Three from the Southern Railway

Today's post, 27th August 2014, features 'Schools' class, 'Lord Nelson'  class and 'S15' class locomotives, pictured in the following jigsaws from my collection.

The 'Schools' or 'V' class 4-4-0 locomotive pictured first, is No.926 Repton, (built in 1934); the jigsaw puzzle is a 350-piece example from Castile. The locomotive is preserved on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) but currently under repair - see the photograph at the end of this post. The class of 40 entered service between 1930-35 under the control of Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Southern Railway, Richard Maunsell; they were named after public schools. The artist is not named unfortunately. Many pictures of the engine can be found on the Internet.

The second picture features a 'Lord Nelson' class 4-6-0 titled SR Lord Nelson Class 4-6-0 No 864 Sir Martin Frobisher (built 1929); it is part of the 500-piece, multi-series Age of Steam jigsaws from Arrow. The locomotive was one of sixteen, built for the Southern Railway between 1926-29, by Richard Maunsell. George Heiron was the artist. In the picture the coaches are Pullman examples thus the train is probably a 'Boat Train' such as the 'Golden Arrow'. The latter was hauled regularly by the 'Lord Nelson' class locomotives until superceded by the more powerful 4-6-2s of Oliver Bulleid.

A 'S15' class 4-6-0 of Richard Maunsell again, (originals built by W. Urie for the London & South Western Railway from 1920) is shown in the final picture of a 300-piece jigsaw from manufacturer Falcon titled The East Anglian. The class of 45 were built in three batches with the final example entering service in 1936. The photograph of No.841 is a little confusing but with the help of Dave Peel's brilliant book Locomotive Headboards - The Complete Story I'll try and explain. The headboard in the photograph 'The East Anglian' (with definite article) was introduced c1951 but the locomotive was withdrawn from service in 1964. If genuine in context, this places the jigsaw photograph between 1951 and 1964. However, the locomotive was only named Greene King after being rescued from Barry Scrapyard in 1972 so the photograph cannot be placed within those dates. The photograph must be of a special train operated in the preservation era as 'The East Anglian'. Many pictures of the locomotive can be found on the Internet. The engine is based on the NYMR but rumours persist that parts of the locomotive are used to keep 'S15' compatriot No.825 in operation. Hence, the future for No.841 is bleak.

Just for interest this photograph of No.826 Repton was taken in April 2014 by my brother and shows the engine in its current state, awaiting maintenance at Grosmont on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR). Following nationalisation in 1948, the locomotive was re-numbered 30926.