Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Scottish Steam: A Celebration
Scottish Steam: A Celebration
Scottish Steam: A Celebration
Ebook715 pages4 hours

Scottish Steam: A Celebration

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

Scotland is renowned worldwide for its engineering prowess, which of course included locomotive building. This lavishly illustrated and detailed publication celebrates standard gauge steam locomotive building North of the Border. Focussing not only on the achievements of the major companies, North British Locomotive Co Ltd, Neilson & Co Ltd, Neilson Reid & Co Ltd, William Bearmore Ltd, Sharp Stewart & Co Ltd,and Andrew Barclay, Sons & Co Ltd it also highlights the contribution made by several of the smaller, but nevertheless significant locomotive builders. Details of the output of the several railway company locomotive building works are also included. All of the Scottish built locomotive classes which came into British Railway's ownership are featured ,and a large majority of the carefully selected images are published for the first time. Scottish Steam celebrates the significant contribution made by Scottish railway engineering workshops to steam locomotive development.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateAug 13, 2014
ISBN9781473838727
Scottish Steam: A Celebration
Author

Keith Langston

Cheshire based Keith Langston is a widely published and highly respected photo journalist specializing in railway and other transport related subjects. His interest and vast knowledge of all things railway stem from being brought up in the North West of England as part of a railway family. For more than 25 years he has operated as a contributor to heritage sector journals whilst establishing himself as an accomplished author in his own right.

Read more from Keith Langston

Related to Scottish Steam

Related ebooks

Technology & Engineering For You

View More

Related articles

Related categories

Reviews for Scottish Steam

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    Scottish Steam - Keith Langston

    Chapter 1

    INTRODUCTION

    Scotland occupies approximately a third of the land area of Britain of which a huge percentage is upland in nature, and decidedly rural. The railway age was responsible for greatly improving transport links, not just throughout the country but with its immediate neighbour England. Communities in the more remote mainland parts of the Highlands were, after the coming of steam railways, able to travel at will to the countries urban conurbations, and beyond. No more did they need to risk life and limb crossing bleak and often inhospitable terrain on foot or horseback. Furthermore, the railway metals became the arteries which brought the life blood of commerce to the whole of the country.

    Scotland’s engineering prowess is unquestionably world famous. Nations marvelled at the vessels once built by the honest sweat and toil of Scottish artisans. By tradition Glaswegian workers built magnificent ships and fitted them with precision built engines, which allowed them to ply the oceans of the world. The ships were powered at first by steam and then by internal combustion. Unfortunately the once vibrant shipyards of the Clyde are now in decline.

    This 2009 image of a preserved Stanier ‘Black Five’ storming along the Highland Line serves to illustrate the rugged beauty of the upland terrain through which that railway passes. David Gibson

    Ex-North British Railway (NBR) Cowlairs built ‘K’ class (LNER D34) St Margaret’s allocated ‘Glen’ 4-4-0 BR No 62484 GLEN LYON is seen at Longniddry with a Dunbar–Edinburgh Waverley service in May 1950. Rail Photoprints Collection

    The story of Scotland’s pioneer railway builders is a fascinating one in its own right, but what of the steam locomotives which hauled those trains? Early Scottish locomotive builders responded to a need for powered traction to help exploit efficiently, and distribute economically, the products of the coal, mineral and steel industries.

    Fortunately, for the world in general and Great Britain in particular, those early steam locomotive builders developed their skills to such an extent over the decades that Scotland became a major centre for the manufacture of steam railway locomotives. Interestingly one Glasgow based locomotive builder was also a licensed manufacturer of the WWI ‘Sopworth Pup’ bi-planes and furthermore that self same company supplied the engines for the ill fated airship ‘R101’. Another is said to have built in the region of 4,500 steam locomotives before becoming part of a record breaking ‘combine’ in 1903.

    Exports of locomotives through such ports as Glasgow and Leith created enormous wealth for the country and their manufacture provided thousands of Scottish workers with jobs, over many years. The export story of the famous North British Locomotive Company (NBL) is well known, and something of which Scotland can be rightly proud. Even in modern times Glasgow built locomotives are still at work in various corners of the world!

    Scottish builders also supplied large numbers of what became known as the ‘Kilmarnock’ type industrial locomotives and over 100 Andrew Barclay Sons & Co built engines survive in the 21st century, still working on the preserved railways of the UK, perchance the famous ‘Caledonia Works’ makers plate is as recognisable today as it was during the peak of the firm’s locomotive building activities.

