Highland Railway Drummond 0-4-4T Class

The Highland Railway W class were four small 0-4-4T locomotives built by the Highland Railway in 1905–1906 to the design of locomotive superintendent Peter Drummond. They were the last engines that were built at the company's Lochgorm works in Inverness, and were used on branch line services.

Predecessor

Dunrobin was an 0-4-4T built in 1895 by Sharp, Stewart & Co. for the 4th Duke of Sutherland.^[1] The 3rd Duke of Sutherland had a private station built as a condition of financing the 17½ mile (28 km) extension of the railway from Golspie to Helmsdale, which opened in 1871. A further condition was that he should have running rights for a locomotive between Dunrobin Castle and Inverness. The original Dunrobin was a 2-4-0T built by Kitson & Co., Leeds for the 3rd Duke of Sutherland. It was replaced in 1895 by a new locomotive built for the 4th Duke of Sutherland. Two railway carriages were constructed, which Dunrobin hauled to Inverness and were then attached to Highland Railway trains to convey the Duke to his destination. The carriages were a bogie saloon and a four-wheel saloon. ^[2]

In 1949, British Railways, Scottish Region revoked the Duke's running powers. He then sold the locomotive and coaches. The bogie saloon is now part of the National Railway Museum's collection. As of January 2011 it is under the care of the Scottish Railway Preservation Society at the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway. Dunrobin and the four-wheel saloon were sold to Captain Howey and initially preserved as static exhibits at New Romney on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Kent. Following Howey's death in 1963, the locomotive and carriage were sold to Harold Foster, who had them transported to Canada. Foster was declared bankrupt in 1965,^[2] and the locomotive and carriage were bought for $15,000 by the Government of British Columbia. They became exhibits at Fort Steele heritage village, where Dunrobin was steamed occasionally. It was last steamed at Fort Steele in 2005.^[3] In 2010, both were declared surplus to requirements.^[2]

It was announced in January 2011 that they had been bought by Beamish Museum, which intends to restore Dunrobin to working order. Completion in 2013 has been stated as an aim.^[2] The locomotive and carriage arrived back in the United Kingdom on 16 May. Dunrobin was taken to Bridgnorth on the Severn Valley Railway, where it will be dismantled and the feasibility of restoration to working order assessed. The carriage was taken to Beamish.^[3] The W class were near-clones of Dunrobin.^[4]

Numbers / Names

Service

All four locomotives passed to the LMS in 1923, where they were numbered 15051–15054 and given power classification '0P'. Locomotive 15052 was withdrawn in 1930, and 15054 followed in the 1940s, but the other two survived to become British Railways 55051 and 55053. These spent their final years based at Helmsdale for working the Dornoch Light Railway, which required locomotives with exceptionally light axle loadings. By the time they were finally withdrawn (in 1956 and 1957 respectively) they were the last former Highland Railway locomotives still in use, and were still in almost original condition.

In order to replace these locomotives, British Railways transferred two GWR 1600 Class 0-6-0PT locomotives (numbers 1646 and 1649) to Helmsdale to work the Dornoch line.

References

• Vallance, H. A. (1938), The Highland Railway
• Longworth, Hugh (2005), British Railways Steam Locomotives 1948-1968
• Haresnape, Brian; Peter Rowledge (1982). Drummond Locomotives, a pictorial history. Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allen Limited. pp. 103, 112, 127. ISBN 0711012067.