The Metropolitan Railway H Class consisted of eight 4-4-4T

steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomo ...

, numbered 103 to 110. They were built by Kerr, Stuart & Co of

Stoke on Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement in Staffordshire and is surrou ...

in 1920 at a cost of £11,575 each. A "notable addition" to the

Metropolitan Railway The Metropolitan Railway (also known as the Met) was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the capital's financial heart in the City to what were to become the Middlesex su ...

, these locomotives were purchased for the express passenger trains on the mainline between

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(later )—the change point from

electric locomotives An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas ...

—and or .

Overview

They were designed by The Met's Locomotive & Chief Electrical Engineer, Charles Jones. Delivered between October 1920 and June 1921, they allowed for the retirement of a like number of 0-4-4T C Class and 2-4-0T D Class locomotives. The H Class were considered to be good engines well-suited to the express trains they worked, allowing for a reduction in running times of up to six minutes. They were designed with a hauling capacity of and could negotiate

curves A curve is a geometrical object in mathematics. Curve(s) may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Curve (band), an English alternative rock music group * ''Curve'' (album), a 2012 album by Our Lady Peace * "Curve" (song), a 20 ...

of radius.

Transfer to LNER

When the steam-hauled services were transferred from London Transport to the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At tha ...

in 1937, all eight H Class locomotives were included to continue working the same trains. The LNER numbered them 6415–6422 and classified them as H2 Class. In the 1940s, they were moved from Neasden (LNER) shed to the

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

area and worked over other parts of the former

Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...

system.

Withdrawal

All were withdrawn and scrapped between 1942 and 1947.

References

External links

* http://www.lner.info/locos/H/h2.shtml H 4-4-4T locomotives Kerr Stuart locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1920 Scrapped locomotives Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain {{UK-metro-stub Passenger locomotives