    In order to keep what is a very complex and wide ranging subject within a manageable time scale this book mainly focuses on the Scottish built standard gauge locomotives which came into the ownership of British Railways on 1 January 1948. In order to complement that account details of important earlier locomotive types and the railways which operated them are also included.

    Working hard climbing away from the main line, ex-North British Railway (NBR) Reid designed ‘J35/4’ class 3F 0-6-0 No 64489 (NBR No 202, LNER Nos 4489 and 9202) was pictured whilst heading a special train along the Haddington Branch Line in June 1960. The Haddington Branch Line in East Lothian was a 4.8 mile (7.7 km) branch line extending from the East Coast Main Line at Longniddry and terminating at Haddington. The line was in mixed traffic use from June 1846 until December 1949 and thereafter mainly used as a freight only branch until it’s closure in March 1968.

    Steam haulage over the Anglo–Scottish east and west coast routes always attracted the attention of steam railway photographers, and this celebration recognises that fact. For those ‘of an age’ this publication provides nostalgic memories, and for those born later perchance a timely reminder of Scotland’s fantastic steam railway history.

    An impressive statistic worthy of note is that the newly created British Railways took into stock just over 20,000 working steam locomotives in 1948 and of those almost 4,500 (a fifth of the total) were built in Scotland!

    Gresley’s experimental ‘W1’ LNER No 10000 was known as the ‘Hush Hush’ due to the secrecy which surrounded its creation. The 4-6-4 was completed at Doncaster Works in 1929 and the locomotive’s high pressure boiler was designed and built for the LNER in Glasgow by shipbuilders and boiler makers Yarrow & Company. The locomotive had a corridor tender and accordingly ran non-stop London-Edinburgh services during 1930. The ‘Hush Hush’ is pictured new out of the works in 1929.

    In the year 2013 a group of preservationists announced their intention build a new Gresley ‘P2’ 2-8-2 locomotive. ‘P2’ No 2002 EARL MARISCHAL is pictured being turned circa 1935, the location is Aberdeen Ferryhill depot. The P2s were fitted with tablet exchange apparatus for use on the single line section between Usan and Montrose South, that included the single track viaduct over the Montrose Esk Basin. The tablet exchanger operated through an elliptical hole cut in the cab end of the left hand tender side sheet. Locos Nos 2001 and 2002 were fitted with the tablet exchange apparatus before they entered regular service. The other P2s were fitted when new. Both superb images are a part of the Rail Photoprints Collection

    Part I

    THE LOCOMOTIVE BUILDERS

    Perhaps the most famous locomotive ever built in Glasgow. Neilson & Co built the Dugald Drummond designed 4-2-2 Caledonian Railway (CR) No 123 in 1886. The locomotive, which was exhibited at the Edinburgh Exhibition in 1886, became the last ‘Single Wheeler’ to run on a British railway, being finally withdrawn for preservation in 1965. The engine is seen heading east along the side of the River Tay, near Kinfauns (between Perth and Dundee) with a special train comprising of two restored CR coaches in the summer of 1958. David Anderson

    Chapter 2

    NEILSON & COMPANY – NEILSON, REID & CO LTD

    Also Kerr, Mitchell & Neilson – Kerr, Neilson & Company

    The steam engineers Neilson & Company was initially formed in 1836/37 at McAlpine Street, Glasgow by William Neilson and James Mitchell. Mainly financed by James Beaumont Neilson the company began by producing stationary and marine engines.

    In 1837 the firm moved to new premises in Hyde Park Street, Glasgow and shortly afterwards Walter Montgomerie Neilson, the son of the financier joined the firm in order to complete an apprenticeship in steam engineering. Associates/employees at that time included two engineers who would later become famous in their own rights namely Patrick Stirling and Henry Dübs.

    At that time a new partnership was formed between James B. Neilson, James Mitchell and Stewart Kerr. The partnership, known and operating as, Kerr, Mitchell & Neilson at Hyde Park Foundry was dissolved in 1840 and James B. Neilson and Stewart Kerr formed Kerr, Neilson & Company which also operated from a works on Hyde Park Street. That company of engineers, boiler makers, iron boat builders, smiths and founders operated at a loss and in 1843 the partnership was dissolved reportedly leaving James B. Neilson to pay its debts.

    Walter M. Neilson wanted to develop a steam locomotive building business in order to supply Scottish railways with Scottish built engines. By 1843 locomotive construction had got under way and the company built an initial batch of 0-4-0 configured locomotives. James Mitchell returned to the firm in order to look after the financial side of the enterprise and once more the partnership became known as Neilson & Mitchell.

