#0957
LB&SCR B4 class
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by Sharp, Stewart and Company· from 1899· class of 33 two-cylinder 4-4-0 locomotives
2 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. LBSCR B4 class: J. N. Maskelyne· Public domain
- 2. LB&SCR B4 class No. 45 Bessborough: Unknown author Unknown author· Public domain
what is it?
The B4 class were 4-4-0 steam locomotives built for express passenger work on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. They were designed by R. J. Billinton and were built at Brighton works 1899–1902 and Messrs Sharp, Stewart and Company in 1901. Twelve members of the class were rebuilt from 1922 to 1924 by L. B. Billinton with a larger boiler, cylinders and a superheater.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 127 years ago, in 1899.
- Weighs about as much as 15 African elephants (~6 t each).
- Served for 52 years (1899–1951).
steam locomotive: Burns coal, wood or oil to boil water; the steam drives pistons that turn the wheels.
spec sheet
- built
- 1899–1924
- in service from
- 1899
- retired
- 1951
- status
- retired
- number built
- 33
- kind
- Steam
- traction
- steam
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- Sharp, Stewart and Company, Brighton Works
- designer
- B4: R. J. Billinton , B4X: L. B. Billinton
- operators
- London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, Southern Railway, Southern Region of British Railways
- top speed
- —
- power
- —
- wheel arrangement
- 4-4-0
- weight
- 87.4 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q6457230, Wikipedia: LB&SCR B4 class (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.