London and Brighton Railway - Locomotives

Locomotives

The L&BR acquired 34 steam locomotives between January 1839 and March 1843, the first two of which were a 2-2-2 and an 0-4-2 supplied by Jones, Turner and Evans and used by the contractors constructing the line. The remainder were mainly 2-2-2 consisting of 16 supplied by Sharp, Roberts and Company, six by Edward Bury and Company, four by William Fairbairn, and three by G and J Rennie. The last three locomotives were 2-4-0 supplied by George Forrester and Company between October 1842 and March 1843. For details see List of early locomotives of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway.

Initially these locomotives were the responsibility of the civil engineer and his assistant, but this arrangement was ended after an unfavourable report on their safety in 1843. From 1842 the L&CR had pooled its locomotive stock with the South Eastern Railway(SER), to form the 'Croydon and Dover Joint Committee'. From March 1844 the L&BR joined the scheme and their locomotives were operated by the 'Brighton, Croydon and Dover Joint Committee', which also ordered further locomotives. These pooling arrangements had the advantage of providing the L&BR with access to the South Eastern Railway repair facilities, at New Cross but caused great operating problems. In March 1845 John Gray was appointed as Locomotive Superintendent of the L&BR and in April the company gave notice of withdrawal from the arrangement from January 1846, when the pooled locomotives were divided between the companies.

Following the dispersal of the pool in March 1845, the L&BR acquired 44 locomotives, some of which it had previously owned, and the remainder from the SER, L&CR, or else those purchased by the Joint Committee. For details see List of early locomotives of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway.