The LCDR M2 class was a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. The class was designed by William Kirtley and introduced in 1884.[1]

LCDR M2 class
A postcard showing No. 640 at Queenborough Pier railway station
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
DesignerWilliam Kirtley
BuilderDübs and Company and Longhedge Works
Build date1884-1885
Total produced8
Specifications
Configuration:
 • Whyte4-4-0
Gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
Driver dia.6 ft 6 in (1.981 m)
Loco weight72 long tons 10 hundredweight (73.7 t)
Fuel typeCoal
Boiler pressure140 psi (0.97 MPa)
CylindersTwo,
Stephenson valve gear
Cylinder size17.5 in × 26 in (444 mm × 660 mm)
Career
OperatorsLCDR • SECR •
ClassM2
Number in class1 January 1923: 1
Withdrawn1912-1923
DispositionAll scrapped

History

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The class were a development of Kirtley's earlier M and M1 classes intended for the London-Dover boat trains. They proved to be moderately successful for these tasks but soon needed to superseded on the heaviest trains by the larger M3 class The locomotives passed to the South Eastern and Chatham Railway in 1899 and were considered to be sufficiently useful to be worth re-boilering between 1898 and 1903.[2] The class began to be withdrawn and scrapped from 1912. Only one example survived into Southern Railway ownership in 1923, but was withdrawn almost immediately thereafter.

References

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  1. ^ Bradley 1979, pp. 110–112.
  2. ^ Bradley 1979, p. 112.
  • Bradley, D.L. (1979). The Locomotive History of the London Chatham and Dover Railway. Railway Correspondence and Travel Society. ISBN 0901115479.