In 1863-1864 an English company tried mining in a big way at the Sladdarö iron mine which was on an island near Harg, in Sweden, However, the mine had been ‘salted’ by a previous British owner with pebbles from the famous Dannemora mines, and no real ore was found. One loco and thirty wagons were shipped out to the tiny island, but it has not been possible to identify the locomotive, Can any reader help?

    The locomotive illustrated on page 65 of RECORD 14 is indeed a "Planet", but not one built by Hibberd. It was, as I suspected, a Baguley "Planet" (a "20/25hp Ford Planet", to use their terminology), works number 2046, and delivered in 1931 to the South Essex Waterworks 2ft 0in gauge system. If you look carefully in the bottom left-hand corner of the picture you can just seethe Baguley reference number 31/25.

    With reference to your comment on page 95 of RECORD 25, you will be pleased to know that a Yorkshire Engine Company locomotive has been preserved in Australia and is on display at the Queensland Government Railways Museum at Redbank, an outer suburb of Brisbane. It is a mixed traffic 4−6−0 of the B15 Converted class, QGR No.290, which entered traffic in 1897.

A set of fourteen 6in x 4in coloured photos – mainly side views – of locomotives at this Museum, including a Neilson 0−4−2 of 1865 and a Dübs 4−6−0 of 1883, are available at $A 1.40 the set (plus postage). Further details may be obtained from The Caretaker, Q.G.R. Steam Loco Museum, Redbank, Queensland 4301, Australia.

    (QGR Nos.289-298 were ordered on 8th January 1896 for despatch the same year between 2nd July and 2nd October. They carried maker’s numbers 531-540 and according to Yorkshire’s records delivery commenced on 21st November 1896 and was completed on 20th March 1897. The photograph reproduced here shows QGB No.296, YE 538.

    The editorial footnote on page 126 of RECORD 26 expresses surprise that Penlee should have purchased a Koppel locomotive in preference to one of British manufacture. I suggest that their reason was economic. On page 42 of J. H. Trounsons "Historic Cornish Mining Scenes at Surface" (published by D. Bradford Barton Ltd) is an illustration of the narrow gauge 0−4−0 well tank locomotive KIMBERLEY at the Basset Mines. According to the text, it was built by Koppel in 1906 and "was supplied for £400, whereas the lowest tender for an English-built locomotive was £800. The engine, which weighed about 8 tons, was shipped to Falmouth in one large case which was brought from Falmouth to Redruth by rail and then hauled to the mine by horses. After some initial trouble with the boiler feed injectors it proved to be a great success."

    The engraving of the standard gauge Lewin on page 172 of RECORD 28 is almost identical to the illustration of the 3ft 5½in gauge Lewin at The Swanscombe Cement Works which appears on page 35 of the ILS booklet "Steam on the Narrow Gauge" (David & Charles. 1955).

    The photograph of MALT and HOPS on page 175 of RECORD 28 is most interesting. It would seem from the arrangement of the boiler feed-pipe that these locomotives had crosshead feed-pumps. Is anyone able to confirm?

    This feature in RECORD 28 was interesting as I remember seeing the CADBURY picture in the 1890’s on the centre of a page of John Birch’s catalogue of machinery and railway plant; the Dick Kerr was surrounded by several types of narrow gauge locomotives from other builders, As mentioned on page 168, Hawthorn Leslie built the Raddusa Tramway 0−4−0 tank engines – one in 1886 (8in x 12in cylinders and 2ft 8in wheels) and another in 1887 (7in x 10in; 2ft 0in). As they also built an 0−4−0 tank named GATLAIA for Mr Trewhella in 1886 (6½in x 10in; 2ft 0in) it’s possible that the 0−4−0 tank illustrated on page 166 may have been one of the Hawthorn Leslies.

MECANICIEN

    (The "mystery locomotive at Preston Docks" (see page 80 of RECORD 25) appears to have been something of a mystery to Thos W. Ward Ltd also! In the "Charlton Works Machinery Stock Book" for acquisitions during the period 1916 to 1920, the builder is not recorded — and this is most unusual. Booked into Charlton Works stock in May 1920 under Con. No.31190 it is shown as ‘Ex Preston Depot" and "Not to be sold". It is recorded as having inside cylinders 9in x 15in, 2ft 7in wheels with 1½in tyres. 4ft 6in wheelbase, copper firebox and steel tubes, dummy buffers, whole cab with four spectacle glasses, handbrake and four [brake] blocks, side coal bunkers, 15ft 6in overall length and 6ft 9in width. Only two hirings are shown – 13th March 1924 to 30th April 1924 (Kilner Bros. Conisbro – £7 per week) and 3rd June 1924 to 13th September 1924 (John Baker & Co (Rotherham) Ltd – £10 per week). The last ledger entry refers to the 1928 stocktaking when the locomotive was valued at £375 and still regarded as Preston plant. It appears to have been advertised for sale at Charlton Works, Sheffield, until 1932 at least, and is then understood to have gone back to Preston, Normally the ledger mentions sale or scrapping details, but in this instance is silent. Does any reader know the period when this locomotive was at Preston and when it was finally scrapped? – KPP)

    Some interesting detail can be added to Roy Etherington’s article on this locomotive in RECORD 29, page 202. To begin with, FIRE QUEEN and her sister JENNY LIND were Crampton locomotives built in accordance with his fourth patent (June 1847). These, the only examples of this form of Crampton known to have been built were in all probability designed by T. R. Crampton himself.

