THE FUTURE OF INDUSTRIALS
Looking at industrials’ place in preservation
When was the last time an industrial locomotive made the cover of Steam Railway? It’s longer ago than you might realise – 24 years ago in fact, on the June 1995 edition – more than half of this magazine’s lifetime ago. And even then, it was an engine with main line credentials: Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Collieries’ Robert Stephenson 0-6-2T No. 5, which had running rights over BR metals during its working career.
Before anyone singles SR out for discriminating against these hardy little workhorses, when was the last time an industrial locomotive starred on the cover of any national railway magazine? The fact of the matter is, this absence of editorial prominence reflects the generally smaller interest in industrials from the wider enthusiast community. Yes, there is a hard core cabal of industrial steam fans (including among the SR editorial team), but they – and we – are in a minority compared to those who worship at the altar of all things BR.
But why? They may not have the ‘star power’ of their main line counterparts, but industrials are equally as worthy of attention and study. As Tanfield Railway director David Watchman says: “Railways as a whole would never have come into existence without industrials; locomotive development up to 1829 was with industrial railways after all. In just the same way, many preserved lines were only able to start out because they could obtain relatively cheap and easy to maintain locomotives from industry.”
And let’s not forget that commercial steam operations in Britain outlived main line BR steam by over two decades after the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’, well into the late 1980s – and, in a few isolated cases, even into the early 1990s.
But as railways continue to expand beyond the capabilities of a humble Andrew Barclay saddle tank for example, industrials have increasingly retreated from preservation’s ‘premier league’ lines and have been replaced by ex-BR locomotives. As Steam Railway reflects on 40 years of covering preservation and considers where the movement will be in decades to come, surely it is time to ask: what is the future for industrials?
INEVITABLE EVOLUTION
When Steam Railway was in its infancy, industrial locomotives were a major part – whether by design or by circumstance – of the preservation scene. There was an explosion of new preservation schemes in the 1970s and 1980s, and they all wanted steam as their main source of motive power.
Even though the Barry phenomenon was in full swing by 1979 – 11 locomotives left the scrapyard that year alone – fewer than 30 ex-scrapyard engines had been restored at that point, and there were relatively few operational National Collection and privately preserved ex-BR locomotives – certainly not enough to support the rapidly growing number of preservation schemes.
The solution to this relative dearth of working steam lay in industry. It was a serendipitous convergence of events: industrial steam was on the wane as many systems either dieselised or closed altogether, rendering hundreds of ex-industrial locomotives redundant, right at the time when the railway preservation movement was rapidly expanding, hungry for motive power, and able to provide homes for locomotives which might otherwise have been scrapped.
As Middleton Railway Trust vice president and press officer Ian Smith says, the reason many railways started out using ‘Austerities’ in particular was because “they were in plentiful supply via the NCB and, to a lesser extent, the MoD. They were relatively cheap to acquire, were in working order and fairly simple to maintain, which had been the whole point of their design.
“More importantly, they were BR power class 4, which meant they could haul a rake of Mk 1 coaches.”
For new preservation schemes, the ability to get a working locomotive almost ‘off the shelf’ was a real coup, particularly as “there were and are very few lines that couldn’t be worked effectively by a saturated sixwheeled locomotive, whether or not it ever had a ‘ferret and dartboard’ on the side,” adds David Watchman.
Many of today’s ‘premier league’ railways started out using industrials – the West Somerset, North Norfolk, Gloucestershire Warwickshire and North Yorkshire Moors railways for example – but even then, some seemed to be embarrassed by their industrials. David says: “Even when industrials were being preserved at other railways, it was often with spurious liveries and every effort made to hide their commercial lives.”
Nowadays, however, industrial steam on such railways is a rarity – if it hasn’t been abolished altogether – primarily because such lines have rapidly outgrown these comparatively underpowered locomotives.
This status quo is the result of an inevitable evolution.
Many industrial engines were, by and large, not built for extended periods of operation; they were designed primarily for shunting, and certainly not for hauling passengers, so as lines began to expand and extend, industrial locomotives became less and less suited to their operational requirements, and as more ex-Barry locomotives became available, it was only natural that railways decided to use such engines instead.
Industrial Railway Society chairman Ian Bendall says: “Had there not been a steady source of main line steam from Barry, industrial locomotives would have had a more prominent influence on preserved railways.”
VICtIMs of suCCess
In many respects then, industrials became the unintended victims of their railways’ success. They were never going to last on the likes of the North Yorkshire Moors and West Somerset railways – which, at 18 and 23 miles in length respectively, were always going to be beyond the capacity of their early industrial pioneers – but even on lines where industrials have been a seemingly permanent fixture since their inception, they have started to be replaced by main line machines.