    The partnership of Walter Neilson and James Mitchell, engineers and founders, of Hyde Park, Finnieston and City Road, London was dissolved in 1847, the business then passed into the control of Walter M. Neilson and thereafter it operated under the name of Neilson and Co. In addition to locomotive construction the firm also manufactured the stationary engines which were used on the Cowlairs Incline, then operated by the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway.

    The firm ceased manufacturing stationary and marine engines in 1855 in order to concentrate solely on steam locomotive building. The company had developed several designs of locomotive and was known to have supplied four coupled tank engines together with 2-4-0 and 0-4-2 tender engines to amongst others the Edinburgh & Carlisle Railway and the Caledonian Railway, they also exported some to India.

    Engineer James Reid had been employed as works manager by Neilson & Co but in 1858 he was replaced in that post by Henry Dübs who was at the time judged to have far more experience of locomotive design and construction. As a part of his joining package Henry Dübs was given a partnership in the firm, as for James Reid he moved to Manchester in order to take up a post with Sharp, Stewart & Company. However, the move south of the border did not herald an end to Reid’s career with Neilson & Co; more simply the prelude to a six year break.

    The order book was full circa 1861 and the work load had increased to such an extent that new workshops were needed. Accordingly the company moved from Hyde Park Street to the Springburn area of Glasgow and the new premises there were also named Hyde Park Works. Although the firm had concentrated on railway locomotive manufacture since 1855 other products were occasionally built, for example in 1862 Walter M. Neilson exhibited a radial steam hammer at the 1862 London Exhibition, albeit under his own name.

    Neilson & Co works plate dating from 1897. Keith Langston

    In 1864 it was all change again at Neilson & Co as Henry Dübs decided to seek pastures new and left to set up his own business based at a Polmadie, Glasgow premises to be known as Queen’s Park Works. When doing so he reportedly took several key members of Neilson’s staff with him. That change no doubt precipitated the move back to Scotland of James Reid (from Sharp, Stewart & Company) who was also made a partner in the firm, presumably Reid was then sufficiently experienced in locomotive design and construction!

    In addition to locomotive building the firm built two Woolf Compound Beam Engines for the Leicester Waterworks (Cropston pumping station). Throughout the 1870s a large number of 0-4-4T locomotives were built for the London, Chatham & Dover Railway, the Midland Railway and the Great Eastern Railway. Other types of engines were built for both the home and export market including a batch of 50 0-4-4T engines for India, and in fact in 1872 the firm also built its first eight coupled locomotives which were also exported to the Indian sub-continent. Change again in 1876 when James Reid, the locomotive engineer and designer who Neilson once sacked became the firm’s sole proprietor!

    The first locomotives of a 2-6-0 configuration (Mogul) ever to run on British rails were designed by William Adams for the Great Eastern Railway; they were built by Neilson & Co in 1879. The year of 1884 was another one of change, in that the firm’s founder Walter M. Neilson left the company and set up the Clyde Locomotive Works thus leaving the proprietor Reid in overall charge.

    In 1886 the company built the locomotive which is arguably their most famous, the 4-2-2 ‘Single Wheeler’ No 123 for the Caledonian Railway (CR), which was the inspiration of the celebrated locomotive engineer Dugald Drummond. The loco was sent to the 1896 Edinburgh Exhibition where it was awarded a Gold Medal. During the locomotive trials from London to Scotland on the 8th of August, 1888, No 123 ran between Carlisle and Edinburgh, a distance of 100 miles in 102 minutes, almost ‘even timing’.

    The company continued to produce locomotives for home and abroad and in 1898 its name was changed to Neilson, Reid & Company Ltd. By 1900 the by then established and worldwide known company had produced an estimated 5,394 steam locomotives including industrial types. At that time they employed in the region of 3,500 workers who were capable of producing 300 locomotives per year.

    By 1903 intense competition from American locomotive builders meant that the smaller companies were unable to compete in the rapidly growing world market. There was a recognised need for amalgamation in order to succeed in the competitive market place. Neilson, Reid & Co Ltd joined ‘The Combine’ and with two other established locomotive builders formed the North British Locomotive Co Ltd.

