LSWR A12 class

The A12 locomotives of the London and South Western Railway were built between the years 1887 and 1895 to the design of William Adams. Ninety of the locomotives were built, fifty at Nine Elms Works and forty by Neilson and Company, although the latter together with the final twenty from Nine Elms were officially known as the O4 class. They were unusual for their time, with a wheel arrangement of 0-4-2. This arrangement was used by few of the other railway companies, and never proved popular (although the Great Northern Railway had 150 such locomotives). They bore the nickname "Jubilees", because the first batch appeared in the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria's reign.

LSWR A12 class
LSWR A12 class No. 539 in 1888
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerWilliam Adams
BuilderLSWR Nine Elms Works (50)
Neilson & Co. (40)
Build date1887–1894
Total produced90
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte0-4-2
 • UICB1 n2
Gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Driver dia.6 ft 1 in (1.854 m)
Trailing dia.4 ft 0 in (1.219 m)
Boiler pressure160 lbf/in2 (1.10 MPa)
CylindersTwo, inside
Cylinder size18 in × 26 in (457 mm × 660 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort15,690 lbf (69.79 kN)
Career
OperatorsLondon and South Western Railway
Southern Railway
British Railways
ClassLSWR: A12
SR: A12
BR: 1MT
NicknamesJubilees
Retired1928–1948
DispositionAll scrapped

History

The 90 examples of the class were built in batches, as shown in the following table.

YearOrderBuilderQuantityLSWR numbersNotes
1887A12LSWR Nine Elms10527–536[1]
1888E1LSWR Nine Elms10537–546[1]
1889M2LSWR Nine Elms10547–556[1]
1893–94O4LSWR Nine Elms10597–606[1]
1892–93—Neilson & Co. 4506–454540607–646[2]
1894–95K6LSWR Nine Elms10647–656[1]

All 90 passed to the Southern Railway in 1923, following the introduction of the Grouping Act.

Withdrawal

Withdrawals started in 1928, with four of the class surviving to Nationalisation. The four operated by British Railways were all withdrawn in its first year (1948), excluding DS3191 which was used for steam supply at Eastleigh Works and lasted until 1951. No members of the class have been preserved.

Table of withdrawals
YearQuantity in
service at
start of year		Quantity
withdrawn		Locomotive numbersNotes
1928906E529, E535, E542, E548, E552, E553
19298413E528, E531–E533, E536, E537, E540, E543, E544, E547, E549, E550, E556
1930713E527, E539, E546
1931686E530, E534, E538, E541, E545, E554
1932626551, 607, 608, 610, 653, 656
1933569602, 604, 626, 631, 633, 639, 645, 647, 651
1934471601
1935463603, 621, 635
1936434605, 616, 622, 655
1937394611, 619, 632, 640
1938353617, 628, 650
1939321646613, 620, 624, 625, 629, 642, 644 withdrawn and then reinstated
1944311555
19463012599, 600, 606, 612, 613, 615, 620, 623, 637, 641, 644, 649612 transferred to Departmental stock as 3191S, later BR DS3191; scrapped 1951
19471814597, 598, 609, 614, 624, 625, 630, 634, 638, 642, 643, 648, 652, 654
194844618, 627, 629, 636

Notes
  1. Bradley 1967, p. 41.
  2. Bradley 1967, p. 41–42.

References
  • Bradley, D.L. (1967). Locomotives of the L.S.W.R.: Part 2. Kenilworth: RCTS.
  • Railway Magazine. March 1925. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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