NBR 224 and 420 Classes
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[1][2][3] |
The NBR 224 and 420 Classes consisted of six steam locomotives of the 4-4-0 wheel arrangement built by the North British Railway (NBR) in 1871 and 1873. No. 224 had three claims to fame: it was the first inside-cylinder 4-4-0 engine to run in Great Britain;[4] it was the locomotive involved in the Tay Bridge disaster;[5] and after rebuilding in 1885, it was the only compound-expansion locomotive on the NBR, and one of just three tandem compounds in Britain.[6]
Intended for express passenger trains on the Edinburgh–Glasgow, Edinburgh–Carlisle, and Burntisland–Dundee routes, they handled these well. When trains from London to Edinburgh began to be forwarded via Carlisle over the NBR in mid-1876, these heavier trains were beyond the locomotives' capabilities, and they had to be removed from front-line service on the Carlisle line. Rebuilt between 1885 and 1897, they remained in service until 1914–19.
History
Thomas Wheatley became locomotive superintendent of the North British Railway (NBR) at the start of February 1867.[7] During his tenure of seven years, he provided the NBR with 185 new locomotives;[7] but only eight of these were suitable for hauling express passenger trains, the first two of which were 2-4-0s built in 1869 (the 141 Class),[8] which were considered to be very good engines.[9]
In 1871, Wheatley followed these with two 4-4-0s, nos. 224 and 264, which were built at the NBR's Cowlairs locomotive works. These two locomotives formed the 224 Class.[10] A leading bogie was chosen because of the preponderance of sharp curves on the NBR; the bogie wheels were quite small, at 2 ft 9 in (840 mm) diameter, and had solid centres, without spokes.[11] The bogie centre was fixed, as opposed to the Adams type used later by the NBR,[12] and the bogie wheelbase was 6 ft 0 in (1,830 mm).[1] The coupled wheels were 6 ft 6 in (1,980 mm) diameter, and the other principal dimensions were: cylinders 17 in (430 mm) diameter by 24 in (610 mm) stroke; coupled wheelbase 7 ft 7 in (2,310 mm).[1]
No. 224 was the first inside-frame inside-cylinder 4-4-0 to run in Great Britain, and predated the G&SWR 6 Class[4] by some two years, the latter being introduced in July 1873.[13] This layout, the 4-4-0 with inside frames and inside cylinders, became widespread across most of Great Britain, with the Great Western Railway being the only main-line company which did not eventually possess the type.[14] There had been earlier 4-4-0 designs on other railways, but these either had outside cylinders (such as nos. 160 & 161 (built 1860) of the Stockton and Darlington Railway)[15][16] or outside frames (such as the "Whitby Bogies" (1864–65) of the North Eastern Railway).[17][18]
The 224 Class were used on express passenger trains, no. 264 being used both on the Waverley Route between Edinburgh and Carlisle and on the line between Edinburgh and Glasgow. No. 224 was used in Fife, which in the days before the construction of the Forth Bridge, was an isolated part of the NBR system.[10]
The 224 Class were followed in 1873 by the four locomotives of Wheatley's 420 Class, nos. 420–3.[19] These differed from the 224 Class in several respects: the bogie wheels were 3 ft 4 in (1,020 mm) diameter instead of 2 ft 9 in (840 mm); the coupled wheelbase was 7 ft 9 in (2,360 mm) instead of 7 ft 7 in (2,310 mm); the dome was mounted on the boiler barrel instead of the firebox; and the rear wheel splashers were shaped to the wheel instead of being square-topped.[20] They were intended for use on the Waverley route, over which an increase of traffic was anticipated: the Midland Railway (MR) were at the time building their Settle–Carlisle line. This route not yet being open, and the English traffic being entirely in the hands of the London and North Western Railway which worked closely in tandem with the Caledonian Railway, the NBR's main rival, the trains over the Waverley route were comparatively light and well within the capabilities of the 420 Class.[21]
The MR opened the Settle and Carlisle line on 1 May 1876, and a through service using that route between
No. 224 and the Tay Bridge disaster
