Highland Railway Classes prior to 1870
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Contents |
[edit] Initial Designs
The locomotives supplied initially were classic Allan designs, small 2-2-2s and 2-4-0s, outside cylindered and with external framing and (initially at least) not even a weatherboard to protect the enginemen. Not much more has been recorded about them, but photographs show that Stroudley quickly decided that a cab was essential to protect from winter weather.
The resulting appearance did not change much during David Jones incumbency.
As far as is known none survived as late as the grouping, but the 2-4-0s were still active during the winter of 1880-81 when they were coupled in twos or threes (or occasionally five) to drive snowploughs on the lines north of Inverness.
Not much detail of those old designs survives.
Four 2-2-2s were supplied between 1855 and 1857.
- Cylinders: 15 by 20 in (381 by 508 mm)
- Driving wheel diameter: 6 ft 0 in (1.8 m)
- Boiler pressure: 100 lbf/in² (690 kPa) original, 120 lbf/in² (830 kPa) later
They were :
1 Raigmore
2 Aldourie
3 St Martins
4 Ardross
A batch of 2-4-0s with 16 inch bore x 22 inch stroke cylinders and 5 foot 0 inch driving wheels were supplied between 1858 and 1862. Boiler pressure was originally 100 lb/square inch, later increased to 120 lb/square inch.
5 Seafield
6 Bruce
7 Fife
8 Altyre
9 Aultnaskiah
10 Westhall
11 Stafford
14 Loch
15 Sutherland
The name Bruce is commonly used for Highland Railway locomotives (five bore it all told), and contrary to common opinion it is not in memory of King Robert the Bruce but of the Hon C T Bruce who was Chairman of the company from 1885 to 1891 (and had earlier been Chairman of the Inverness and Perth Junction Railway).
A pair of 2-2-2s with 16 inch x 20 inch cylinders was supplied in 1862. Driving wheels 6 foot 0 inches, boiler pressure was originally 100 lb/square inch, later increased to 120 lb/square inch.
12 Belladrum 13 Lovat
Four 2-4-0s were supplied in 1863 with 17 inch x 22 inch cylinders, 150 lb/square inch boilers and 5 foot 0 inch driving wheels.
18 Inverness 19 Dingwall 20 Birnam 21 Forres
A batch of six identical engines seems to have come from a different builder later the same year
22 Aviemore 23 Murthly 24 Invergordon 25 Novar 26 Beauly 27 Conon
The next year, ten more with the stroke increased to 24 inches but otherwise identical.
36 Nairn 37 Struan 38 Kincraig 39 Aviemore 40 Keith 41 Kingussie 42 Lentran 43 Dava 44 Brodie 45 Dalcross
Three batches of 2-2-2s were supplied in 1863/64. They all had 120 lb/square inch boilers and cylinders with a 22 inch stroke. Driving wheels were probably 6 foot 0 inches.
Two were built in 1863 with 17 inch bore cylinders
28 Glenbarry 29 Highlander
Six more were built in 1863 with 16.5 inch bore cylinders. They were all converted to 17 inch bore at an unspecified later date.
30 Prince 31 Princess 32 Sutherland 33 Atholl 34 Seafield 35 Kingsmills
A batch of ten was built by Neilson in 1864. They had 17 inch bore cylinders.
46 Clachnacuddin 47 Bruce 48 Cadboll 49 Belladrum 50 Aultnaskiah 51 Caithness 52 Dunphail 53 Stafford 54 Macduff 55 Cluny
Part of the reason for multiple engines having the same name appears to have been that names were kept to an appropriate part of the line. If an engine got moved then the name was moved to another.
Stroudley is recorded as having authorised the building of just one locomotive - an 0-6-0 shunting tank with 3 foot 7 inch wheels and 14 inch by 20 inch cylinders. Boiler pressure is unknown, but the boiler is believed to have come from No 3.
Stroudley also rebuilt No 1 as a 2-4-0.
There were also two 0-4-0 tanks, the duties of these are uncertain and there are no known details. They were presumeably numbered 16 and 17.
[edit] Rebuilds
With increased traffic, especially over the Perth line, heavier locomotives were needed, but the company was short of money. Jones responded by following Stroudley's lead and converted No 29 to a 2-4-0 in 1871, and No 28 was treated the same way in 1872.
Over the next 9 years he then converted all 10 of the Neilson built 17 inch 2-2-2s of 1864 (Nos 46 to 55).
In 1873 Jones rebuilt one of these (No 10) to the 4-4-0 arrangement as a result of flange wear problems on the Skye line. He used the Adams bogie arrangement and replaced the cylinders with new ones of 17 inch bore and 24 inch stroke. This engine was effectively the prototype for the F Class built from 1874 onwards.
In 1875 another 2-4-0 (No 7) was converted to 4-4-0. This seems to have been a trial for new features adopted for the Skye bogies.
[edit] Survival
By 1892 only 4 of the 2-2-2s were still in traffic, along with 15 that had been rebuilt as 2-4-0s.
Of the locomotives originally built as 2-4-0s, 24 were still in traffic, along with Nos 7 and 10 in their 4-4-0 guise.
The 0-4-0 tanks seem to have disappeared, but a 2-2-2 tank had appeared from somewhere.
All designs prior to 1874 had vanished by 1914.
[edit] Classic Features
Features that arrived during the 1860s and stayed until the Peter Drummond days were the louvred chimneys and counter-pressure brake.
The chimney was really a pair of concentric ones. It is usually considered to have been adopted to aid forward visibility for the driver (a rather different pattern of smoke deflector), but there is some evidence that the real reason was to reduce the chance of lineside fires (rather like the prominent 'stacks' of early USA designs).