One place where this is especially true is the Bodmin & Wenford Railway. Twenty-five years ago, visitors would have been greeted with ‘Austerities’ and other industrials. Now, however – this year excepted, owing to a brief motive power crisis – that isn’t the case; the saddle tanks have given way to Swindon’s finest.
“The B&WR started life as a very small railway with a few industrials because, at that stage, nothing else was available,” says Bodmin press officer Jimmy James.
“As the railway expanded and passenger numbers increased, trains became longer and there was a demand for more powerful engines with a greater water capacity for the three miles of 1-in-40 up from Bodmin Parkway. When the Boscarne branch opened, there was another three miles of similar gradients to consider.
“By then, we were running four-to-five-coach trains, as opposed to two or three in the earlier years, hence the gradual acquisition of [Nos.] 5552, 4612, 6435 and 4247 for the peak season trains.”
Although the philosophy of the BWR is to “replicate a typical Cornish branch line of the 1950s, as far as is practicable today,” Jimmy asserts that the move towards Great Western engines “was a question of operational capability rather than a conscious decision to phase out the industrials.”
However, he adds: “It became apparent that a GWR locomotive was more of an authentic attraction for our visitors than an industrial with no Cornish provenance.
“Alfred and Judy, the Par Docks shunters, are the exceptions. They have the local connections, and Reverend Awdry has featured them as Bill and Ben [in The Railway Series books]. Even so, their usage is very limited, and they can only usefully be employed on brake van trains on the level in the yard at General.”
Industrials still have their uses at Bodmin, however. As mentioned earlier, Bagnall ‘Austerity’ WD No. 75178 was the Cornish line’s sole working steam locomotive during the peak season this year, following the withdrawal of mainstay ‘42XX’ No. 4247 and until ‘8750’ 0-6-0PT No. 4612 returned to traffic late in the summer.
“It had been intended to send [No. 75178] out on hire to other railways, but that plan was quickly cancelled when we realised it was going to be our only operational locomotive for most of the 2019 season. Without the ‘Austerity’, we would have been in real trouble.”
That said, Jimmy doubts that industrials “will ever make a large contribution to our services, unless we are again faced with failures of everything else on the stock book, and none of us would want to see that situation repeated!”
‘IT IS STILL A STEAM LOCOMOTIVE’
Despite their almost complete disappearance from the Bodmin & Wenford, industrials continue to thrive on other ex-BR lines. One such example is the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway which, with a relatively short running line and steep gradients, is very similar to Bodmin, yet – despite its emblematic pair of Fairburn 2-6-4Ts and the recent addition of Ivatt 2-6-0 No. 46441 – still relies heavily on industrial steam.
“The industrial fleet is critical in maintaining our intensive daily service,” says LHR director Graham Magee. “They are economical to operate, relatively cheap and simple to maintain, and are straightforward to drive. None of our industrials have either leading or trailing trucks, so all of their weight is available for adhesion, something that is high on a driver’s mind when faced with a heavy train on a wet Lake District morning!”
Even though industrials have their advantages on the LHR, they do have their limitations. “With up to eight return trips on the line on any given day, the utilisation is intensive and trains are increasingly loaded up to our maximum of six coaches. One engine can cope, but it needs to be of sufficient stature to meet the task, and not all of our industrials are large enough to handle trains of this length,” Graham caveats.
Nonetheless, Graham asserts that industrials will continue at Lakeside for the foreseeable future, but the impending completion of No. 42085’s overhaul and the desire to get No. 46441 operational “as soon as we can will mean that we can cover a larger percentage of our service trains with [Nos. 42085 and 46441], particularly in peak season,” he says. Plus, he adds, passengers “are always impressed with a gleaming larger loco.”
Even though the LHR’s industrials may get increasingly sidelined in favour of the Fairburn tanks and Ivatt ‘Mogul’ in years to come, it is unlikely they will disappear altogether.
Industrials will always be welcome at the Spa Valley Railway, however. Although six-coupled industrials “handle trains on our line perfectly well,” says general manager Jonnie Pay, one area on the SVR where they have no particular advantage over their BR counterparts is running costs, which “are the same as main line ones.” Jonnie says: “They still burn coal by the tonne and have a steaming fee which isn’t much different to ex-BR engines. They’re cheaper to move on a lorry, but only because industrials are – generally speaking – a tank engine, so they’re not accompanied by a tender; if it is a main line tank engine, it costs the same.”
