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Adams X2 Class Locomotive No. 577
Adams X2 Class Locomotive No. 577
The locomotive drew the first train to stop at the newly built Wanborough Station on 1st September 1891. The locomotive was almost new having been outshopped from the Nine Elms Works of the London and South Western Railway in June 1890. The coupled wheels were 7 feet 1 inch in diameter and the cylinders were 19 inches x 26 inches. The engine cost £2,490. Number 557 was coupled to a 3000-gallon tender but some of this class had 3300-gallon tenders.

The locomotives of this class had reputation for ease of working, reliability and good coal consumption. At the Grouping the entire class entered Southern Railway stock. No. 557 was withdrawn in February 1933 having run a total of 1,280,804 miles.

The livery in 1891 was Pea Green lined out in Black and White.

Locomotive No. 577
Locomotive No. 577

The South Eastern Railway trains between Redhill and Reading commenced stopping at Wanborough in October 1891. Stirling Class F1 4-4-0 locomotives worked the Reading line and were known as "Reading Rattlers" because of the noise produced by the large working clearances in the running gear. In 1899 a working union was formed between the SER and the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. The combination was from then on known as the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR). In January 1923 the railways of this country were gathered into four groupings and the LSWR and SECR became constituents of the new Southern Railway.

Electrifying The Line

Southern Rail Poster

For some time no significant changes in operations were discernable but in 1938 a decision was made to electrify the section of line between Guildford and Aldershot. A sub-station was built on the north side of the line east of the road bridge. It was on the site of the allotment belonging to Jack Sands, the stationmaster, and he was given another plot beyond the station yard. A concrete footbridge and a waiting room on the up platform were erected. The first electric train to Aldershot stopped at Wanborough on 1 January 1939 and a large part of the village turned out to greet it. It was reported to consist of a "BIL" motor coach and a "HAL" trailer but this is unlikely as the first HALs did not come into service until early in 1939, the BILs having appeared in 1935. It was unusual to mix components of different types although the BILs seemed to have more than their fair share of accidents and damage and there were cases where the units were made up of BIL and HAL components but this seems to have been largely a wartime expedient. It is therefore more likely that the first electric train at Wanborough Station consisted of a BIL motor coach and a BIL trailer.

2-BIL EUM2-BIL EUM
2-BIL EUM
2-HAL EUM2-HAL EUM
2-HAL EUM

Southern Railway 2-BIL EUM

Southern Railway 2-HAL EUM

British Rail livery

British Rail livery

Also see
The Railway Construction

Wikipedia links
Southern Railway Company (1923 - 1947)
LSWR X2 class
British Rail Class 401 (2-BIL)
British Rail Class 402 (2-HAL)

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