    Neilson & Co built preserved Ex-CR 4-2-2 No 123 is seen at Haymarket in June 1963, prior to working a special trip over minor lines in the area. The elegant ‘Single Wheeler’ is perhaps the most well known Neilson locomotive. David Anderson

    Neilson & Co built locomotive classes included in British Railway listings

    LSWR ‘A12’ 0-4-2 1MT, also known as ‘04’

    William Adams designed the ‘A12’ class 0-4-2 locomotives for the London & South Western Railway (LSWR) and they were introduced into traffic between 1887 and 1895. In Scotland the Glasgow & South Western Railway operated tender type engines in the 0-4-2 configuration whilst south of the border the largest user of the type was the LSWR. The ‘A12’ engines were known as Adams ‘Jubilee’ class as the first batch appeared in the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria’s reign. Originally 90 of the class were built, 50 at the railway’s Nine Elms Works and 40 by Neilson & Co Ltd.

    The Neilson built batch carried the LSWR numbers 607–646. They were used extensively on all parts of that railway’s network and were reputed to have a good turn of speed. The railway began withdrawing the class in 1928 and only 4 examples (all Neilson built) survived nationalisation (1948) they were allocated the BR numbers 30618, 30627, 30629 and 30636, they were the last locomotives with the 0-4-2 wheel arrangement to run on BR metals. However, BR withdrew the locomotives without ever re-numbering them and they were cut up in 1948/49.

    Another Neilson engine, SR No 612 was withdrawn in 1946 and it became a departmental locomotive at Eastleigh Works renumbered DS319. It was used to supply steam when Bulleid Pacific boilers were being tested after welding repairs. That loco was finally withdrawn for scrap in 1951.

    A handsome looking Adams designed ‘A12’ (04) class 0-4-2 No 632 built by Neilson & Co in 1893 for the LSWR, seen at Waterloo station, circa 1926. Rail Photoprints Collection

    LSWR ‘0395’ 0-6-0 1F

    This William Adams designed class was introduced by the LSWR between 1881 and 1886 and there were originally 70 engines in the class, all of which were built by Neilson & Co Ltd. The class evolved into four variants and also included one batch of engines to which the SR attached larger 6-wheel tenders.

    In 1916 a batch of 50 ‘0395’ class engines were sold to the government and sent to work in the Middle East during the First World War, specifically in Palestine and Mesopotamia. The locomotives were never returned to the UK and several were lost at sea when the steamship Arabic was torpedoed.

    The class were included in an LSWR mixed number system with a none consecutive sequence, and the NR examples were Nos 029, 69, 101, 154–155, 163, 167, 397, 400, 433, 436, 439–442, 496, 506 and 509.

    Two more of the class were withdrawn by the SR leaving a total of 18 Neilson built engines to come into BR stock, those locomotives were numbered in the series 30564–30581. Withdrawals commenced in 1950 and none of the class survived beyond the end of 1959.

    Driving wheel diameter 5’ 1", 2-cylinder engine (inside)

    Neilson & Co built LSWR ‘0395’ class 0-6-0 BR No 30566 seen in Eastleigh shed yard, April 1956. This loco was delivered in December 1885 as LSWR No 101 (later re-numbered 0101and then 3101) withdrawn by BR in February 1959. Hugh Ballantyne/Rail Photoprints Collection

    Neilson built Adams LSWR ‘0395’ class 0-6-0 BR No 30565 in the first form of BR branding is seen at Eastleigh in July 1953, some five months after the engine had officially been withdrawn by BR. This loco was delivered in November 1885 as LSWR No 69. Mike Morant Collection

    Neilson & Co built Adams LSWR ‘0395’ class 0-6-0 BR No 30577 is seen at Waterloo station in charge of a Railway Correspondence & Travel Society (RCTS) special train in November 1952. The occasion was a Bisley Tramway & North West Surrey Rail Tour in conjunction with ‘M7’ class 0-4-4T No 30027. The Neilson loco hauled the first and last legs of the trip Waterloo – Brookwood – Waterloo, the outward leg via Wimbledon and the inward leg via Twickenham. No 30577 was delivered to the LSWR in May 1883 as No 441 and withdrawn by BR in February 1956. Mike Morant Collection

    LSWR ‘0415’ 4-4-2T 1P (Adams Radial*)

    This class of 71 engines, specifically intended for passenger work, were designed for the LSWR by William Adams and built between 1882 and 1885, 28 locomotives were built by Robert Stephenson & Co, 12 by Beyer, Peacock & Co Ltd and 31 were built north of the border. Neilson & Co produced a batch of 11 in 1885 with Dübs & Co building a further 20 of the class. The Neilson & Co built examples carried LSWR numbers 479–489, after grouping the SR added an ‘0’ prefix to the numbers.

    The SR began withdrawing the class in 1916 as suburban route electrification became operational and by 1928 only two remained in SR ownership and they were used for working the Lyme Regis Branch. In 1917 Neilson engine No 0488 was sold out of service to the Ministry of Munitions and two years later was bought by the private East Kent Railway becoming their loco No 5. In 1946 the SR bought back the EKR Radial Tank renumbered it 3488 and added it to the Lyme Regis Branch loco pool. In 1948 BR took into stock those 3 remaining 4-4-2T locomotives allocating them the numbers 30582 (Robert Stephenson & Co loco) 30583 (Neilson & Co loco) and 30584 (Dübs & Co loco). They were withdrawn in July 1961 with No 30583 being selected for preservation and bought by the Bluebell Railway.

    See also LSWR ‘0415’ 4-4-2T 1P (Adams Radial) locomotives built by Dübs & Co.

    Driving wheel diameter 5’ 7", 2-cylinder engine (outside)

    Preserved LSWR ‘0415’ class 4-4-2T 1P is seen at the loco’s Bluebell Railway home base as No 488 (became BR 30583). Mike Stokes Collection

    SECR ‘1302’ 0-4-0CT 0F

    In 1881 Neilson & Co built a crane tank specifically to work at Folkestone harbour to the design of James Stirling for the London, Chatham & Dover Railway. In 1905 it was transferred to the Ashford Locomotive Works of the South Eastern Railway Company and in 1925 the crane tank moved again in order to work at Lancing Carriage Works and was then numbered 2348. In 1938 the loco was fitted with an enclosed cab and re-numbered as 1302 moving to milk dock shunting duty at Stewarts Lane depot, with the crane jib out of use. The engine came into BR stock and was allocated the SR number 31302 and withdrawn by BR Southern Region in July 1949.

    Driving wheel diameter 3’ 3", 2-cylinder engine (inside)

    Neilson & Co built SECR ‘1302’ 0-4-0CT 0F in Southern Railway (SR) livery, the location is in all probability Stewarts Lane depot (BR 73A) circa 1939, note the enclosed cab. Mike Morant Collection

    LBSCR ‘D1’ 0-4-2T 1P (‘D1M’)

    The London Brighton & South Coast Railway (LBSCR) William Stroudley designed 0-4-2T ‘D1’ class was considered to be one of that railway’s finest design and in total 125 of the engines were built between 1873 and 1887. Brighton Works constructed 90 of the class and Neilson & Co Ltd built a further 35. Some of the class originally carried the names of LBSCR locations. They were intended for passenger and general use on the railway’s London suburban and branch line routes. The locomotives of this class designated ‘D1M’ were motor fitted for ‘push-pull’ working.

    Over time scrapping had continued with the result that only 10 engines became BR stock but were however, withdrawn almost immediately. Of those 6 were Neilson & Co built, and their allocated BR numbers were 32234, 32235, 32239, 32252, 32253 and 32259 (for LBSCR numbers discount the 32 prefix). During part of the Second World War period three of these engines worked away from their home shed having been sent to Scotland, No (3)2605 to Ayr, No (3)2699 to Wick and No (3)2358 to Inverness, all three were Brighton built engines.

    Driving wheel diameter 5’ 6", 2-cylinder engine (inside)

    Neilson & Co built LBSCR ‘D1’ class 0-4-2T SR No 2253 (LBSCR No 253) delivered in March 1882 was allocated the BR No 32253 but was scrapped in September 1949 without ever carrying that number, the loco is seen at Brighton depot (BR 75A). This member of the class was one of several which were converted for fire fighting during the Second World War. Those engines had a steam pump fitted over the rear buffer beam and that equipment was capable of throwing four powerful jets of water. In keeping with other members of the class No 2253 was motor fitted for ‘push pull’ working and as such was designated ‘D1/M’. Mike Morant Collection

    MR Johnson/Fowler 4-4-0 ‘2P’

    The Midland Railway (MR) first introduced this Samuel Waite Johnson designed 4-4-0 class of 2-cylinder (inside) locomotives between 1882 and 1901. In total some 265 of the class were built for the MR and additionally 40 for the Midland & Great Northern Railway (M&GNR). Over the years a great deal of modification and re-building took place to the instructions of MR engineers Richard Deeley and Henry Fowler. Notable modifications included differing driving wheel diameters, Stephenson slide valves (in place of Stephenson piston valves), superheating, Belpaire fireboxes and extended smokeboxes.

    Derby Works built the majority of the class with other locomotives being supplied by contractors Sharp, Stewart & Co Ltd, Beyer, Peacock &

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1