“At the end of the ticket, regardless of whether it is industrial or main line, it is still a steam locomotive that needs a boiler overhaul among everything else. It can be cheaper in some respects if you, say, compare ‘Ugly’ to a ‘Standard Four’ tank, but the costs don’t vary much; copper and steel still cost the same, as does labour!”
Despite a lack of significant cost advantage over a main line engine, Jonnie says: “We’ll always need
It became apparent that a GWR locomotive was more of an authentic attraction for our visitors than an industrial JIMMY JAMES, PRESS OFFICER, BODMIN & WENFORD RAILWAY
industrial locos. [‘Terrier’ No. 50] ‘Sutton’ and the ‘Jinty’ [No. 47493] won’t return to steam one after the other, so industrials have got a long-term future with us.”
Another ex-BR line that owes its continued existence to industrials is the Northampton & Lamport Railway. At just 1½ miles – soon to be two miles when its Boughton extension opens – and with trains seldom longer than three coaches, industrials “are perfect for what we do,” says its operations director and chairman Adam Giles.
He adds: “While it’s nice to have a main line visitor now and again, most of our target audience wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. The steaming fee for a ‘main liner’ on a quiet weekend takes a lump out of the profit, meaning we need a lot more bums on seats to justify it.
“Steaming fees for industrials seem to be about two thirds of a main line engine. If people can’t tell the difference, then is the extra cost justified? Besides, are there enough ‘Jinties’ or panniers to go around if everyone had one?
“I appreciate that some railways need bigger engines to cope with gradients or train sizes, but there does however appear to be a trend that whenever a railway gets over three miles long, they suddenly need a ‘Black Five’ and six coaches on every train. When an 0-4-0 on three coaches will suffice, why spend money unnecessarily?”
However, this pragmatic attitude is by no means universal, particularly among the enthusiast fraternity. Adam says: “I think industrials are underrated and there is some snobbery in some circles if you have an industrial engine out. At the end of the day, it’s another steam engine that got saved from the cutter’s torch and it deserves to run, if possible.”
Adam is convinced, however, that this ‘industrial snobbery’ is part of a wider problem. “I think we need to look at the broader picture of how we present things to people. Shiny maroon express engines paint a wonderful romantic picture, but people seem to forget that, behind all the glamour, there was the humble industrial working away in a quarry, cement works and so on. I think these humble little engines that so often worked behind the scenes keeping day to day life going deserve to have their stories told.
“After all, how many people would have been sitting in the dark with no electricity or gas if there hadn’t been a shunting engine working away in a power station or gas works somewhere in the country?”
‘soMe wIll Be sCRAppeD’
Industrials seem to have a future on some of Britain’s smaller ex-BR lines, but what about places where industrials are integral to their history and image?
One such line is the Middleton Railway where “industrials are very much at the heart of the railway and are thus assured of a working home here,” says MRT vice president Ian Smith.
Today, there are 15 industrial locomotives based at Middleton, with two others on loan elsewhere. However, Ian doesn’t envisage the collection growing any time soon, although he doesn’t rule it out: “We have enough on our plates, sadly. Having said that, there are a few gems which we would love to have in the collection and might well make changes to acquire.”
This highlights an underlying problem: capacity. Namely, there are arguably too many industrial locomotives vying for a relatively limited pool of work or shelter. Ian believes that smaller railways can offer enough work for Britain’s operational industrial fleet, but “what we can’t offer is accommodation for them all!” he warns.
“For those engines which are owned by an accredited museum, the future should be assured, but otherwise I expect to see some losses of locomotives over the coming years.
“There are many industrials rusting at the back of restoration queues. Will some be scrapped? Good question. I suspect it will more likely be the case that they will never be restored and then quietly disposed of. I think it’s inevitable that some will be scrapped, and it won’t just be industrials – some main line types will likely never see a fire; indeed, some have already been dismantled for spares and I can see that some industrials will go the same way. Some already have.”
IRS chairman Ian Bendall estimates that around 20 engines that had been preserved have been subsequently scrapped, almost all of which have met their maker without so much as a ‘by your leave’. Would there be the same reaction (or lack of it) from enthusiasts if a ‘main liner’ was scrapped?
ChANgINg the NARRAtIve
One railway which understands and appreciates industrials more than most is the Tanfield Railway. With nearly 30 locomotives from a variety of
manufacturers, it boasts one of the biggest industrial collections in the country.
“Industrials are fundamentally what we’re about at Tanfield. Even if we’re hiring a visiting locomotive, it will have an industrial pedigree,” says Tanfield director David Watchman.
