LCDR Aeolus class

The LCDR Aeolus class was a class of four 4-4-0 steam locomotives supplied to the London, Chatham and Dover Railway. Robert Stephenson and Company built them, with some components subcontracted to R. and W. Hawthorn and Company, which acted as its agent. Fifteen locomotives had been ordered in July 1858 for the Smyrna and Aydin Railway in Turkey, but the railway could not accept the whole order and it was cancelled in June 1859, leaving four on the maker's hands. In September 1860 the London, Chatham and Dover agreed to buy three of them for 2,385 pounds each, and then the fourth on completion. They were delivered between September 1860 and April 1861 and were rebuilt by William Martley as 2-4-0 tank engines in 1872 and 1873. In November 1875 they took the class letter S and the numbers 71 to 74, and they passed to the South Eastern and Chatham Railway in 1899. Withdrawal began in July 1905 and the last was withdrawn in November 1909.