living wiTh Lyd
With two new Lynton & Barnstaple Manning Wardles to come in the next few years, THOMAS BRIGHT explores the one that already exists – No. E190 Lyd.
As the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway prepares to launch its project to build two new Manning Wardle 2‑6‑2Ts, Thomas Bright discovers what it’s like to work on the one that has already been built – Lyd. It’s time to don overalls and get under the skin of one of preservation’s finest achievements.
Something’s very wrong. Looking out through the circular spectacle plate, your vision is dominated by the bulbous brass dome and elegant brass-capped chimney rising out of the low, narrow boiler. It couldn’t be anything other than a Lynton & Barnstaple Manning Wardle 2-6-2T.
Your senses tell you that it is the 1920s and you’re convinced that you’ve been transported back to the twilight years of the L&B and yet, the scenery is certainly not Exmoor, although it is arguably even more spectacular than that through which the quartet of Yeo, Exe, Taw and Lew was originally designed to run. It’s only when you look out at the towering mountains that you pinch yourself and realise you’re not in North Devon, but North Wales, and that it isn’t 1928 but the 21st century.
Though the locomotive is no more a product of the 1920s than the carriages behind the cab, No. E190 Lyd is so believable and redolent of the original L&B Manning Wardles that you can, albeit momentarily, believe that “perchance it is not dead”.
PAPER CHASE
Lyd is the brainchild of narrow gauge steam stalwart James Armstrong Evans who owns ‘Quarry Hunslet’ Velinheli. His is one of four names emblazoned on the oval worksplate which adorns the locomotive’s cabsides, the initials of three of those names – Lewin, Evans and Whalley – form an acronym which describes this locomotive to a tee: LEW. Lyd is no ordinary L&B Manning Wardle replica, but a reproduction of the most legendary of the lot, No. 188 Lew. Firmly cemented in railway folklore,
Lew was the natural subject on which James would base his fantasy new-build project.
He says: “I have been a Lynton & Barnstaple Railway fanatic since the age of 16 and was a member of the L&B Association for many years. I had been talking about building a replica engine since my twenties but was discouraged by my father – who was an engineer and had more sense– and also by a professional miniature locomotive builder who said ‘it would be impossible and financially unviable’.”
James had tracked down the drawings for the three original locomotives, but they were in very poor condition. The owner, who worked in the Foreign Office, was having them redrawn, but James lost track of them in Europe somewhere.
“The break came when I discovered that a friend, Barry Curl (who had a 2ft gauge railway in his garden) had the Eastleigh tracings for Lew, which his railway draughtsman father had saved from the bonfire at the demise of steam. They were the impetus I needed to get started, and also the reason I chose to copy Lew.” So why is No. E190 called Lyd and not Lew? As Lew may still be extant somewhere in South America – however unlikely – James felt that a new name was required, and in keeping with the tradition of naming L&B locomotives after three-letter Devon rivers, elected to call his new engine Lyd, as its namesake flows parallel to the River Lew.
“When I started construction in my own workshop, I had no idea where all the money would come from, but felt that someone had to get the ball rolling and hopefully I would not be too old to clamber onto the footplate if it was ever finished! Unfortunately, at that time most people were of the opinion that building a new full-size locomotive was not feasible, but I hoped that if I managed to complete the build it might help stimulate a rebirth of the railway itself.”
RING THE CHANGES
Of course, the L&B didn’t need a figurehead locomotive for enthusiasts to resurrect this legendary narrow gauge railway, but when work on Lyd started in the early 1990s, Woody Bay was far from being the 1930s time warp it is now, and while No. E190 may be an L&B locomotive in spirit, under the skin Lyd is a Ffestiniog Railway engine. James explains: “Lyd is as similar to Lew externally as is practical, since I was keen that it would be a true representation of the original concept in all dimensions and visible details. However, there was nowhere for the engine to work once completed except the Ffestiniog Railway; incidentally Mike Hart, then chairman of the FR Co., supplied ten tyres machined to the FR profile – some of the first components I ordered.
“No rails had been laid on the L&B at that time, so it was important to ensure that Lyd would fit the FR loading gauge and track geometry. I knew it would not pass through Garnedd Tunnel without a slight modification to the cab.”
The cab roof has been designed for easy conversion to the original profile by removing the rain gutters and bolting on pieces to the correct shape. “We just need to find the time and money to do it,” says James.
