he began to change the style of painting. Although Maunsell green lined out in black and white was retained, the lettering and numerals were changed to Bulleid’s favoured ‘sunshine’ style. During this works visit the engine was fitted with a Flaman speed recorder and the crossheaddriven vacuum pump was removed.

In the summer of 1939, Salisbury had 14 Monday to Friday turns booked for ‘N15’ haulage, with the same number of Saturday duties, compared to Nine Elms’ 13 and 31.

The shed’s allocation at the time stood at 14, all the modified Maunsell locomotives and four of the Urie class, Nos 745-748. As it was impossible to cover 14 duties with the same number of ‘King Arthurs’, because of shed days and works visits, the shed either had to make do with its allocation of ‘H15’ and ‘S15’ 4-6-0s or borrow engines from Nine Elms, Bournemouth or Exmouth Junction.

It would not be until December 1940 that malachite green with yellow and black lining was applied to Sir Lamorak, and during this works visit the Flaman speed recorder was removed to reduce maintenance requirements, despite drivers finding it very useful. Due to wartime austerity measures and after spending two months in Eastleigh Works undergoing a general repair, in June 1942 No 451 Sir Lamorak was turned out in plain black, albeit with the bright Bulleid lettering and numerals.

Sir Lamorak had an uneventful war, although passenger trains became heavier and slower. More fitted freight and even loosecoupled goods duties were worked, along with military specials, especially in the build-up to D-day. After June 1944 large numbers of women, children and senior citizens began turning up at stations wanting to travel to the West Country and this brought an increased number of summer trains between Salisbury and Exeter, and Waterloo to Bournemouth – these were handled by ‘N15s’ and the mixed traffic ‘H15s’ and ‘S15s’. By the time of VE Day and VJ Day, however, the modified ‘King Arthurs’ were suffering from lower standards of maintenance and deferred work. Thanks to the Eastleigh ‘battleship’ tradition established by Urie, the ‘N15s’ were able to withstand the relative neglect better than many classes.

‘… working 375 tons over the 88 miles in 95 minutes was a fine achievement by locomotive and crew’

During a heavy repair in April/May 1945 when boiler No 839 was fitted, which had been given a new inner firebox, on being released back into traffic the livery of Sir Lamorak was still wartime black, and 20 months later it was called back to Eastleigh Works for a casual repair to replace some defective firebox stays and the right-hand cylinder. Malachite green livery was not restored until December 1947 at No 451’s last general overhaul under the auspices of the Southern Railway, and during this visit the snifting valves were removed to reduce maintenance. Sir Lamorak ran as No 451 until the end of July 1948 when it became British Railways No 30451, whilst retaining ‘SOUTHERN’ on the tender.

In January 1949 No 30451 was transferred to Basingstoke shed, where it was diagrammed to work the shed’s fast and semi-fast trains to and from Waterloo.

Sir Lamorak was a Basingstoke engine for 22 months, during which time it emerged from a general repair carrying British

Railways lined-out dark green livery, complete with the large version of the cycling lion totem on the tender. Until nationalisation, Basingstoke was allocated nothing larger than Maunsell Moguls, and the arrival of

Sir Lamorak was to assess the use of the

‘N15s’. That it was joined by No 30741

Joyous Guard in May was the start of 4-6-0s arriving at the shed in greater numbers, and by 1950 it was joined by the seven ‘N15X’ class 4-6-0s allocated specifically to work the semi-fast residential expresses.

In December 1950, after just two months at Nine Elms No 30451 was moved back to Salisbury, where it would remain until withdrawn. On 22 August 1953 the Railway Correspondence & Travel Society’s traffic survey of the Western Division found No 30451 working between Exeter (Central) and London (Waterloo). Semi-fast and local passenger duty work increased for the ‘N15s’ because of the availability of the Light Pacifics in numbers, as did fitted freight turns, and eventually the sheer number of Bulleid Light Pacifics in traffic and the arrival of British Railways Standard ‘5MT’ and ‘4MT’ 4-6-0s, and ‘4MT’ 2-6-0s, brought about the gradual withdrawal of the ‘N15s’, starting with the

Urie ‘Arthurs’.

