90 Heritagerailway.co.uk
Above:K1, theworld ’s firstGarratt
locomotive wasbuiltin1 909byBeyer
PeacockfortheNorthEastDundas
TramwayinT asmania.TheBeyer-Ga rratt
0-4-0+0-4-0T approachesRhydDduon
theWelshHighlandRailway,whereitis
preserved.BRIANSHARPERight:NorthEast ernRailwayBo-Boelectric
No.1,b uiltbyBrushandBritishThompson
Houstonin1905 fortheelectrified
QuaysidebranchonTyneside,ondisplay in
theLocomotionmuseumat Shildon.
BRIANSHARPEmain linetoPlymouth, then theGWR’s most
importantroute.Heusednarrowfireboxes,
butwithgood circulation. Combinin ghigh
boiler pressureswithsuperheating made
efficientuse of thehighcalorific-value steam
coal from theSouth Walescoalfield.
Once he becameCME,the boiler used
on theCityclass becamethe prototype
forChurchward’sGWR Standard No. 4
boiler.The useofaBelpa irefirebox allowed
Churchward to dispense with asteam dome to
collectsteam.
Churchward also improv ed theBelpa ire
design,maximisingthe flow of water in a
givensize of boiler by taperingthe fireboxand
boiler barrel outwards to theareaofhighest
steamproduction at thefront of thefirebox.
Churchward is cr edited withintroducing
to Britainseveral refinementsfromUSand
French st eamlocomotive practice.Aswell
as thetapered boiler,therewasthe casting
of cylinders andsaddles together in halv es.
Hischoic eofoutside cylinders for express
locomotiveswas also not standard in Britain
forthattime.
Of course, many elements of Britishpractice
were re tained,suchasthe useofplate
frames,opposed to barframes, as in standard
US practice.
UnderChurchward, nine highly su ccessful
locomotivetypes withmaximumcomponent
standardisatio nwereintroduced. The
boilers, cylinders,pistons,wheelsetc.were
standardised andinterchangeable between
classes. Thesameboilerwas used on the2-8-0,
theSainttwo-cyl indered 4-6-0 andthe Star
four-cyl indered4-6-0.
Churchward’s designpractices were ahead
of theirtimeand they were adoptedbyCMEs
of othe rrailwaysand thus influenced British
steamlocomotivedesignright up to theend
of steam.
The2800class 2-8-0, intr oduced by
Churchward in 1903, wasthe first 2-8-0in
Britain. No.2808brokeahaulagerecord by
haulinga2012-t on,107 wagontrain from
SwindontoActon in 1906.The class remained
in serviceuptothe endof WesternRegion
steamin1965and severalhave operated
in preservation.
Churchward’s first 4-6-0,No. 100, appeared
in 1902 as theprototypeofwhatwould
become theSaint class. Onelocomotivewas
converted to a4-4-2for direct trials against
French designsonthe GWRin1903. These
expe riments movedthe GWRtowards using
fourcylinders for express engines.
Atypelong-familiar on French railways was
thefour-cylinderdeGlehn compound.The
protot ypewas a2-2-2 -0 designed by Alfred de
Glehnand itwasordered by thechief en gineer
of theNord Railway. With uncoupled driving
wheels,itw as not dissimilar to an LNWR
Webb compound.
Thetypewas greatlyimprovedbyanother
French engineer,duBousquet, whorefined the
layout ofrods andvalve gear alongthe inside
of theframesfor easy access,and thedeGlehn
type wasbuilt in larg enumbers in France, in
variouswheel arrangements,someworking
unti lthe 1960s.
Threeofthe Nord compound Atlanticswere
purchased by theGWR foruse in comparative
trials andweretestedagainst Churchward’s
owndesigns.
Alth ough anumberofi tems of French
practice were adoptedbythe GreatWestern as
aresultofthese trials,the de Glehncompound
system wasnot oneofthem.
Production two-cylinderSaint class 4-6-0s
appeared on theGWR in 1905,follo wedin
1906 by thefour-cylinderStarclass. Arguably,
Churchward’s 4-6-0s,bothtwo and
four-cylinder,weresubstantiallysuperior
to theexpress enginesofany otherBritish
railwaycompany at thetime.
Churchw ardevenbuilt Britain’sfirst Pacific,
No. 111TheGreatBear,in 1908,but sadlythis
wasnot one ofhissuccess stories.
Churchward also made advancesincarriage
design andheintroduced theGWR’s first
steel-roofed coaches. Otherinnovatio ns of
hisincludedthe introduction ofsteam
railmotors forsuburbanand lightbranch
passengertrains.Beyer-Garratt
Therehave beennumerous varietiesof
arti culatedsteam locomotivesbut these
have beenmorepopular overseasthanin
Britain. Thenarrowgauge Ffestiniog Railway
had some double Fairli e0-4-40Ts, but the
Mallet arti culatedconcept wasnever used in
Britain. Oneofthe most popularvarieties of
arti culatedlocomotive that didoriginate in
Britainwas theBeyer-Garratt.
ABeyer-Garratt designed by Herbert
Garrattand patentedbyBeyer Peacockis
arti culatedintothree parts. Itsboile ris
mountedonthe centre frame, andtwo steam
enginesare mountedonseparateframes, one
on each endofthe boiler.
Arti culation permits larger locomotivesto
negotiate curves andlighter railsthatmight
restrict largerigid-framedlocomotives. Many
of theGarratt designsaimed to double the
powerofthe largestconventionallocomotives
operatingontheir railways,thusreducingthe
need for multipl elocomotivesand crews.
In 1907,Beyer Peacock in Manchestersubmitted aproposal for a2ft gauge
0-4-0+0-4-0Garratt to theNew South
WalesGovernmentRailways, whichwas not
proceededwith ,but in replytoanenquiry
from theGovernmentofTasmania, adesign
for a2ft gaugeMalletlocomotivewas
submitted.However,thiswas followed by a
further submissionfor aGarratt basedonthe
NewSouth Walesproposal.Thisproposalwas
accepted, andtwo locomotives were builtin
1909,which became theKclass.The Kclass
had to copewith99ftradiuscurvesand
one-in-25gradients.
Unlike in Garratt’spatent, Tasmanian
Railways insisted on acompound
arrangement, withcylindersfacinginwards.
This patternwould notberepea tedonlater
Garrattdesigns.
Earlydesignand construction difficulties
involvedthe steam-tigh tflexibleconnections
between theboile runitand thepower units,
butthese were solved by BeyerPeacock’s
designersafter they studiedthe spherical
steamjointsusedonthe FfestiniogRailway’s
Fairli elocomotives.
Thefirst st andard gaugeGarrattsweresix
2-6-0+0-6-2 Garratts builtin1911for the
WesternAustralianGovernmentRailways. It
wasnot untilafter the1923Groupingthatany
Beyer Garratts were builtfor main lineservice
in Britain.
TasmanianBeyer-Garratt 0-4-0+0-4-0T K1
is nowpreserved at theFfestiniog&Welsh
Highland Railways.The lineitworkedon
closed in 1929 but,in1947, K1 wassoldtoits
builderBeyer Peacock, with theboilerofK2
attached andrepatriated back to England.
When BeyerPeacockclosedin1966, K1 was
sold to theFfestiniogRailway.Inmorerecent
years, it hasseenaction ontherebuilt Welsh
Highland Railway.