LB&SCR B4 class

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway B4 class was a group of 4-4-0 steam locomotives built for express passenger work and designed by R. J. Billinton. The first two came from Brighton works in 1899 and 1900, but a backlog of repair work there led the railway to approach Sharp, Stewart and Company to supply twenty-five further examples, all delivered between June and October 1901. The class hauled the heaviest Brighton expresses until about 1912, when larger classes replaced them, and O. S. Nock called them among the finest passenger locomotives of their day. Twelve were rebuilt as B4X in 1922 to 1924 with larger boilers, and all were withdrawn by 1951.