The SECR K class was a type of tank locomotive designed in 1914 by
Richard Maunsell for express passenger duties on the South Eastern and
Chatham Railway (SECR). The Southern Railway (SR) K1 class was a three-
cylinder variant of the K class, designed in 1925 to suit a narrower
loading gauge. They were among the first non-Great Western Railway (GWR)
types to use and improve upon the basic design principles of power and
standardisation established by George Jackson Churchward, the GWR's
chief mechanical engineer. The locomotives were based on the GWR
4300 class, improved by the Midland Railway's ideals of simplicity and
ease of maintenance. The K class was designed to be mechanically
similar to the SECR N class mixed-traffic locomotives. The class was
the earliest large-scale use of the 2-6-4 wheel arrangement in Britain.
Production began towards the end of the First World War, and the
prototype rolled out of Ashford Works three years after design work was
completed due to wartime production constraints. They continued in
service with British Railways until 1966. One K class rebuild (No.
31806) is preserved on the Swanage Railway in Dorset.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SECR_K_and_SR_K1_classes>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1388:
During the Battle of Buyur Lake, General Lan Yu led a Chinese
army forward to crush the Mongol hordes of Toghus Temur, the Khan of
Northern Yuan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Buyur_Lake>
1863:
American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant led his Army of
the Tennessee across the Big Black River in preparation for the Siege of
Vicksburg.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Vicksburg>
1936:
In a crime that shocked Japan, Sada Abe strangled her lover
Kichizo Ishida, cut off his genitals, and carried them around with her
for several days until her arrest.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sada_Abe>
1991:
The Somali National Movement declared the independence of
Somaliland, a de facto state that is internationally recognised as an
autonomous region of Somalia, following the collapse of central
government during the Somali Civil War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland>
2006:
The Parliament of Nepal unanimously voted to strip King
Gyanendra of many of his powers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_democracy_movement_in_Nepal>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
ogry:
(nonce word) Resembling, or pertaining to, an ogre.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ogry>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as
not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that
no one will believe it.
--Bertrand Russell
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell>