| Power Classification | 2P reclassified 3P in 1953 |
| Introduced | 1899 – 1901, rebuilt 1922 – 1929 by Urie |
| Designer | Drummond |
| Company | LSWR |
| Weight – Loco | 51t 18cwt (Later built locomotives 51t 7cwt) |
| Tender | 44t 17cwt (Some were later fitted with smaller tenders) |
| Driving Wheels | 6ft 7ins |
| Boiler Pressure | 175psi superheated |
| Cylinders | Inside – 19in x 26in |
| Tractive Effort | 17,675lbf |
| Valve Gear | Stephenson (slide valve) |
When Drummond joined the London & South Western Railway in 1895 he already had experience of four-coupled express engines. He had designed successful inside cylinder 4-4-0 locomotives for both (North British and Caledonian Railways) of his previous employers in Scotland. Drummond presumed that that what worked in Scotland would work on the main line out of Waterloo and on the gradients wests of Salisbury.
In 1898 he introduced the C8 class 4-4-0 which utilised the M7 0-4-4T boiler designed the previous year. Unfortunately, Drummond had overestimated the ability of the M7 boiler. Whilst it was sufficient for shunting empty stock and branch passenger duties it was inadequate for keeping tight main line schedules.
The design spawned from the relative failure of Drummond’s C8 class utilised many lessons learned from the design. A larger boiler was implemented, and such confidence was placed in Drummond’s design that an order of 50 locomotives was placed straight off the drawing board. Large fireboxes and Stephenson link valve gear ensured a free-steaming locomotive.
Construction was shared between the LSWR’s Nine Elms Locomotive Works, London and Dübs and Company of Glasgow. Twenty were built at Nine Elms and 30 by Dübs. These were constructed between 1899 and 1900 and supplied with six wheel tenders. A second batch was ordered, and 15 more were constructed at Nine Elms, while a final, solitary example was constructed at Dübs and Company for the Glasgow Exhibition of 1901. Detail improvements on this second batch were a wider cab and revised wheel splasher that hid the ‘throw’ of the connecting rod, with cross-water tubes fitted into the firebox. This was an attempt to increase the heat surface area of the water, which was achieved, though at a cost in boiler complexity. This batch was also fitted with the Drummond watercart eight-wheel tender for longer running, whilst the previous was retrofitted with the design.
Construction
| Year | Builder | Quantity | LSWR numbers | Notes |
| 1899 | Nine Elms | 10 | 113–122 | |
| 1899 | Nine Elms | 5 | 280–284 | |
| 1899 | Dübs & Co. | 30 | 702–719, 721–732 | |
| 1900 | Nine Elms | 5 | 285–289 | |
| 1900 | Nine Elms | 5 | 300–304 | |
| 1901 | Nine Elms | 5 | 305, 307, 310–312 | |
| 1901 | Nine Elms | 5 | 313, 314, 336–338 | |
| 1901 | Dübs & Co. | 1 | 773 | Became 733 in 1924 |
| 66 |
They were known as Greyhounds because of their sleek lines and speedy qualities. In the early years of the 20th Century they were in the front line in the LSWR’s competition against the GWR for the West of England passenger traffic.
Dugald Drummond had joined the London & South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1895 having had previous experience on the Caledonian Railway. Robert Urie had worked under Drummond on the Caledonian Railway and in 1897 joined Drummond on the LSWR in1897. Following the death of Drummond in 1912 Urie succeeded him as the chief mechanical engineer.
Between 1922 and 1929 Urie rebuilt the T9 class locomotives with superheaters, larger diameter cylinders and higher pressure boilers. Their sterling performance as a class precluded any further modifications, apart from the removal of the cross-water tubes, an enlarged smokebox, addition of a stovepipe chimney, and an increase of the cylinder bore to 19 inches.
The rebuilt engines were to be found working the expresses over the heavily graded line between Salisbury and Exeter in preference to the larger engines which should have replaced them.
Locomotive numbering was per BR standard practice, from 30113–30122; 30280–30289; 30300–30305;30307;30310-30314; 30336–30338; 30702–30719; and 30721-30733. Numbering was based upon the batches built with the addition of 30000 to the SR numbers. However, thirteen of the locomotives had been withdrawn by the end of 1948, and this resulted in gaps in the numerical sequence.
30119 was for many years the locomotive used for working Royal trains on the Southern over lines which could not take heavier engines. As such it retained its immaculate green livery until it was withdrawn in 1952.
30120 was the last surviving locomotive of the class and in 1962 it was restored to LSWR livery as number 120 for working special passenger trains and has since been preserved.
Several locomotives were converted to oil burning during the coal crisis after the Second World War. They were all scrapped without being converted back to coal burning.
The later built locomotives were fitted with wider cabs and splashers (without coupling-rod splashers) and they were originally fitted with firebox water tubes.
All the originally locomotives were originally fitted with large eight-wheel tenders.
Some locomotives were later fitted with smaller six-wheel tenders.
Number in Service.
| Built | Withdrawals | No. in Service | ||
| BR Numbers | Quantity | |||
| 1899 | 30113-22 |
10 |
||
| 30280-84 |
5 |
|||
| 30702-19 |
18 |
|||
| 30721-32 |
12 |
45 |
||
| 1900 | 30285-89 |
5 |
||
| 30300-4 |
5 |
55 |
||
| 1901 | 30305/7 |
2 |
||
| 30310-14 |
5 |
|||
| 30336-38 |
3 |
65 |
||
| 30733 |
1 |
66 |
||
| 1902-50 |
66 |
|||
| 1951 |
20 |
46 |
||
| 1952 |
8 |
38 |
||
| 1953 |
1 |
37 |
||
| 1954 |
1 |
36 |
||
| 1955 |
0 |
36 |
||
| 1956 |
1 |
35 |
||
| 1957 |
4 |
31 |
||
| 1958 |
7 |
24 |
||
| 1959 |
10 |
14 |
||
| 1960 |
1 |
13 |
||
| 1961 |
12 |
1 |
||
| 1962 |
0 |
1 |
||
| 1963 | 30120 |
1 |
0 |
|
- 30702-19, 30721-32 and 30733 were built by Dübs & Co. with
- The allocation of the 66 in services as at 1st January 1948 is shown below.
|
Depot |
1st January 1948 |
| Basingstoke |
3 |
| Bournemouth |
3 |
| Dorchester |
3 |
| Eastleigh |
10 |
| Exmouth Junction |
7 |
| Fratton |
14 |
| Guildford |
3 |
| Nine Elms |
2 |
| Plymouth Friary |
3 |
| Salisbury |
10 |
| Wadebridge |
2 |
| Yeovil Town |
6 |
|
66 |
Preserved British Steam Locomotives 