Louisa (Quarry Hunslet)
| Louisa | |
|---|---|
 Hunslet factory shot
|
|
| Number: | 1 |
| Manufacturer: | Hunslet |
| Year of construction (s): | 1877 |
| Type : | B n2t |
| Gauge : | 578 mm |
| Length over buffers: | 3,404 mm |
| Total wheelbase: | 914 mm |
| Service mass: | 4.0 t |
| Friction mass: | 4.0 t |
| Driving wheel diameter: | 457 mm |
| Cylinder diameter: | 127 mm |
| Piston stroke: | 203 mm |
| Grate area: | 0.16 m² |
| Evaporation heating surface: | 5.20 m² |
| Water supply: | 0.27 m³ |
The Louisa was a small tank locomotive that was built for the Dinorwic quarry in North Wales . It was one of the first and also the smallest of all so-called Quarry Hunslets .
Hunslet delivered the machine with the number 195 in 1877, the same year that the George locomotive was also delivered. Unlike George and their sister locomotive Dinorwic , Louisa was designed for operation in the quarry's galleries, where very light rails were laid, and was therefore significantly smaller and lighter.
However, the Louisa was not a scaled-down further development of the Dinorwic and George locomotives , but was based on a recently built machine called Little Egret ( serial number 175), from which it is essentially characterized by a smaller gauge (578 instead of 914 mm) and as a result, wheels arranged within the frame differed. Louisa’s grate and heating surfaces were also slightly larger, possibly because the outer frame allowed a slightly wider standing kettle.
The kettle was domeless ; the steam was taken from the raised standing boiler on which the safety valve was also located. The driver was protected from escaping steam by a long pipe. Characteristic were the beveled frame ends on the underside, which were later also found in the Alice Class and which made it easier to transport the locomotive via inclined lifts. Unlike most of the later Quarry Hunslets, the Louisa had no circulation.
The attempts in the quarry finally led to the decision to lay heavier rails in the galleries so that larger locomotives could be used. The Louisa therefore remained a one-off, and in 1886 the first Alice Class locomotive was purchased, which had almost twice the pulling power.
The Louisa was sold to the Lower Glynrhonwy Quarry between 1895 and 1899 . When he filed for bankruptcy in 1916, the locomotive was put up for auction. Then their tracks are lost.
literature
- Cliff Thomas, Quarry Hunslets of North Wales, Oakwood Press, 2004, ISBN 0-85361-575-6