Steam at Work

Preserved Industrial Locomotives

Fred Kerr

• Publisher: Pen & Sword Transport
• Year: 2017
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Print ISBN:
  9781473896574
• Subtopic: North American History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781473896598
• Index: Technology & Engineering

The author, Fred Kerr, was introduced to the world of industrial railways in 1956 when his parents moved from Edinburgh to Corby in Northamptonshire, where the local steelworks offered a mix of locomotives from several manufacturers. When steam traction finished on BR in August 1968, Fred's interest in railways continued with diesel and electric traction, whilst retaining a passing interest in industrial locomotives through his visits to the heritage lines which were initiated in the post-Beeching era.When the author converted to digital photography in 2001, he visited many heritage lines as he sought to gain experience in the digital world. When he looked back after a decade of digital photography, he noted that industrial locomotives were still at work on many heritage lines throughout the UK. He also noted that during the 1960s the effort to preserve mainline steam traction had overlooked the availability of industrial locomotives, leading to the scrapping of many locomotives with both a story to tell and an incomplete working life.The result is a book that pays tribute to industrial locomotives which are still at work by detailing the manufacturers of these workhorses and the locomotives which they built; identifying their working lives where possible; showing their entry into preservation and paying tribute to those heritage lines which appreciated the value of these unsung heroes of the Industrial Revolution by buying the 'scrap' locomotives then restoring them to working order.

HE: Hunslet Engine Company

Date Established

1864

Location

Hunslet, Leeds

History

The firm was founded in 1864 by John Towlerton Leather, a contractor who thought there was sufficient trade available despite the presence of 3 other locomotive builders (Hudswell Clarke, Kitson and Manning Wardle) in the vicinity of the new company. Despite the ‘competition’ there was much co-operation between the 4 companies and the venture proved successful including taking over the goodwill and designs of many small manufacturers during the 20th century as trade declined. This included such luminaries as Andrew Barclay Sons & Company; Avonside Engine Company; North British Locomotive Company; Greenwood & Batley; Hudswell Clarke and Company; John Fowler and Company; Kerr Stuart and Company.

In 2004 the company became part of the LH Group which, itself, was bought by the (USA-based) Wabtec Group and the Hunslet name disappeared from commercial operations although as at 2016 its activities continue at Doncaster, Kilmarnock and Loughborough.

1: Austerity Locomotives

The company became most famous during the 1940s when it produced a design for the War Department that subsequently became known as the Austerity’ class which, after the war had ended, became a popular locomotive for the major industrial operators such as coal mines and power generating stations.

The origins of the design lay in the 8 Class 50550 0-6-0ST locomotives (HE241118) ordered by Stewarts & Lloyds for a proposed new ironstone quarry at Islip in Northamptonshire, after which Hunslet suggested that the Ministry of Supply buy an improved 50550 design for use by the War Department, rather than requisition the LMS ‘Jinty’ 3F 0-6-0 locomotives then being considered.

The Ministry of Supply agreed and the resulting Class 50555 0-6-0ST design was ordered from 1943 with Hunslet sub-contracting construction to Andrew Barclay & Sons (15); WG. Bagnall (52); Hudswell Clarke and Company (50); Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns (90) and Vulcan Foundry (50) leading to 377 examples being supplied upto 1947. Further orders were placed in the post-war era by the National Coal Board (77); the Army (14) and steel companies (17) resulting in a total of 485 locomotives being built when production ceased in 1964.

Bagnall 0-4-0ST 2668 ‘Cranford No 2’ awaits the arrival of ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST 3788 ‘Monkton No 1’ with a Demonstration Freight train at Bolton Abbey during an Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway gala event on 15 October 2005.

