The Metropolitan Railway K Class consisted of six

2-6-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a locomotive has two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels. Overview With only a few known exceptions, the Adriatic wheel arrangement was u ...

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 locomot ...

, numbered 111 to 116.

Construction

They were built by

Armstrong Whitworth Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Tyne and Wear, Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomot ...

in 1925, using parts manufactured at the

Royal Arsenal The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proof test, proofing, and explosives research for ...

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

, to the design of the

South Eastern and Chatham Railway The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee (SE&CRCJMC),Awdry (1990), page 199 known as the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR), was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Eas ...

N class

2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. T ...

locomotives and part of a family of 200 or so "mogul" engines designed by

Richard Maunsell Richard Edward Lloyd Maunsell (pronounced "Mansell") (26 May 1868 – 7 March 1944) was an Irish Locomotive Engineer who held the post of chief mechanical engineer (CME) of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway from 1913 until the Railways A ...

. Final design was by the Metropolitan Railway's George Hally. The boilers had been made by

Robert Stephenson and Company Robert Stephenson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company founded in 1823 in Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne in England. It was the first company in the world created specifically to build Steam locomotive, railway engines. Famou ...

of Darlington. Some unusual variations included footsteps below the buffer beam and curved handrails at the front either side of the smokebox.

Service

The K Class were used on heavy freight trains along London's

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 ...

mainline, including coal to the power station at

Neasden Neasden is a suburban area in northwest London, England. It is located around the centre of the London Borough of Brent and is within the NW2 (Cricklewood) and NW10 (Willesden) postal districts. Neasden is near Wembley Stadium, the Brent Reserv ...

, although they were used on occasional passenger trains. In 1937, all six were transferred to the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after London, Midland and Scottish Railway, LMS) of the "Big Four (British railway companies), Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It ope ...

(LNER) where they were based at Neasden (LNER) Shed. The LNER numbered them 6158–6163, and classified them as L2 Class. They were used for passenger services for a short stint in 1938 and 1942 when H2 4-4-4T's were unavailable for maintenance or transferred elsewhere.

Withdrawal

All were withdrawn and scrapped between 1943 and 1948.

References

K 2-6-4T locomotives 1′C2′ h2t locomotives Armstrong Whitworth locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1925 Scrapped locomotives Standard-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain {{UK-metro-stub Passenger locomotives Freight locomotives