The withdrawal of ‘H15’, Urie ‘Arthur’ and ‘N15X’ class 4-6-0s provided a pool of serviceable Urie double-bogie tenders, and so with the Drummond tenders attached to

Nos 30448-457 needing extensive repairs the opportunity was taken to replace the older tenders. In January 1957 Sir Lamorak was the recipient of tender No 3211 from ‘N15X’ No 32332 Stroudley. From an aesthetic viewpoint the Urie pattern tender suited the engine, giving a better balance to the design, especially when it displayed the small version of the cycling lion totem or the small heraldic device first carried by Sir Lamorak after December 1959. Although destined not to be the final ‘N15’ in traffic, No 30451 holds the distinction of being the last member of the class to receive a general overhaul, at Eastleigh Works between 21 December 1960 and 28 January 1961 when given its 14th boiler. During its final months in traffic No 30451 was regularly booked to work the 8.46am Salisbury to Waterloo service, returning west in charge of the 2.54pm departure.

When withdrawn from traffic on 16 June 1962, Sir Lamorak was credited with having run 1,579,556 miles in revenue earning traffic over 37 years, an average of 42,691 miles a year. The recorded mileage was the second highest for the class, after No 30453 King Arthur. During its lifetime the engine ran over 86,000 miles between general and intermediate overhauls, and 120,000 miles between general shoppings. The fact that only superficial changes had been made to the locomotive that emerged from Eastleigh Works in 1925 is a tribute to the original design, and to those who maintained it. It would have been appropriate to preserve Sir Lamorak but as it was not coupled to its original tender this precluded it being set aside and instead one of the ‘Scotchman’, No 777 Sir Lamiel, was preserved. Fortunately, No 777 returned to the main line in March 1982 and, as the author can confirm, it turned in some remarkable performances over the Settle & Carlisle line hauling heavy trains.

Patrick Russell/Rail Archive Stephenson Carrying the correct code for a Basingstoke working, No 30451 Sir Lamorak departs from Waterloo with a Basingstoke train in 1961. Seen in its final form, this 1925-built ‘N15’ was never fitted with ATC equipment. Surprisingly, the smokebox door does not carry a Salisbury shedplate, suggesting that possibly Sir Lamorak has been loaned to Basingstoke shed to cover a shortage of 4-6-0s there. By the end of 1961 only a dozen ‘King Arthurs’ remained in traffic, with Eastleigh and Salisbury having three each, Bournemouth two and Basingstoke four. In the last days of ‘King Arthur’ duties it is unlikely that many onlookers knew who the knights were and their relation to the hierarchy of the Round Table. The last of the ‘N15s’ to be withdrawn would be No 30770 Sir Prianius on 24 November 1962 from Basingstoke.

No E451 Sir Lamorak is seen at Nine Elms shed when fitted with an indicator shelter, prior to being tested on the ‘Atlantic Coast Express’ to allow comparison with the recent indicator trials with Urie ‘Arthur’ No E745 Tintagel. Precariously perched on the front footplating, the shelter was uncomfortable, noisy and hazardous, but nevertheless 14 indicator cards would be accurately taken and these confirmed to Maunsell and Clayton that they had developed one of the most efficient express locomotives yet to run on a British railway. Even after the introduction of the four-cylinder ‘Lord Nelson’ class 4-6-0s many drivers preferred the modified ‘N15s’, which were more than capable of matching the performance of the bigger engines. It would not be until Bulleid had taken over from Maunsell and improved the draughting and cylinder design of the ‘Lord Nelsons’ that the ‘N15s’ lost their edge.

F R Hebron/Rail Archive Stephenson In as built condition, No E451 Sir Lamorak passes Surbiton with a Waterloo to West of England express on Friday, 10 September 1926. The modified ‘N15s’ proved to be on a par with the Great Western ‘Castles’ in terms of power and efficiency, and were a synthesis of Drummond, Urie and Maunsell practice. They carried the Drummond cab and tender, Urie’s general arrangement, and the Clayton/Maunsell front end with outside steam pipes and a handsome shapely-lipped chimney. The Drummond inside bearing tender bogies seemed a throwback, but their use made sound economic sense. The change from the Urie stovepipe chimney to the Maunsell variant gave the engine a modern look. The chimney and outside steampipes made the Eastleigh or modified ‘King Arthurs’ immediately distinguishable from the Urie ‘N15s’.