The ‘Austerity’ design emanated from the 8 locomotives (0-6-0STs 2411 – 2418) supplied to Stewarts and Lloyds but re-allocated when the proposed development was aborted. 2414 was transferred to the Ministry of Supply who renumbered it as WD66 and moved it to Long Marston. It was replaced by an ‘Austerity’ locomotive and moved to store at the Longmoor Military Railway prior to being sold to the Port of London Authority where it worked until 1960. It was sold to the National Coal Board who transferred it to Ackton Hall Colliery at Featherstone where it gained fleet number S112. S112 was stored in the open from Summer 1972 until purchased in 1976 and transferred to the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway where, on 4 May 2013, it was stored at Bolton Abbey awaiting restoration.

0-6-0ST 3155 was supplied to the Ministry of Supply as 75105 in 1944 and served in France. After the war it was one of 30 sold to the Dutch Railways, becoming Fleet Number 8815, and served in the coal industry in the late 1970s. Initially repatriated to Steamport Southport Museum it subsequently moved to the Ribble Steam Railway on 16 April 1999 where it was restored to service in time for the 2008 Santa Season.

3155 is stabled in the workshops on 18 May 2008 awaiting the final stages of its restoration.

3155 crosses onto the Marina Bridge on 23 February 2011 whilst working a Riversway–Strand Rd shuttle service.

3155 ‘Walkden’ curves onto the Riverside straight on 19 February 2012 with a Riversway–Strand Rd shuttle service.

3155 awaits its next duty on Riverside shed on 2 April 2011.

3155 ‘Walkden’ drifts off the Marina Bridge on 17 September 2011 with a Riversway–Strand Rd shuttle service as Pecket 0-4-0ST 1749 ‘Fulstow’ provides rear end assistance.

0-6-0ST 3794 was supplied to the Ministry of Supply in 1953 as WD194; it was immediately placed in store as part of a War Reserve at the Longmoor Army Stores Depot but left for Bicester when the Longmoor site closed in 1955. It began work in 1958 but after 10 years was withdrawn for overhaul then immediately placed into store. Within a matter of months it was moved to Shoeburyness where it remained until entering preservation in July 1973 when bought by the Lakeside Railway Society for use on the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway. It arrived at Haverthwaite in September 1973 and after undergoing overhaul entered traffic in 1974. 3794 remained active there until 2010 when it moved to the Ribble Steam Railway where it began an overhaul in 2011 that was completed in 2015.

3155 pilots 0-6-0ST 3794 ‘Cumbria’ across the Marina Bridge on 7 February 2010 with a Riversway–Strand Road shuttle assisted in the rear by 56xx Class 0-6-2T 5643.

3158 was supplied to the Ministry of Supply in 1944 as WD75109 and was one of 75 locomotives subsequently sold to the London & North Eastern Railway in 1946 where it was numbered 68009. It remained in BR service until withdrawal in August 1962 and subsequent cutting up at Darlington North Road.

The 68009 identity has now been assumed by 0-6-0ST 3825 (*), supplied to the National Coal Board in 1955 for operation in the Kent area and which entered preservation at the Great Central Railway in November 1981. The locomotive has since operated on numerous lines, the latest being the Stainmore Railway where it was withdrawn from service in 2007 and as at 2015 awa...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• AB: Andrew Barclay Sons & Company
• Ae: Avonside Engine Company
• Bag: W.G. Bagnall & Company
• BH: Black Hawthorn & Company
• Bor: E. Borrows & Sons
• BP: Beyer Peacock & Company
• Dubs: Dubs & Company
• GR: Grant Ritchie & Company
• HC: Hudswell Clarke & Company
• HE: Hunslet Engine Company
• HF: Haydock Foundry
• HL: R & W Hawthorn, Leslie & Company
• K: Kitson & Company
• KS: Kerr Stuart and Company
• MW: Manning Wardle & Company
• NBL: North British Locomotive Company
• Nn: Neilson & Company
• NR: Nielson Reid & Company
• P: Peckett & Sons
• RSH: Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn
• S: Sentinel
• VF: Vulcan Foundry
• WCI: Wigan Coal & Iron Company
• YE: Yorkshire Engine Company