The cab is the biggest visual indicator that No. E190 isn’t an exact replica of Lew, but there have also been plenty of other changes under the skin to the original Manning Wardle design. “The locomotive would have to haul heavier trains than Lew had done if it was to earn its living on a modern tourist railway, and I was certain that the original 160lb/sq. in working pressure would have to be increased, to raise thermal efficiency and also to produce a tractive effort more suited to the high adhesive weight. “With the old imperial thickness boiler plate no longer available, the only option was to use 12.5mm, which allowed 200lb/sq. in pressure with an ample margin of safety, and without greatly increasing maintenance. The new design was all flanged and butt welded, with just a few details riveted. Girder stays were replaced by direct stays, and a deflector plate was provided above the back ends of the tubes to reduce the water carry-over to the dome. “The final big change was the provision of some superheat, mainly with a view to extending the locomotive’s range between
LYD IS NO ORDINARY L&B MANNING WARDLE REPLICA, BUT A REPRODUCTION OF THE MOST LEGENDARY OF THE LOT, No. 188 LEW
water stops, which was important for the Ffestiniog. However, with such a small diameter boiler, this was exceedingly difficult to attain and I was very grateful for the advice from Professor John Sharpe, who suggested small diameter ‘field tubes’ (concentric flues and elements) as these would be more compact than the traditional large flues and return bend elements.
“The knock-on effect of these modifications was that the slide valves would have to be balanced to reduce the loading both on the valve faces and the valve gear, which was to remain original except for the provision of adjustment to aid valve setting.” The ‘chassis’ has also been subject to modifications which, like the cab, have made Lyd more suited to the Ffestiniog.
“I discovered that the pony trucks would not traverse the sharper curvature – under two chains versus the L&B’s three chains minimum. It was apparent that there was a basic defect in the trucks’ suspension that would increase the locomotive’s tendency to roll, so my first challenge was to produce a new truck design to address these issues, but to make sure that these changes weren’t discernible, externally.
“The truck stretchers had to be completely altered to allow greater swing, and visualising the various clearances was tricky for an amateur with no CAD equipment. In fact I had no computer at all!”
One of the biggest deviations from the original Manning Wardle design was making Lyd an oil-fired locomotive, to bring it in line with the majority of the FR fleet.
James says: “Fortunately the firebox and ashpan were designed for easy conversion from oil fuel to coal burning, because no sooner had the locomotive entered traffic than the price of oil started to increase alarmingly. Rather than remove the fuel tanks, they were converted to bunkers, and a high-efficiency spark arresting system had to be fitted in the smokebox.”
The conversion to traditional coal firing isn’t the only modification made to Lyd since it steamed for the first time on May 2 2010 at the FR’s ‘Quirks & Curiosities’ event.
The superheater turned out to be more effective than expected, and the authentic displacement lubricator was not sufficiently reliable in service. This resulted in rapid valve wear, necessitating the need for a mechanical lubricator, which is hidden out of sight under the locomotive’s front left-hand running plate.
Jon Whalley, chief mechanical engineer at Boston Lodge and the last name on Lyd’s worksplate says: “An earlier refinement was a petticoat and tapered chimney insert, which has improved drafting and steaming. Also, the rear truck spring packers were adjusted to take weight off the rear truck and put more on the driven wheels, and this has certainly improved the traction. “An area we are considering for adjustment is the ashpan arrangement. It is somewhat compromised and not as easy to ash out than others, although at the moment we can live with it. We would probably simplify the arrangement and leave the dampers off.
“There are some other improvements we can consider, such as independent control for the locomotive vacuum brake, which would take away the need to apply the handbrake at stations.”
LIvInG And BReAThInG
While modifications to the original Manning Wardle design have made Lyd a Ffestiniog Railway locomotive, it is, nonetheless, vastly different to the rest of the FR’s steam fleet. The George England 0-4-0STTs and the distinctive double Fairlies were built specifically for the line, while the remainder are ex-industrial designs adapted for use on a passenger-carrying railway.
Lyd is a different kettle of fish altogether but, in some ways, is actually superior to its shed mates at Boston Lodge as “with all outside valve gear, Lyd is probably easier to oil and prepare than most of our other locomotives, such as the Fairlies and ‘Ladies’ with inside valve gear.”
Despite its dainty appearance, Lyd is one of the more powerful locomotives used on the Porthmadog-Blaenau Ffestiniog route. Jon says: “In terms of power output, we rate locomotives on the FR in terms of their haulage capacity.
