SECR N1 Class - Operational Details

Operational Details

The N1 class prototype was initially based at Bricklayers' Arms shed for tests on services over the Eastern section. No. 822 became a familiar sight on freight workings between the Hither Green marshalling yard and Paddock Wood and on passenger trains between Tonbridge and Charing Cross, as increased train lengths on these duties had taxed the ex-SECR 4-4-0 and 0-6-0 designs. This allocation also provided an opportunity for comparing performance against the 2-cylinder N class. The tests were complete by December 1923 and No. 822 was moved to Ashford shed and used on passenger services to Charing Cross. In 1925, No. 822 was re-allocated to Bricklayers Arms shed from where it was used on the gauge-restricted Tonbridge–Hastings line for the first time. No. 822 proved ideal for this line but was again re-allocated to Redhill for trials over the difficult undulating route to Reading in 1928.

Despite the high maintenance costs and steaming difficulties revealed during the 1924 freight trials, the N1 prototype compared favourably against the N class, allowing the Southern Railway's management to order the final five locomotives in 1929. Nos. A876–A880 were initially allocated to the Central section shed at New Cross, from where they were regularly used on through expresses from the LMS between Willesden Junction and Brighton and services to Hastings and Bognor Regis. Three of the class were moved to Tonbridge shed in 1931 to operate over the Hastings line whilst the other three remained at New Cross. The class was re-allocated in 1935 with three based at Eastbourne on the Central section to haul through trains to the GWR and the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). By 1939 the class was divided between New Cross, Stewarts Lane and Tonbridge sheds.

As with the preceding N class, the N1s were capable of hauling heavy loads at moderate speeds, a useful attribute that was exploited throughout the Second World War. They were mostly used on freight trains on both Central and Eastern sections although No. 1822 was recorded hauling a 17–carriage troop special over the Redhill to Reading line in April 1942. The entire class operated in the Hastings area during the build-up to Operation Overlord in 1944. On 3 May, No. 1878 was targeted by a German fighter near Rye but was undamaged. The entire class came into British Railways' ownership in 1948 and was used on the Southern Region.