Hunslet Penrhyn Port Class
| Hunslet Penrhyn Port Class | |
|---|---|
 Lilian on the Launceston Steam Railway (June 2010)
|
|
| Number: | 3 (+ 2) |
| Manufacturer: | Hunslet |
| Year of construction (s): | 1883-1896 |
| Retirement: | until 1964 |
| Type : | B n2t |
| Gauge : | 578 mm (610 mm) |
| Length over buffers: | 4,216 mm |
| Width: | 1,626 mm |
| Total wheelbase: | 1,219 mm |
| Service mass: | 7.6 t |
| Friction mass: | 7.6 t |
| Driving wheel diameter: | 508 (514) mm |
| Cylinder diameter: | 178 mm |
| Piston stroke: | 254 mm |
| Boiler overpressure: | 82.7 (110.2) N / cm² |
| Grate area: | 0.29 m² |
| Water supply: | 0.68 m³ |
The three vehicles of Penrhyn Port Class of Hunslet are narrow-gauge tank locomotives that for operation in Port Penrhyn in Wales were built, the port of the Penrhyn quarry . Hunslet delivered two largely identical locomotives to a granite quarry in Leicestershire .
history
The first two locomotives, called Gwynedd and Lilian (factory numbers 316 and 317) were delivered in 1883. They belong to the early specimens of the so-called Quarry Hunslets . A third locomotive, called Winifred (serial number 364) followed in 1885. All three locomotives were used for shunting tasks in Port Penrhyn, where the connecting line ( Penrhyn Quarry Railway ) from the quarry ended. Only Winifred spent the last years of operation in the quarry itself.
In 1893 and 1896 Hunslet delivered two largely identical, but with the state of the art increased boiler pressure and a (when new) slightly larger coupling wheel diameter to a quarry in Groby , Leicestershire. The machines with the serial numbers 596 and 652 were given the names The Junior (later shortened to Junior ) and Sextus .
Lady Madcap
In 1909 the Sextus was brought to the Hunslet factory for a major overhaul. At this stage the Groby-Werke decided to buy a new three-axle locomotive instead of this machine, and the Sextus was traded in by Hunslet. When a new locomotive was needed for the Dinorwic quarry , the biggest competitor of the Penrhyn quarry, in 1910, Hunslet was able to offer the overhauled Sextus cheaply and deliver it at short notice. For operation in the quarry, among other things, the track width was reduced and the cab roof removed.
The name of the locomotive was changed to Lady Madcap shortly after delivery .
In the Dinorwic quarry, parts of the locomotives were freely exchanged with each other so that damaged or overhauled locomotives could be used again as quickly as possible. Since the Lady Madcap was unique in this quarry, she was temporarily equipped with a smaller Alice Class kettle and water tank .
technology
Like all Quarry Hunslets, the Penrhyn Port Class engines are two-axle wet steam tank locomotives with a saddle tank. They have an external frame and the external and slightly inclined cylinders work on cranks. The flat slides lie within the frame and are moved by a Stephenson control . The three machines at the Penrhyn quarry had an open driver's cab that also housed the coal store, the other two had a roof mounted on four supports.
The locomotives of the Penrhyn Port Class differ from the better-known Alice Class , the first of which was built a year after the Winifred , in that they have a larger wheelbase, a correspondingly larger boiler and a lower cab floor than the circulation. Width, cylinder dimensions and drive wheel diameter are the same for both classes.
Whereabouts
The three machines of the Penrhyn quarry have been preserved; two are in working order today.
- Gwynedd was retired in 1954 and went to the Steam and Gardens Museum in Bressingham in 1966 . The locomotive is still used today on the so-called Nursery Railway of this museum (610 mm gauge).
- Lilian was taken out of operation in 1955 due to boiler damage, sold in 1965 and restored on a private basis. In 1983 it pulled the first train of the newly built Launceston Steam Railway , where it is still in service today. She has been equipped with a tender since 2008.
- Winifred was sold in 1965 and brought to the United States, where it was exhibited in Indianapolis for a while . In 2012 the locomotive was brought back to Wales and is now on the Bala Lake Railway . It has never been restored and is still as it was in 1965.
- Lady Madcap was in operation until 1952 and was then dismantled. A number of parts, including the cylinders and the water tank, have been preserved, however, and the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway in Porthmadog is currently rebuilding the locomotive, for which a new frame has already been made.
- Junior's fate is unknown; it was probably scrapped long before the machines used in Wales were retired. A successor locomotive of the same name was already in service in 1921.
literature
- Cliff Thomas: Quarry Hunslets of North Wales , Oakwood Press, 2004, ISBN 0-85361-575-6 .
Remarks
- ↑ a b The literature used only includes the copies used in Wales. It cannot therefore be ruled out that other locomotives of this type existed.
- ↑ Website of the Bala Lake Railway ( Memento of the original from July 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ The Industrial Railway Record
Web links
- The Gwyneth on the Quarry Hunslet Web Site (English)
- The WHHR Lady Madcap Project (English)