“Now, we rate double Fairlies at 12 carriages maximum and, although they can pull more, we tend not to as the longer train lengths become problematic for other reasons.
“Lyd is rated at nine carriages, the ‘Ladies’ Linda and Blanche at eight, [single Fairlie] Taliesin at seven and [George England 0-4-0STT] Prince at six. Lyd is therefore the highest rated ‘conventional’ locomotive and usually ends up pulling eight-coach trains on the FR, whereas the double Fairlies are usually pulling ten-coach sets.”
LewIn’s Lyd
It may have been narrow gauge, but the L&B was a proper main line, designed from the outset to carry passengers and dovetail with the standard gauge railway it intersected at Barnstaple.
Lyd is therefore more of a main line engine than its Boston Lodge stablemates, so how does this legacy affect what it’s like to live with on a daily basis?
The best person to answer that question is Paul Lewin, general manager of the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways, and
Lyd project manager. He also has several decades of footplate experience, and his is the first name inscribed on its worksplates, so the Manning Wardle tank has a special place in his heart. “Introducing a new locomotive to a fleet is always a challenge. If the locomotive is one where there is experience in living memory then it is a good start. However, the L&B engines undoubtedly underwent some modifications after delivery, of which there appears to be no substantial record, nor is there a first-hand account of their operation. So building one, largely to
the original drawings, means that lessons learnt over 100 years ago had to be relearned today.”
…And that went for each of its drivers and firemen.
“Once converted to coal, Lyd went back into traffic and ironing out of the foibles began. With hindsight, we probably didn’t commit enough time and resources to crew training. “The need for modifications was immediately apparent. For example, the iron in the crosshead did not work well with the steel slidebars, and a wear rate of a thousandth of an inch per mile was soon spotted. An interposing layer of whitemetal solved the problem. Did the L&B have a similar experience all those years ago, we wonder? “The unhappy alliance of bronze valves running on the cast iron port faces took several years to become apparent. Built to original drawings, again we wonder if the original locomotives were changed. Certainly, the FR’s double engines had been similarly changed for an iron valve on iron port faces many years back.” Coming from very different origins to those of the other FR locomotives, Lyd is a bit of a “diva”. Paul says: “Locomotives tend to be designed to work with certain facilities. Ffestiniog engines are watered from on top, ashed out from the sides and coaled from the right-hand side. Lyd is watered from the side, ashed out into pits and coaled from the top with a scoop arrangement.
“Lyd is different to FR engines in many ways. Big wheels, a long boiler and Joy valve gear make her a very different proposition. Gentle acceleration is rewarded with effortless pace once line speed is achieved, whereas aggressive acceleration and heavy progression to main valve can prompt priming episodes, upsetting lubrication and steaming for several miles.
“The Joy valve gear is not particularly refined. The three notches on the reverser equate to 92%, 75% and 52% cut-off respectively, arrived at through experimentation and moving the notches on the quadrant, which means that, typically, by 8mph, the locomotive needs to be in third notch and driven on the regulator from there on – a far cry from the techniques used with the Walschaerts valve gear on the Welsh Highland NGG16 Garratts, say.
“Any engineman will tell you that a good performance comes down to knowing both the road and the engine well. Armed with this knowledge, Lyd can yield the most rewarding of performances.
“There is no doubt that it is a demanding locomotive, and for the fireman the ergonomics surrounding the low firehole door are a bit of a challenge. However, 15 minutes of accurate firing, building the fire to the all-important wedge shape (thick at the back and thin towards the front) culminating in two thirds of a glass of water and the needle close to the line gets you off to a flying start.
“On the run, ‘little and often’ firing with the door religiously shut between every shovel usually leads to long stretches holding the feed and even making water on a good day. The margin for error is small though: too long with the reverser in second notch doesn’t help and the long boiler means the water drops a long way when cresting summits, which requires careful planning.
“There is no doubt that double Fairlies are the engines for the Ffestiniog and the Garratts are for the Welsh Highland, but variety is the spice of life. Building and operating Lyd has been a rollercoaster ride for sure, but then that reflects that unique spirit of the F&WHR.
“I wouldn’t change that for the world – driving a varied fleet, including mastering the more challenging members such as Lyd, is a true pleasure and a privilege. The best thing about Lyd is the friendships I’ve made along the way that will last a lifetime.”