Until the opening of the Forth Bridge in 1890, passengers from Edinburgh to Dundee would cross the Firth of Forth by a ferry from Granton which connected with trains at Burntisland.[30][5] Further north, the Firth of Tay had been bridged in 1878, and trains could travel through from Burntisland to Dundee and onward to Aberdeen.[31][32]
On 28 December 1879, the regular engine for the 1.30 p.m. mail train from Dundee to Burntisland (no. 89 Ladybank of the
In April 1880, an attempt to recover the locomotive failed when the chains broke. Two days later, a second attempt also failed because the salvage equipment broke after the locomotive had been brought to the surface.[37] One week later, it was recovered, and stood on the bank of the Tay until it was sent to Cowlairs on its own wheels for repairs, after which it was returned to traffic.[10][38] It gained the nickname "The Diver" as a result of its accident and difficult recovery.[9][39]
After this, drivers refused to take no. 224 across the second Tay Bridge (which was built to a new design and opened in 1887[40]). However, on the 29th anniversary of the disaster, 28 December 1908, no. 224 was used on the Sunday evening mail to Dundee via the Tay Bridge.[41]
Rebuilding
Matthew Holmes, locomotive superintendent of the NBR between 1882 and 1903, rebuilt no. 224 as a four-cylinder tandem compound in 1885. In this form, the low-pressure cylinders, which were 20 in (510 mm) diameter, were mounted in the position previously occupied by the original cylinders, above the bogie centre; and the high-pressure cylinders, which were of diameter 13 inches (330 mm), were placed in front of these; the common stroke remained at 24 in (610 mm).[42][43] The engine was given a modified form of Joy valve gear.[42] The boiler pressure was 140 pounds per square inch (970 kPa), and the grate area 16.6 sq ft (1.54 m2).[44] The chief features of the design had been patented (no. 16,967 of 1884) by W.H. Nesbit (or Nisbet), who was a cousin of Holmes.[42][10] Although not entirely successful,[19] it did somewhat better than the only two other British tandem compounds – Great Western Railway nos. 7 & 8, of 1886;[6] although the tandem compound system was more widely used in the USA and Russia.[45] No. 224 was rebuilt back into simple expansion form during 1887.[19]
On the NBR, locomotives were generally rebuilt when their boilers wore out.[46] No. 224 received two new boilers in the course of its life: one was fitted by Drummond, the other by Holmes.[9] Holmes ultimately rebuilt all of the locomotives: other than no. 224, nos. 420/1 were rebuilt in 1887, nos. 422/3 in 1890 and no. 264 in 1893. No. 224 then received its third rebuilding in 1897.[47] In later years, no. 224 was used on secondary and branch line trains.[19]
Final years
Every six months, the NBR renumbered some of its older locomotives into a "duplicate list", in order to vacate numbers for new construction.
The number plate from the tender of no. 224 has been preserved at Selkirk Museum.[50]
Summary
Original number | Class | Built | Rebuilt | Renumbered (year) | Withdrawn |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
224 | 224 | 1871 | 1885, 1887, 1897 | 1192 (1913) | 1919 |
264 | 224 | 1871 | 1893 | 1198 (1913) | 1917 |
420 | 420 | 1873 | 1887 | 1241 (1914) | 1915 |
421 | 420 | 1873 | 1887 | 1242 (1914) | 1918 |
422 | 420 | 1873 | 1890 | 1243 (1914) | 1918 |
423 | 420 | 1873 | 1890 | 1244 (1914) | 1914 |
The locomotives may have been named after 1875 – it has been stated that Drummond, who replaced Wheatley in 1875, named NBR engines "including those already in service".[51]
Notes
- ^ a b c Ahrons 1987, p. 195.
- ^ Highet 1970, pp. 88–90.
- ^ SLS 1970, pp. 66–68.
- ^ a b Boddy et al. 1968, p. 5.
- ^ a b c Rolt & Kichenside 1982, p. 98.
- ^ a b Ahrons 1987, pp. 260, 262.
- ^ a b SLS 1970, p. 62.
- ^ SLS 1970, p. 63.
- ^ a b c Highet 1970, p. 89.
- ^ a b c d e SLS 1970, p. 66.
- ^ Highet 1970, pp. 88–89.
- ^ Highet 1970, p. 94.
- ^ Baxter 1984, p. 147.
- ^ Highet 1970, p. 88.
- ^ Ahrons 1987, p. 149.
- ^ Baxter 1986, pp. 74–75.
- ^ Ahrons 1987, p. 150.
- ^ Baxter 1986, p. 95.
- ^ a b c d e SLS 1970, p. 67.
- ^ SLS 1970, pp. 66, 67, 68.
- ^ SLS 1970, pp. 67–68.
- ^ Ellis 1961, p. 64.
- ^ Ellis 1959, p. 79.
- ^ a b Highet 1970, p. 93.
- ^ a b SLS 1970, p. 68.
- ^ Gradient Profiles 2003, Sc12.
- ^ Chacksfield 2005, p. 27.
- ^ Boddy et al. 1968, pp. 13, 16.
- ^ Haresnape & Rowledge 1982, p. 22.
- ^ Thomas & Turnock 1989, pp. 69, 75.
- ^ Rolt & Kichenside 1982, p. 97.
