SR USA CLASS

The 'SR "USA" Class' was a class of ex-United States Army Transportation Corps S100 Class steam locomotives purchased by the Southern Railway after the end of the Second World War.

Contents

Construction history

Livery and numbering

War Department and Southern

Post-1948 (nationalisation)

Operational details

Preservation

The Locomotive in fiction

Footnotes

Further reading

External links

Construction history

The Southern Railway's fleet of 15 locomotives (14 for traffic plus one for spares) was built at the Vulcan Iron Works in Pennsylvania in 1942 to the design specifications of the USATC by Col. Howard G. Hill. Overall, 382 of the class were ordered from Davenport Locomotive Works of Iowa, H. K. Porter, Inc of Pittsburgh and Vulcan Iron Works. Longworth, Hugh: ''British Railway Steam Locomotives: 1948-1968'' (Oxford Publishing Company: Oxford, 2005) ISBN 0-86093-5930
They were then shipped to Great Britain in 1943 and stored there awaiting the invasion of Mainland Europe, after which, they were shipped to Europe.
The key to their success was their short wheelbase, which was able to negotiate the tight curves found at Southampton Docks. They were also a powerful class of locomotive, able to haul inproportionate freight trains around the marshalling yards surrounding the harbour. Longworth, Hugh: ''British Railway Steam Locomotives: 1948-1968'' (Oxford Publishing Company: Oxford, 2005) ISBN 0-86093-5930
After the war, they replaced the aging B4, D1 and E1 tanks at the recommendation of Oliver Bulleid. However, steam heating, vacuum ejectors, sliding cab windows, additional lamp irons and new cylinder drain cocks had to be added for the locomotive to operate on British metals. Longworth, Hugh: ''British Railway Steam Locomotives: 1948-1968'' (Oxford Publishing Company: Oxford, 2005) ISBN 0-86093-5930 In addition, a lot more modifications became necessary once the locomotives started to enter traffic; large roof-top ventilators were fitted, British regulators (as built they had US-style pull-out ones), three rectangular cab-front lookout windows, extended coal bunkers, separate steam and vacuum brake controls and wooden tip-up seats. This meant that it took until November 1947 for the entire class to be complete. Longworth, Hugh: ''British Railway Steam Locomotives: 1948-1968'' (Oxford Publishing Company: Oxford, 2005) ISBN 0-86093-5930
Others found industrial uses in Great Britain with the National Coal Board, Longmoor Military Railway and Austin Motors.

Livery and numbering

War Department and Southern

Livery during the Second World War was USATC black with white numbering and lettering 'Transportation Dept.' on the watertank sides. Prior to Nationalisation, the locomotives were painted in SR black livery with 'Southern' in "Sunshine Yellow" lettering.
Under Southern parlance, thirteen of the locomotives were re-numbered 61 to 73. Of the remaining two, '74' instead retained its War Department number 4326, while '75', used for spares, was never numbered.

Post-1948 (nationalisation)

The class was allocated the BR power classification 3F, whilst the lettering on the tank sides was changed to 'British Railways' during 1948 as a transitional measure. Finally, the class was outshopped in BR Departmental Malachite livery, with BR crests placed on the watertank sides, and numbers were located on the cabside.
They were renumbered under the BR Standard numbering system from 30061 to 30074.

Operational details

The 'USA tanks' were used for shunting in Southampton Docks and replaced the elderly LSWR B4 Class 0-4-0T, many of which required new boilers. Various modifications were made to the locos to make them suitable for British use. Although they were excellent performers, their austerity construction meant that they deteriorated very quickly. Longworth, Hugh: ''British Railway Steam Locomotives: 1948-1968'' (Oxford Publishing Company: Oxford, 2005) ISBN 0-86093-5930 Their steel fireboxes rusted and fatigued quickly, and this came to a head in 1951 when several had to have new fireboxes constructed. Longworth, Hugh: ''British Railway Steam Locomotives: 1948-1968'' (Oxford Publishing Company: Oxford, 2005) ISBN 0-86093-5930
Telephones were installed on the footplate to improve communication on the vast network of sidings at Southampton. Longworth, Hugh: ''British Railway Steam Locomotives: 1948-1968'' (Oxford Publishing Company: Oxford, 2005) ISBN 0-86093-5930 However, they were replaced by the British Rail Class 07 diesel-mechanical shunter (introduced 1962). Nine remained in departmental use within the military and National Coal Board, whilst five survived until the end of steam on the Southern Region in 1967. Longworth, Hugh: ''British Railway Steam Locomotives: 1948-1968'' (Oxford Publishing Company: Oxford, 2005) ISBN 0-86093-5930

Preservation

Four examples have been preserved in England:

★ 30064 Bluebell Railway

★ 30065 Kent and East Sussex Railway

★ 30070 Kent and East Sussex Railway

★ 30072 Keighley and Worth Valley Railway
plus 2 ex-JZ Class 62 locomotives, built to a broadly similar design, which are to be converted to British USA Class specifications.

The Locomotive in fiction

An engine of this prototype has featured in the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends TV Series as Rosie, who is introduced in Season 10.

Footnotes

Further reading

★ Ian Allan ABC of British Railways Locomotives, winter 1959-60 edition

External links

★ http://www.semg.org.uk/steam/usa_01.html

★ http://ukhrail.uel.ac.uk/cgi-bin/rlylocos?NO=&NA=&CL=USA&CO=ANY&BL=&WN=&LO=

★ http://www.kesr-operating.org.uk/LocoTrust.htm