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 No. 557 was withdrawn in February 1933 having run a total of 1,280,804 miles.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.
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. 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.
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