    The locomotives have no frames, sub-frames being attached to the boiler at either end to take the axles. The boiler itself is strengthened, by means of gussets between the barrel and throatplate. Structural analysis shows that this method of construction is sound under the circumstances: the reason for its adoption was undoubtedly to permit the use of a standard gauge boiler on a 4ft gauge locomotive. The valve gear is Stephenson’s, driven by the front axle with the links suspended on the front of the firebox: directly-coupled screw reverse is fitted — the first example of this device. As usual at the time, feed pumps are used, driven off the crossheads. The tender is quite characteristic of its time and exhibits a typical Crampton feature – the brakes are applied to the right-hand wheels only.

    The history of these locomotives is shrouded in mystery. One local account has it that FIRE QUEEN was inferior to her sister (which incorporated certain improvements) and did little work after the mid -1850s. Elsewhere it is said that she was a very good machine and even in the 1880s was preferred to the Hunslet 0−6−0 side tank DINORWIC, being laid aside only when repairs became too expensive. The true story is probably somewhere in between. Work was certainly done on the boiler after 1860, for a Kirtley brick arch has been fitted, yet the mechanical parts are hardly worn. The final withdrawal was undoubtedly due to the poor state of the firebox, and I would date this at 1865-70. The real mystery is why she was kept, and indeed where she was kept, between withdrawal and the date of her immurement in the old 2ft gauge loco shed somewhere in the late 1890s. Whatever the reason, we owe a great debt of gratitude to whoever it was that spared her from the scrapheap.

    Mystery followed her to Penrhyn Castle Museum. When examining the locomotive last year I observed what I took to be a new boiler tube that had been inserted but not expanded at the front end. Others were taken in by this, which turned out to be a rather clever fake! My excuse for being misled is that I had just dropped the smokebox door on my foot. . . .

    (Frank Jones has written to say that, contrary to the last sentence in the article, it is now possible to obtain an almost head-on photograph of FIRE QUEEN whereas it was certainly impossible before. – KPP)

    Referring to the notes on page 205 of RECORD 29, this Indian railway was opened from Naupada to Parlakimedi on 1st April 1900 and extended to Varanasi (17th November 1929) and Gunupur (16th November 1931) – a final total of 56.3 miles. It was worked by the Bengal Nagpur Railway from 1st January 1902 and is now part of the South Eastern Railway system. The original motive power consisted of three Brush 0−6−4 tank locomotives, makers’ numbers 278-280 of 1899. They had 2ft 9in coupled wheels, and by 1915 the cylinders were recorded as 12in x 18in. In addition to their numbers (1 to 3) they carried the names SITA, RAMA and VISHNU respectively. All three were withdrawn in 1929 soon after the arrival of three new Kerr Stuart locomotives (4407-4409) ; these were of the same wheel arrangement but somewhat smaller.

    With reference to the enquiry by Mr Halleran on page 219 of RECORD 29 concerning the two 6−ton English locomotives delivered to British Columbia in 1885, I would suggest they were Manning Wardle 521 of 1874 and 558 of 1875, supplied to Fawcett, Preston & Company, Liverpool, These were both 3ft 0in gauge 0−4−0 saddle tanks with 6in x 12in cylinders, and named respectively PIONEER and THE LORD WARDEN.

    I can offer some information on Turkish industrial locomotives taken from US builders’ official records, in response to the requests on page 224 (RECORD 18) and 219 (RECORD 29). "DM" stands for Diesel Mechanical.

4726-4729 of 3/1950 4wDM, 29½in gauge, 83hp, 7 US tons, Divrigi Iron Mines, Eti Banks.

4749-4758 of 7/1946 4wDM, 60cm gauge, 47hp, 5 US tons, for an unknown purchaser in Turkey, Nos. 7-16.

3158-3165 of 6/1949 0−6−0 tender, 60cm gauge, 7in x 2in cylinders for the Turkish Forestry Service,

40386-40400 of 1/47 4wDM, Class 7DM−6b, 60cm gauge, 35hp, 7 US tons, E.K.l.-Eregli Bituminous Coal Mines, Nos. 101-115.

40640-40649 of 3/49 4wDM, Class 7DM−6c, 60cm gauge, 7 US tons, for E.K.l.-Eregli BCM Nos. 116-125.

40679-40688 of 4/50 4wDM, Class 7DM−6c, 60cm gauge, 7 US tons, for E.K.l.-Eregli BCM Nos. 126-135.

80525-80528 of 5/50 4w electric, 42in gauge, for Eti Bank.

80529-80531 of 6/50 4w electric, 42in gauge, 6 US tons, for Eti Bank.