Of those 28 industrials, four are currently operational, while Andrew Barclay 0-6-0ST Works No. 1015 Horden is reaching the end of an extensive restoration. Three more are under overhaul off-site, while two are under restoration. The rest are either awaiting overhaul under cover or awaiting restoration.
Given Tanfield’s relatively small engineering and fundraising capacity (“We’ve never sourced external funding for the overhaul of a locomotive. Our maintenance, overhaul and restoration work is currently totally self-sustained,” says David) is there a risk that some of the engines awaiting restoration will be, as Ian Smith says, “quietly disposed of”?
David refutes this notion: “None of the locomotives at Tanfield are at risk of being scrapped. Some may be restored cosmetically for display rather than operation as we build further covered accommodation, but all of them are restorable and their historic value is fully appreciated.
“Not everything has to run to be of value. We look upon our locomotives as a collection, not a fleet. They have a story to tell and value to add even if they are only on display at present.”
He adds: “It’s too easy for some to write locomotives off. Five years ago, people would have looked at Horden as just another ‘unrestored industrial’ and assumed it had little hope. Now it’s within spitting distance of being back in steam.”
David feels that, in some quarters of preservation, industrials’ often rich histories are under-appreciated, but why should enthusiasts care about industrials?
“I think it’s strange how questions of this nature are never posed to our narrow gauge counterparts. Nobody ever says, ‘Why should enthusiasts care about the Ffestiniog Railway?’ for example. It’s a narrative that needs to change.
“The only way to do that is by education. I think the big thing preservation needs to overcome is the assumption that former main line locomotives are somehow more important or superior in some way.
“A friend of mine once said that, if there’d been a National Coal Board or British Steel equivalent of the ‘abc’ books, preservation would have looked very
different. He’s dead right, but there’s a whole generation of enthusiasts who never spotted main line steam, so the opportunity exists to change some of that mentality.”
He believes that interpretation has a big role to play. For enthusiasts particularly, it is arguably easier to emotionally connect with an industrial in its proper context – such as hauling coal wagons past the pit headgear at Foxfield – than it is with a random industrial hauling a rake of incongruous Mk 2s on a former BR branch line.
“For us, the future is about authenticity and accessibility,” says David. “We’ve introduced our first NCB-liveried carriage to traffic and Horden is being restored to a standard of care and authenticity equal to anything that the main line preservation scene can offer. This year, we’ve been able to put more locomotives on display as new buildings have been completed and we want that to continue.
“To the general public in our part of the world at least, a locomotive with ‘National Coal Board’ on the side is as easy – perhaps even more so – to connect with as one with ‘British Railways’ on the tank. If industrials are restored accurately and operated in the region they worked commercially, the public fully ‘get’ it in our experience.
“I don’t think we’re alone in this push for authenticity, I think that’s certainly the direction that industrial preservation is heading. Hopefully the days of trying to hide the industrial past of a locomotive behind a fake livery or name are something we’ll leave behind.”
Far from being concerned about industrial steam’s future, David is optimistic. “I see opportunities rather than challenges,” he says. “Younger generations, who perhaps don’t remember BR steam, don’t seem to have the same hangups about the whole main line vs industrial thing. At Tanfield, half the workforce is under 35 so perhaps there’s a correlation between that and the post-‘spotter’ era.”
UNCERTAIN FUTURE
So then, what is the future of industrials? Yes, they will undoubtedly face challenges in coming years, but although they have been largely relegated from today’s ‘premier league’ railways, industrials still have a vital part to play on Britain’s smaller lines, and will likely continue to do so for many years to come.
Furthermore, as events at Bodmin in 2019 and Didcot Railway Centre in recent years have proved, you can have many ex-BR locomotives at your disposal, but when things go wrong, an industrial can be salvation. Besides, the ‘Moors’ has proved that industrials can still earn their keep on Britain’s larger lines (see panel).
And let’s not forget that, for the likes of Tanfield et al, the ‘down and dirty’ industrial is where it is at, recreating history and scenes every bit as important and engrossing as the ‘main liners’: 16-ton mineral wagons at Pontypool, banked steam on the 1-in-19 gradient at Foxfield, NCB miners’ trains at Tanfield, and many more besides. Then there are those unique stories, such as the sole working fireless in Scotland, crane tanks, Britain’s only surviving standard gauge Garratt…
Without industrials, the preservation movement would not be where it is today. They have kept Britain’s railways – preserved or otherwise – going for over two centuries and will hopefully continue to do so for many years to come. Let’s show them a little love.