LBSC D3 0-4-4
No 365 'Victoria' (b 1892, wd 1952)
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'D3' Victoria on 'Brighton Road, with the viaduct and bridge in the
background.
Victoria had an interesting background, built in 1892, and lasting a full 60 years until
withdrawal in 1952. She had a distinguished wartime career, including downing a German
fighter bomber over Romney Marsh in 1942. The plane dived at the engine with cannons
firing and pierced the boiler. As he flew over the engine the pilot misjudged his height,
and the uprush of steam from the pierced boiler tipped one wing of the aircraft. The other
hit the cab of Victoria, and the plane crashed about 100 yards from the train. Both
enginemen escaped unscathed, if a little shaken by the experience.
After repairs at Ashford, Victoria returned to traffic to work out her remaining 10 years
of service..
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An overall view of the chassis, showing the basic layout -
Portescap driving on the centre axle (via modified MJT gearbox), sidebeam compensation for
the front two axles, and centre beam compensation for the rear bogie. The bogie simply
pivots horizontally about its fixing. The bogie itself is fully compensated.
The frame spacers are copper-clad paxolin, gapped in two places to insulate the frames from each other. Electrical pick-up is from just the driving wheels.
The coupling rods are milled from steel.
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A view from the underside of the bogie.
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The front end, showing the sidebeams, and bearing/guide
detail.
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The bogie,showing the pivot mechanism. The spigot on top of
the bogie fits into the tube fixed to the frame spacer, and is held in place by the fixing
screw in the top of the spigot. The bogie frame is therefore only able to pivot about a
vertical axis, but the bogie itself is compensated, with a single central beam between the
two axles, given a single point of suspension (the front side beams provide the other
two).