SR E Class 31159 - usage as stationary boiler?

[Shooting Star]

Hello,

 

I recently happened across a photograph on the Rail Photoprints website which has left me a little curious: https://railphotoprints.uk/p769364556/h2E05C9F5#h2e05c9f5

 

The photo shows an E Class loco, No. 31159, being used as a stationary boiler. According to the caption, the location is Stewarts Lane shed and the date is August 1959, which I find a little surprising - a few initial searches suggest that No. 31159 was first withdrawn from service in 1951, and I've not come across many examples of engines surviving that long as stationary boilers. I did wonder if the caption was incorrect, but I've been unable to find further information or indeed any other photos.

 

(On the other hand, it's not without precedent - IIRC, there was a D Class which was used as a stationary boiler at Ramsgate, and survived until the late 1950s or early 1960s?)

 

I also note from the photo that No. 31159 seems to be in unusually good condition for a stationary boiler, with all the wheelsets and the smokebox number plate intact.

 

Therefore I would be very interested to hear from anybody who can clear up the mystery/provide more information about No. 31159's use as a stationary boiler - how long did it actually survive there, and where/when was it finally scrapped?

[bécasse]

I think that the simple answer is that the Ds were condemned because the Brighton-built Fairburn 2-6-4Ts that effectively replaced them were more versatile and not because their mechanical condition merited withdrawal. Presumably 31159, when withdrawn in November 1951, was still in excellent condition so far as steam raising was concerned and therefore the perfect candidate when a need for a stationary boiler arose at its parent shed. I think that it had been overhauled (and renumbered) in 1949 and so its boiler would still have been "in ticket" in 1959 particularly as the demands on a "stationary boiler" weren't that great, and, as you say, it does seem to have been cared for - it's regular fireman was probably a restricted duties man (eyesight quite possibly) who may well have regarded it as "his pet".

Edited November 17, 2021 by bécasse