    The Henschel works list records the supply of at least twelve 0−4−0T’s to Christian Krutwig of Köln between 1937 and 1939 including those identified in the list on page 201 of RECORD 29. These are Henschel 23687−90 of 1937, 23981, 24087, 24129−30 of 1938 and 24531−3, 24545 of 1939. The two older Henschel locos in the list, 17725 and 17726, are both recorded as having been supplied to Walter Hoene, Berlin, who was apparently an agent taking considerable numbers of small locos. However all these fourteen Henschel 0−4−0T’s are recorded in the works list as being of 900mm gauge and not metre gauge as given in the article. Both the 600mm gauge Henschel 0−4−0T’s were also supplied new to agents, 23528 to Polensky and Zöllner and 23718 to Glaser and Pflaum, Berlin.

    With reference to this article in RECORD 29, you will wish to know that one of the locomotives mentioned has been preserved. Jung 9294 (formerly Peter Bawens 17) now stands on a plinth in the Mulheim-Bruck area of Köln.

    At the end of June 1970 I visited two of the railways described in this article on pp.195-201 of RECORD 29. The gravel pits of Christian Krutwig at Köln were being worked by conveyors, the railways having completely disappeared except for a few standard gauge rails in the road past the pits. An old brick and timber building in the yard may have been a narrow gauge loco shed previously. At the Wesseling depot of Peter Bawens the thick trees beside the road prevented me from seeing whether any narrow gauge locomotives were standing on the rails in the shed. Outside were a few narrow gauge wagons.

    You may be interested to know that the Sharp Stewart locomotives referred to on page 201 of RECORD 29 were in fact that firm's works numbers 2793-2795.

    I was interested in the paragraph on page 126 of RECORD 29 concerning the above locomotive. Walter Scott and Company (becoming Walter Scott and Middleton in 1901) carried out a contract from 1900 to 1903 for the North Eastern Railway which included the construction of the railway from Hart Junction to Seaham Harbour, and the construction and widening of the approaches to the Queen Alexandra Bridge in Sunderland. From the recollections of an old driver I know that eleven six−coupled locomotives were used by Walter Scott, but he made no mention of a four−coupled engine such as 1323 was. I would suggest that Walter Scott first constructed the approaches and that Sir William Arrol then commenced the building of the bridge. It is possible that 1323 was used to move the sections of bridge-work from the NER sidings to the actual site. The Paper read to the Institute of Civil Engineers does say that the period of construction was from 1904 or 1905 to 1909.

    (This letter would suggest that Herberts had a second steam locomotive, unless the Bagnall was transferred from The Butts Works to Edgwick. Is it known for certain that Bagnall 1842 was at The Butts Works? Have Herberts had any other works with a rail system? – KPP)

    From my letters in RECORD 5 (page 131) and 10 (page 247) you will know of my interest in tracing locos built for the Beira Railway (Mocambique) by the Falcon Engine & Car Works, which was a part of the Brush set-up at Loughborough. It was therefore exciting to see the photo on page 244 of RECORD 30, as previously I had not seen a Falcon illustrated on any railway other than the 2ft 0in gauge Beira Railway. The North Borneo metre gauge Brush 290 4−4−0 is almost identical with the larger type of 4−4−0 supplied to the Beira Railway, with the exception of the Belpaire firebox boiler which 290 obtained in reboilering. The Falcon Works had two designs of 4−4−0 tender locos, each with three or four minor variations in dimensions and capacity to suit buyers. Brush 290/1 were evidently of their Class F Nos.4−7 series, with 9½in x 16in cylinders. Almost all the early Brush/Falcon records have been destroyed but a photostat I have of a page in their 1904 catalogue gives a list of Brush locomotive customers since 1888. This includes Liverpool and Walsall Corporations; Northfleet Coal; Seaton Iron; Ibstock, Bagworth and Glascote Collieries; Globe Brick; Lord Belper; Admiralty, etc.; as well as the Corris, Mauritius, Cork & Muskerry, Penang and Dublin & Blessington Railways, I wonder if any of your readers have photographs or notes on the work of any Falcon/Brush locomotives. I would add that Falcon 257 of 1897 (Beira 15) is preserved, after restoration by Rhodesia Railways, at the Umtali Museum; Umtali was the original terminus of the 2ft gauge line from Beira, Another (Beira 26), after working for fourteen years on the South African Railways (NG6 class, No.98) and then thirty years for the Zebediela Citrus Estates, Transvaal, has been preserved at Milner Park, Johannesburg.

    My builders’ photograph shows a Class F No.2 Falcon 4−4−0, a type which commenced work on the Beira Railway in 1895. The worksplate is inscribed "Falcon Engine & Car Works, Builders, Loughborough, No.232, 1895". The dimensions were; 8in x 15in cylinders, 2ft 8in driving wheels, 2ft 0in bogie wheels, 500 gallon tank, 45 cu ft fuel capacity, 100Ib boiler pressure, 3,000lb tractive effort, heating surface 225 sq ft (tubes 200, firebox 25), grate area 4½ sq ft, gross weight of engine 11½ tons and tender 6½ tons.