Portrait of the Southern Q1 Class

Utilitarian, functional, unnecessarily ugly, clockwork driven even; such are the soliloquies that have been used to describe Bulleid Q1 class of freight engine. Conceived at a time when additional freight power was a desperate need, the easiest and perhaps quickest solution would have been to build more of an existing type – but not so for Mr Bullied on the Southern. Instead, the result was a functional engine steam engine in appearance unlike anything that had gone before. Whilst their history has been recounted previously this is a book mainly consisting of images not previously seen; detailing the class at work on a variety of duties and also at rest. Aesthetics aside, the design served the railway well for over 20 years and would probably have continued to do so for a while longer had not the forthcoming end of steam and changing traffic patterns prevailed.