Revd A C Cawston/John Whiteley Collection No E451 Sir Lamorak has called at Templecombe with an Exeter to Salisbury all-stations passenger train comprised entirely ex-L&SWR stock. The view is recorded after 2 May 1929 when No E451 emerged from Eastleigh Works after its first general repair. Now carrying boiler No 799 (originally fitted to No E799 Sir Ironside), the tender coal rails have been plated over. The locomotive had gained its smoke deflectors in 1927. Allocated to Nine Elms at this time, No E451 is probably being run-in before returning to the shed’s principal Waterloo to Salisbury and Exeter duties. It was west of Salisbury that the ‘N15s’ were able to show their speed capabilities on the descents towards Axminster and Broad Clyst.

Revd A C Cawston/John Whiteley Collection During the 1920s and 1930s the Urie and Maunsell ‘N15s’ held sway on the Waterloo to Salisbury and Exeter main line as the ‘Lord Nelsons’ were rarely seen west of Salisbury. Sometime after May 1932 when Sir Lamorak lost the ‘E’ suffix to its running number, No 451 is seen passing Surbiton in charge of a down West of England express. With 12 coaches behind the tender, the driver is making the most of the favourable gradients towards Hampton Court Junction. Although nominally less powerful than the four-cylinder ‘Lord Nelsons’, the ‘N15s’ were able to run heavy trains to time and with a good engine and an enthusiastic crew it was not unknown for a ‘King Arthur’ to outperform a ‘Lord Nelson’.

Revd A C Cawston/John Whiteley Collection On 14 August 1948 we find No 30451 Sir Lamorak, still allocated to Salisbury shed, climbing towards Porton, east of Salisbury, with a morning train from Exeter. The livery is a hybrid of the immediate post-nationalisation period, in this case on Bulleid’s final manifestation of lined malachite green with ‘SOUTHERN’ in sunshine lettering on the tender, which was applied in December 1947. Outshopped with its Southern Railway number, the new five-digit British Railways running number is now on the cab side-sheets, also in sunshine style, and has probably been applied at Salisbury. By this date the Bulleid ‘Merchant Navy’ Pacifics were beginning to take over the heaviest Waterloo-Exeter trains, but there was still plenty of top link work available to keep the ‘N15s’ busy. From this angle the height of the Urie/Drummond cab roof is very evident, a feature that effectively kept the Maunsell modified ‘King Arthurs’ to the ex-L&SWR main lines.

Rail Archive Stephenson With steam to spare, No 451 Sir Lamorak, now restored to Bulleid malachite green livery after carrying wartime black for 5½ years, approaches the closed Bramshot Halt with an up train from Salisbury in the spring of 1948. At this time Salisbury shed kept its ‘Arthurs’ in excellent condition, although in this case No 451 is no more than six months out of Eastleigh Works after its previous overhaul and repaint. It was during this works visit that the snifting valves were removed – Bulleid considered them to be not worth maintaining. Of note is the passenger stock, all of which is of Bulleid design, while a number of vans have been attached to the rear.

John P Wilson/Rail Archive Stephenson R G Jarvis/On Line Transport Archive/Rail Archive Stephenson On Saturday, 28 June 1958 a work-stained No 30451 Sir Lamorak leaves Axminster with a Waterloo to Exeter train. As can be seen, the ‘N15’ is now coupled to the Urie tender from ‘N15X’ No 32332 Stroudley. The change is easily spotted thanks to its outside bearings and axleboxes. Despite the profusion of Bulleid Light Pacifics, both modified and in original condition, the surviving ‘N15s’ were still favoured on summer workings west of Salisbury, where despite their age their performances were as sparkling as ever. Some sheds put the class into store over the winter, only bringing them back into service at Christmas and during the summer timetable. It would not be until January 1959 that Sir Lamorak was turned out in its final British Railways condition with the tender carrying the left-facing heraldic device.

