Lesson plan

SR U class

The SR U class are 2-6-0 steam locomotives designed by Richard Maunsell for passenger duties on the Southern Railway (SR). The class represented the penultimate stage in the development of the Southern Railway's 2-6-0 "family", which improved upon the basic principles established by GWR Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) George Jackson Churchward for Great Western Railway (GWR) locomotives. The U class design drew from experience with the GWR 4300s and N classes, improved by applying Midland Railway ideas to the design, enabling the SECR to influence development of the 2-6-0 in Britain. The U class was designed in the mid-1920s for production at a time when more obsolete 4-4-0 locomotives were withdrawn, and derived from Maunsell's earlier SECR K (“River”) class 2-6-4 tank locomotives. The first 20 members of the U class were rebuilds of the K class locomotives, one of which was involved in the Sevenoaks railway accident. A further 20 U class locomotives were built in 1928 to fill the gap in cross-country and semi-fast express passenger services after the withdrawal of the K class. The design also continued the standardisation of the Southern Railway locomotive fleet by using parts designed to be interchangeable with other Maunsell-designed classes.…

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Article summary

The SR U class are 2-6-0 steam locomotives designed by Richard Maunsell for passenger duties on the Southern Railway (SR). The class represented the penultimate stage in the development of the Southern Railway's 2-6-0 "family", which improved upon the basic principles established by GWR Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) George Jackson Churchward for Great Western Railway (GWR) locomotives. The U class design drew from experience with the GWR 4300s and N classes, improved by applying Midland Railway ideas to the design, enabling the SECR to influence development of the 2-6-0 in Britain. The U class was designed in the mid-1920s for production at a time when more obsolete 4-4-0 locomotives were withdrawn, and derived from Maunsell's earlier SECR K (“River”) class 2-6-4 tank locomotives. The first 20 members of the U class were rebuilds of the K class locomotives, one of which was involved in the Sevenoaks railway accident. A further 20 U class locomotives were built in 1928 to fill the gap in cross-country and semi-fast express passenger services after the withdrawal of the K class. The design also continued the standardisation of the Southern Railway locomotive fleet by using parts designed to be interchangeable with other Maunsell-designed classes.…

Key claims

  1. date of formation: 1928 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the date of formation is "1928". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  4. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372865424

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.