Metropolitan Number One

Metropolitan Number 1 is the second steam locomotive of the Metropolitan Railway to bear the number 1. It is a Class E engine dating back to 1898 (link), so it has a quite a history attached. It now belongs to the Quainton Railway Society (QRS) at the Buckingham Rail Centre (link) which ensures that Metropolitan Number One is an active ambassador for the QRS at various railway events and on various heritage lines.

Met number one makes one of its frequent appearances on the Epping-Ongar Railway.
Here is Met 1 at North Weald, about to set off with a train for Ongar.
This is a quiet moment on the actually very busy afternoon of 17th July 2017.

Mystery Presented

When the QRS acquired Met. No. 1, they realized that Met. No. 1 presented two puzzling aspects. Here indeed was an intriguing situation!

• Builders' Plate. Where was the Builders' Plate? None could be found.


• Number One. Why number ONE, when the first number of the E class was actually 77?

Mystery Solved

Metropolitan Class A Locomotives were the original steam motive power. No cab roof, but condensing apparatus and of course the famous spectacle plate. The Inner Circle was a steamy affair, with smoke and ash particles everywhere.

Metropolitan Class A Number 23
is a look-alike to the original ill-fated number one.
It is seen at the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden.

It was Number One - of all Class A Locos - that had an accident at Baker Street in 1898. This apparently happened at the junction between the Paddington to the City line and the line to the north.

• The Operations department desperately wanted a replacement loco.
• The Management said NO. No money!
• The Operations Department then decided they would buy a kit of replacement parts. However, instead of repairing the more or less written off Class A locomotive, a kit of parts was procured which would enable a new class E locomotive to be produced. It so happened that at the time two new Class E locomotives (link), 77 and 78, were already being built at the Neasden Works (link).
  • To make it look OK on the books, this third new class E locomotive (79) would carry the number 1.
  • To further hide matters, no locomotive manufacturing plates would be affixed to the new locomotive Met 1.
• Thus, the new Metropolitan Number One was born!
• The Operations Department was happy and Management seemingly unaware!

I wonder when the Management found all this out!

Claims to Fame

So, this locomotive has a number of claims to fame.

1. It was the subject of a Victorian cover-up.
2. It bears the number 1.
3. It is the second Metropolitan steam locomotive to carry the number "One".
4. It was the last Metropolitan locomotive to be manufactured in-house at the Neasden Works.
5. It had NO locomotive "manufacturing plates"
6. Met. No. 1 is the only operational Metropolitan steam locomotive to survive.
   (Class A Number 23 is in the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden.)