- ^ Thomas & Turnock 1989, p. 131.
- ^ Prebble 1959, p. 100.
- ^ Yolland & Barlow 1880, p. 9.
- ^ Prebble 1959, p. 108.
- ^ Rolt & Kichenside 1982, p. 101.
- ^ Rolt & Kichenside 1982, pp. 101–2.
- ^ Prebble 1959, p. 164.
- ^ Prebble 1959, p. 188.
- ^ Thomas & Turnock 1989, p. 135.
- ^ Rolt & Kichenside 1982, p. 102.
- ^ a b c Ahrons 1987, p. 260.
- ^ Pearce-Carr 2007, p. 85.
- ^ van Riemsdijk 1994, p. 132.
- ^ van Riemsdijk 1994, p. 41.
- ^ Boddy et al. 1968, p. 8.
- ^ a b SLS 1970, pp. 67, 68.
- ^ Boddy et al. 1963, p. 28.
- ^ Boddy et al. 1968, pp. 4–5.
- ^ Boddy et al. 1988, p. 82.
- ^ Haresnape & Rowledge 1982, p. 15.
- ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
References
- ISBN 1-85170-103-6.
- Baxter, Bertram (1984). Baxter, David (ed.). British Locomotive Catalogue 1825-1923, volume 4: Scottish and remaining English Companies in the LMS Group. Ashbourne: Moorland Publishing.
- Baxter, Bertram (1986). Baxter, David (ed.). British Locomotive Catalogue 1825-1923, volume 5A: North Eastern Railway; Hull and Barnsley Railway. Ashbourne: Moorland Publishing. ISBN 0-903485-54-0.
- Boddy, M.G.; Fry, E. V.; Hennigan, W.; Proud, P.; Yeadon, W.B. (July 1963). Fry, E. V. (ed.). Locomotives of the L.N.E.R., part 1: Preliminary Survey. Potters Bar: RCTS.
- Boddy, M.G.; Brown, W. A.; Fry, E. V.; Hennigan, W.; Manners, F.; Neve, E.; Tee, D. F.; ISBN 0-901115-01-0.
- Boddy, M.G.; Fry, E. V.; Hennigan, W.; ISBN 0-901115-65-7.
- Chacksfield, John E. (2005). The Drummond Brothers: A Scottish Duo. The Oakwood Library of Railway History. Usk: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-632-9. OL133.
- Ellis, Cuthbert Hamilton (September 1959) [1955]. The North British Railway (2nd ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. 813/284/15 959.
- Ellis, Cuthbert Hamilton (1961) [1953]. The Midland Railway (4th ed.). Hampton Court: Ian Allan Publishing. 940/554/125 1059.
- BR Main Line Gradient Profiles: The Age of Steam. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. January 2003 [1966]. ISBN 0-7110-0875-2. 0301/A.
- Haresnape, Brian; Rowledge, Peter (October 1982). Drummond Locomotives: A Pictorial History. Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 0-7110-1206-7. DX/1082.
- Highet, Campbell (1970). Scottish Locomotive History 1831-1923. London: George Allen & Unwin. ISBN 0-04-625004-2.
- Pearce-Carr, Tom (2007). Compound Locomotives of the British Isles. Reading: Finial Publishing. ISBN 978-1-900467-37-7.
- ISBN 0-330-02162-1.
- ISBN 0-7153-8362-0.
- Locomotives of the North British Railway 1846-1882. Stephenson Locomotive Society. 1970.
- Thomas, John; Turnock, David (1989). ISBN 0-946537-03-8.
- van Riemsdijk, John T. (1994). Compound Locomotives: An International Survey. Penryn: Atlantic Books. ISBN 0-906899-61-3.
- Yolland, W.; Barlow, W.H. (30 June 1880). "Report of the Court of Inquiry upon the Circumstances attending the Fall of a Portion of the Tay Bridge on the 28th December 1879" (PDF). London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
Further reading
- Baxter, Bertram (2012). Baxter, David; Mitchell, Peter (eds.). British Locomotive Catalogue 1825-1923, volume 6: Great Eastern Railway; North British Railway; Great North of Scotland Railway; Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway; Remaining Companies in the LNER Group. Southampton: Kestrel Railway Books. p. 166. ISBN 978-1-905505-26-5.
- Everard, Stirling (1943). "Cowlairs commentary". Locomotive, Railway Carriage & Wagon Review. 49: 60–2.
- Middlemass, Thomas (1994). The Scottish 4-4-0. Penryn: Atlantic.
- Thomas, John (1969). The North British Railway, vol. 1. Newton Abbot: David & Charles.
- Thomas, John (1975). The North British Railway, vol. 2. Newton Abbot: David & Charles.