| SR V "Schools" class |
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30927 Clifton at Basingstoke in July 1961 |
| Type and origin |
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| Power type | Steam |
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| Designer | Richard Maunsell |
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| Builder | SR Eastleigh Works |
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| Build date | 1930–1935 |
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| Total produced | 40 |
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| Specifications |
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Configuration:
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| • Whyte | 4-4-0 |
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| • UIC | 2′B h3 |
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| Gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
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| Leading dia. | 3 ft 1 in (0.940 m) |
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| Driver dia. | 6 ft 7 in (2.007 m) |
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| Length | 58 ft 9+3⁄4 in (17.93 m) |
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| Width | 8 ft 6+1⁄2 in (2.60 m) |
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| Height | 13 ft 0 in (3.96 m) |
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| Axle load | 21.0 long tons (21.3 t; 23.5 short tons) |
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| Loco weight | 67.1 long tons (68.2 t; 75.2 short tons) |
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| Tender weight | 42.4 long tons (43.1 t; 47.5 short tons) |
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| Total weight | 109.5 long tons (111.3 t; 122.6 short tons) |
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| Fuel type | Coal |
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| Fuel capacity | 5 long tons (5.1 t; 5.6 short tons) |
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| Water cap. | 4,000 imp gal (18,000 L; 4,800 US gal) |
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| Firebox: | |
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| • Grate area | 28.3 sq ft (2.63 m2) |
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| Boiler pressure | 220 psi (1.52 MPa) |
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| Cylinders | Three |
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| Cylinder size | 16.5 in × 26 in (419 mm × 660 mm) |
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| Career |
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| Operators | |
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| Class | SR: V |
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| Power class | BR: 5P |
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| Numbers | - SR: 900–939
- BR: 30900–30939
|
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| Locale | Southern Region |
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| Withdrawn | 1961–1962 |
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| Disposition | Three preserved, remainder scrapped |
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The SR V class, more commonly known as the Schools class, is a class of steam locomotive designed by Richard Maunsell for the Southern Railway. The class was a cut down version of his Lord Nelson class but also incorporated components from Urie and Maunsell's LSWR/SR King Arthur class. It was the last locomotive in Britain to be designed with a 4-4-0 wheel arrangement, and was the most powerful class of 4-4-0 ever produced in Europe. All 40 of the class were named after English public schools, and were designed to provide a powerful class of intermediate express passenger locomotive on semi-fast services for lines which could cope with high axle loads but some of which had short turntables.
Because they used a King Arthur firebox, rather than the square-topped Belpaire firebox used on the Lord Nelsons, the class could be used on lines with a restricted loading gauge and some of the best performance by the class was on the heavily restricted Tonbridge to Hastings line. The locomotives performed well from the beginning but were subject to various minor modifications to improve their performance over the years. The class operated until 1961 when mass withdrawals took place and all had gone by December 1962. Three examples are now preserved on heritage railways in Britain.