A E Bennett/Transport Treasury Towards the end of its working life, No 30451 Sir Lamorak is seen at Waterloo station at 7.10pm while waiting to depart with the 7.30pm Waterloo to Yeovil Junction service, which includes Maunsell set No 100. The engine carries headlamps rather than the usual Southern Region white headcode discs to denote the route, doubtless due to the need for headlamps as the light fades further into the journey. In fine external condition for Saturday, 1 July 1961, Sir Lamorak was very much Salisbury shed’s pet and during its 27½ year allocation to the shed it appears to have been remarkably trouble free, with few failures in traffic – the Southern Railway and Southern Region’s policy of allocating blocks of locomotives to the same shed for significant periods paid dividends in the way the shed staff looked after them.

In light steam at Eastleigh after a general repair in the works between 24 January and 24 February 1949, No 30451 Sir Lamorak sparkles in the winter sunshine after receiving its first coat of British Railways dark green, lined out in orange and black, although the large version of the cycling lion totem subjectively sits uncomfortably on the Drummond tender with its Victorian antecedents. Despite their inside bearings, the tenders rode quite well, and although Nigel Gresley regarded the ‘N15s’ as rough-riders the first Eastleigh-built batch received few complaints about their ride, and if their crews had any doubt on this score there would have been far fewer high speed runs west of Salisbury. The upper case ‘A’ beneath the number is the power classification used before ‘5P’ was adopted for the class. When viewed from this angle the slight taper of the boiler is apparent, along with the balance of the Urie/Maunsell design. The large big end bearing, with its forked end and substantial brass, highlights the Urie/Eastleigh origins of the design, while the long reversing rod sits above the driving wheel splasher.

D M C Hepburne-Scott/Rail Archive Stephenson In its twilight years, No 30451 Sir Lamorak heads the three-coach 1.30pm London (Waterloo) to Salisbury train near Oakley, between Worting Junction and Overton on Saturday, 16 September 1961 – Oakley station is seen in the distance, the stop being booked at 2.57pm. At this time duty 465 was No 30451’s regular turn and the consist could vary from a Bulleid three-coach set, as seen here, to five or six coaches plus parcel vans as traffic demanded. Being the last of the class to receive a heavy overhaul, Sir Lamorak was to see out its working life on this working and on seasonal parcels trains. It seems not to have been relegated to goods workings and empty stock trains.

Colour-Rail.com/341552 Passing at speed through Berrylands station, between Surbiton and New Malden, in 1962 is No 30451 Sir Lamorak working the Monday to Saturday diagram that saw it take the 8.46am Salisbury to Waterloo train, seen here, and return with the 2.54pm ex-Waterloo. These duties were not in the 1961 summer timetable. No 30451 has lost its Drummond-style tender in favour of the later Urie type from withdrawn ‘B15X’ class 4-6-0 No 32323 Stroudley in January 1957. The modified ‘King Arthurs’ were powerful and free-running, and when restored to main line condition in 1982, No 777 Sir Lamiel proved this with a number of excellent runs over the Settle & Carlisle with the ‘Cumbrian Mountain Express’.

D M C Hepburne-Scott/Rail Archive Stephenson Here No 30451 Sir Lamorak has just passed Worting Junction with the 6.40am Exeter (Central) to Waterloo service on Monday 18 September 1961. This train was shunted out of the way at Templecombe to allow a faster train to pass, losing more than 30 minutes in the process. The ‘N15’ most likely worked it from Salisbury, as part of duty 465. After the weekend there has been a build up of parcels requiring transit to London and the passenger accommodation has been strengthened by the additions of a bogie van and a four-wheel Southern ‘utility’ van. The load is a far cry from Southern Railway days when loads of 10-14 coaches were regularly taken on the ‘Atlantic Coast Express’ without assistance. Within a year No 30451 would be deemed surplus to requirements and withdrawn as BR Standard ‘4MT’ and ‘5MT’ classes took over.