The SECR F1 class was a series of 4-4-0 steam locomotives operated by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. These locomotives were rebuilt from older Stirling F class locomotives by Harry Wainwright between 1903 and 1919.Casserley, H.C. and Johnston, S.W., Locomotives at the Grouping 1, Southern Railway, page 25, Ian Allan, 1974,
Numbering Seventy-five locomotives were initially produced, and they were given the same numbers as the F class locomotives from which they were rebuilt; these were scattered between 2 and 250. One of these, no. 20, was badly damaged in an accident on 17 November 1919 and consequently withdrawn; to replace it, one further rebuild was carried out, this being no. 185. Apart from no. 20, all survived into Southern Railway (SR) ownership as of 1 January 1923. Their SR numbers were the same as their SECR numbers, but prefixed with the letter "A"; from the early 1930s, the "A" prefix was dropped and the original numbers increased by 1000. Apart from no. 20, withdrawal commenced in 1925, and some were withdrawn in most years until 1937, leaving 22 in service at the outbreak of World War II; withdrawal recommenced in 1944. Nine locomotives entered British Railways (BR) ownership in 1948. They were numbered thus:
SECR No. First SR No. Second SR No. BR No. 2 A2 1002 31002 28 A28 1028 31028 31 A31 1031 31031 42 A42 1042 31042 78 A78 1078 31078 105 A105 1105 31105 151 A151 1151 31151 215 A215 1215 31215 231 A231 1231 31231 Withdrawal of these nine occurred during 1948–49, the last in service being no. 1231, withdrawn March 1949. None received BR livery, and only one, no. 31151, was actually given its allotted BR number.
Accidents and incidents In August 1926, a locomotive overran buffers at and crashed into a brewery. No. A148 was withdrawn in August 1928, and sold to the Gainsborough Pictures Corporation. On 19 August 1928, A148 was deliberately crashed into a lorry at Lasham, between Basingstoke and Alton, for the film The Wrecker. The remains were scrapped on site.
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