A1 Class – No. 40

Originally known as “A” class, these diminutive tank locomotives were designed in 1870 to haul commuter trains on the heavily congested lines in South and South-East London. These included routes from London Bridge to both East and West Croydon, London Victoria to Sutton and the line from Victoria to London Bridge via. Peckham Rye and Denmark Hill, as well as operating on the East London Railway under the Thames through the Thames Tunnel designed by Marc Isambard Brunel. Six locomotives were built for these services during 1872, and were successful due to their high acceleration between the closely spaced station stops and the use of light-weight trains. A further 44 were built between June 1874 and September 1880 to complement the original six.
The locomotives were finished in the livery known as “Stroudley’s Improved Engine Green”, which was actually an ochre colour, not green. This is historically attributed to colour-blindness, an affliction from which Stroudley reportedly suffered. The actual shade of the livery has been much disputed, with opinions ranging from a more yellow type of livery to a livery closer to brown, as worn by the model named Como in the Brighton Toy and Model Museum.

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