Metropolitan railway class E

The Metropolitan Railway Class E locomotives was a group comprising of seven locomotives that were constructed between 1896 and 1901, four were constructed by Hawthorn Leslie and Company Newcastle, with the remaining three being constructed at their works in Neasden.

After an accident which resulted in the scrappage of locomotive number 1, a locomotive became its replacement, with the remainder being given locomotive numbers 77 to 82. Condensing apparatus was fitted to locomotive number 77, however it is unlikely the whole class received this equipment and this was later removed.

There is one surviving unit of Metropolitan Railway Class E locomotive which is still preserved today. The last passenger service for this train was in 1961 with it being withdrawn from service completely in 1965, the locomotive was preserved and is still preserved by the Buckingham Railway Centre. The plan was to scrap the locomotive, however, a London Transport Mechanical Engineering Apprentice of 19 years old began the Met Tank Appeal in 1962. The objective of the find was to save the last remaining Metropolitan Railway Class E locomotive. London Transport offered £500 for the locomotive and the fund had raised over £1000, despite this an inspection showed the underframe was cracked and the locomotive was unable to be steamed therefore the locomotive was not suitable for preservation.

As a result, the locomotive L44 was offered as a replacement. The London Railway Preservation Society stored the locomotive at Bishops Sortford and Luton, with the locomotive being transferred during the mid 1960s to the Quinton Railway Society who could provide a more secure and permanent base for the locomotive while displaying the locomotive in the newly established museum in Buckinghamshire. The locomotive L44 became known as locomotive 1 and became maintained to mainline condition and occasionally being used with 'Steam on the Met' events between 1989 and 2000.

The locomotive received a full overhaul during 2001.

The first event the locomotive attended after its overhaul was at the Bluebell Railway, arriving on 24 June 2007 for the Bluebell 125 celebrations and was paired with four Metropolitan Railway carriages which have been preserved by the Bluebell Railway.

The locomotive was also used at events at Barrow Hill during August 2008 and Llangollen during October 2008.

An appeal to allow for the restoration of the unit for the next decade was launched in 2010, this would enable the locomotive to be participate in further heritage events across the country.

The locomotive was also used with the Metropolitan 150 celebrations, which celebrated 150 years since the opening of the first underground railway in London on 10 January 1863. The locomotive was loaned from the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre to the London transport Museum where several trips where arranged along the Metropolitan Railway route between Olympia and Moorgate via Edgware Road during the weekends in January 2013. Further celebrations where conducted and on the 9 January 2013 the locomotive was ran from Paddington (Bishops Road) to Farringdon, the original route of the Metropolitan Railway when it opened. For the celebrations the locomotive was coupled with a Metropolitan Railway Milk Van numbered 4 and the Metropolitan Railway Jubilee Carriage numbered 353, this is the oldest operational tube carriage. The train also included a Metropolitan Electric Sarah Saloon carriage number 12 and a series of Ashbury Carriages which where loaned by the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, which operated the Chesham shuttle comprising of carriage numbers 387, 412, 394 and 368. There where several preservation bodies that were involved in the events across the London Underground network to celibate 150 years of the London Underground.