Turning tank engines?
May I ask - in what circumstances were tank engines turned? I had assumed for a long time that tank engines were generally not turned as they could equally well run bunker first. There are plenty of photographs of large tank engines such as LMS 2-6-4Ts being run bunker first (such as here and here). There is also this photograph of an LNER V1 operating bunker first.
On the other hand, one does not seem to see photographs of locomotives such as LBSCR I3s, Js or Ls running bunker first
Which is the key factor in why tank engines were so popular on the LBSCR.
Why waste money on building longer tender engines (which as you note meant longer turntables and which took up more space on shed) if tank engines will do the job.
It was this philosophy which led Maunsell to start building the River class - had the p-way in Kent been better then they could well have been the dominant motive power on all but the heaviest of services.
