PhilH
Western Thunderer
The Threlkeld Quarry Railway's annual gala was held on 27th and 28th July this year, with 4 visiting locos which included 3 Bagnall 0-4-0STs similar to the resident Bagnall SIR TOM.
SIR TOM Bagnall Works No.2135 originally built to 3'-6" gauge in 1925 and used at the BICC Works at Erith in Kent. After preservation it was rebuilt to 2ft. gauge for use at Threlkeld and is pictured standing in front of the loco shed. This shed once housed two similar Bagnall 0-4-0STs of the Threlkeld Granite Co., which worked a 2'-4" gauge line 2½ miles long south from Threlkeld to Bram Crag Quarry. This line was closed in 1937 and converted into a road, the locomotives being scrapped about 1940.
Visitors ISABEL and PETER at the quarry end of the line. Both locomotives were originally at the Cliffe Hill Granite Co's Markfield Quarry in Leicestershire. ISABEL was built new for the quarry in 1898. After the quarry railway closed it was returned to Bagnall for preservation and spent some time plinthed outside Stafford railway station. It was returned to working order in 1992 and is now based at the Amerton Railway in Staffordshire. PETER was originally built in 1918 to 3'-0" gauge for use on forestry lines for timber supply during the First World War. It was returned to Bagnall, rebuilt to 2'-0" gauge and resold to the Cliffe Hill Granite Co. in 1922. Its now based at the Amberley Museum in West Sussex.
The other two visiting locos provide a comparison between two loco builders different designs built for the same purpose at the same date. SYBIL MARY on the left was built by Hunslet for Penrhyn Quarry and delivered in November 1906. Its now part of the Statfold Barn Railway collection. SYBIL on the right was built by Bagnall for Dinorwic Quarry and delivered in May 1906, being the quarry's only Bagnall loco. It was recently restored back to working order and is based at the West Lancashire Railway, Hesketh Bank.
Bagnalls fitted 3 different types of valve gear to its small industrial locomotives, and all three types were represented from the visiting locomotives at Threlkeld. ISABEL is fitted with Baguley Valve Gear, patented by E.E.Baguley who was the chief draughtsman for Bagnalls at the time.
SYBIL is fitted with Bagnall & Price Valve Gear, patented by W.G.Bagnall himself and S.T.Price, the works manager, after Baguley left the firm. One advantage claimed for both these gears was it eliminated the return crank which might have been subject to damage in a quarry environment. The technical details of both these gears is described in this article from the Industrial Railway Society's Magazine: BAGNALL LOCOMOTIVE VALVE GEARS
PETER is fitted with conventional Walschaerts Valve Gear. The device fitted to the rear of the link bracket is a feedwater pump, driven by a connection to the crosshead partly hidden by the radius rod.
Bagnalls favoured the Marine type firebox on these locomotives.
SIR TOM and the passenger train at the quarry terminus. ISABEL and PETER are on the rear about to take the train down to the lower terminus. On the left is a Ruston Bucyrus 61RB Face Shovel with an Aveling & Barford dump truck behind. The quarry is the home of the Vintage Excavator Trust with about 80 machines on site, some owned by the trust and others by private individuals.
SIR TOM Bagnall Works No.2135 originally built to 3'-6" gauge in 1925 and used at the BICC Works at Erith in Kent. After preservation it was rebuilt to 2ft. gauge for use at Threlkeld and is pictured standing in front of the loco shed. This shed once housed two similar Bagnall 0-4-0STs of the Threlkeld Granite Co., which worked a 2'-4" gauge line 2½ miles long south from Threlkeld to Bram Crag Quarry. This line was closed in 1937 and converted into a road, the locomotives being scrapped about 1940.
Visitors ISABEL and PETER at the quarry end of the line. Both locomotives were originally at the Cliffe Hill Granite Co's Markfield Quarry in Leicestershire. ISABEL was built new for the quarry in 1898. After the quarry railway closed it was returned to Bagnall for preservation and spent some time plinthed outside Stafford railway station. It was returned to working order in 1992 and is now based at the Amerton Railway in Staffordshire. PETER was originally built in 1918 to 3'-0" gauge for use on forestry lines for timber supply during the First World War. It was returned to Bagnall, rebuilt to 2'-0" gauge and resold to the Cliffe Hill Granite Co. in 1922. Its now based at the Amberley Museum in West Sussex.
The other two visiting locos provide a comparison between two loco builders different designs built for the same purpose at the same date. SYBIL MARY on the left was built by Hunslet for Penrhyn Quarry and delivered in November 1906. Its now part of the Statfold Barn Railway collection. SYBIL on the right was built by Bagnall for Dinorwic Quarry and delivered in May 1906, being the quarry's only Bagnall loco. It was recently restored back to working order and is based at the West Lancashire Railway, Hesketh Bank.
Bagnalls fitted 3 different types of valve gear to its small industrial locomotives, and all three types were represented from the visiting locomotives at Threlkeld. ISABEL is fitted with Baguley Valve Gear, patented by E.E.Baguley who was the chief draughtsman for Bagnalls at the time.
SYBIL is fitted with Bagnall & Price Valve Gear, patented by W.G.Bagnall himself and S.T.Price, the works manager, after Baguley left the firm. One advantage claimed for both these gears was it eliminated the return crank which might have been subject to damage in a quarry environment. The technical details of both these gears is described in this article from the Industrial Railway Society's Magazine: BAGNALL LOCOMOTIVE VALVE GEARS
PETER is fitted with conventional Walschaerts Valve Gear. The device fitted to the rear of the link bracket is a feedwater pump, driven by a connection to the crosshead partly hidden by the radius rod.
Bagnalls favoured the Marine type firebox on these locomotives.
SIR TOM and the passenger train at the quarry terminus. ISABEL and PETER are on the rear about to take the train down to the lower terminus. On the left is a Ruston Bucyrus 61RB Face Shovel with an Aveling & Barford dump truck behind. The quarry is the home of the Vintage Excavator Trust with about 80 machines on site, some owned by the trust and others by private individuals.