This long-lived and very useful class of shunting and goods tank engine, built to the design of William Stroudley, first entered service on the London Brighton & South Coast Railway in 1874, two years following the first appearance of his famous ‘Terriers’.
They looked like a larger version of the ‘Terrier’ but the ‘E tanks’, as they were originally known, actually shared more in common with Stroudley’s ‘D’ 0-4-2Ts, introduced in 1873. The ‘E Tanks’ eventually numbered 78 engines, built in batches until
