weNfordBridge workhorses
Beattie well tanks vs ‘1366’ panniers
william George Beattie’s ‘0P’ well tank will never win any prizes for long distance running or prestigious haulage capability, but if there was ever a beauty pageant for steam locomotives, these sweet little fourcoupled engines would be medal winners. The pocket-sized 2-4-0wTs became the enthusiast darlings of Cornwall when (after originally being made obsolete, while Victoria was still Queen) three of the original 85 eked out almost seven more decades, ambling over the ‘twisty-turny’, lightly laid wenfordbridge mineral branch. The geriatric trio, Nos. 314, 329 and 298 - far better known by their post-nationalisation monikers 30585, 30586 and 30587, finally gave way to the younger, 1934-built, Great western pannier tanks, which boasted greater horsepower and water capacity than their Lswr counterparts. These three substitute ‘1366s’ were symbolic of the western region’s latter day domination of the southern’s ‘withered Arm’ in the south west. Although this ultimately spelled the end of classic routes to romantic destinations like Padstow and Ilfracombe, some of the line’s antiquated locomotives thankfully slipped through the net, including two of the three Beatties. Both have served active lives in preservation and, 143 years after being outshopped from Manchester’s Beyer Peacock works, No. 30587 still keeps the Beattie flame burning. Meanwhile, sister No. 30585 awaits a third preservation overhaul at the Buckinghamshire railway Centre, having last steamed in october 2016. sadly, No. 30586 - the last built - didn’t make it, in spite of an attempt by the late Leopold de rothschild (later a member of the National railway Museum’s advisory committee) to secure it for posterity.
I still love the Beatties. They were little sewing machines - each one had its own character . TONY HALLWORTH, FORMER 72F FIREMAN
Nemesis
National Collection No. 30587 met its pannier tank nemesis - No. 1369 - during a working visit to the South Devon Railway in February; rekindling memories of the crossover between the two ages of Wenfordbridge steam in 1962. That this well tank lasted in revenue-earning service as late as the 1960s is thanks, in no small part, to Lady Luck. 1874-built (Beyer Peacock) No. 298 (30587) was originally due for scrapping in the early 1890s as part of the LSWR’s modernisation of London suburban services, which had been handed to Adams ‘Radials’ and ‘O2’ tank engines. A need for diminutive locomotives in Wadebridge to replace the clapped-out Fletcher Jennings 0-4-0STs called for the now-redundant, but ideally suited short-wheelbase LSWR well tanks, and No. 298 arrived in its more pastoral surroundings in June 1895. A sword of Damocles hung over the engine again as soon as 1898, when displaced ‘O2s’ were considered for the Cornish branch. After trials they weren’t found to be suitable, leading to another reprieve for the well tanks; but not before an undignified zero was added to their numbers to signify that they had already been placed on the duplicate list, in anticipation of withdrawal. Thus No. 298 became No. 0298. A new Drummond-design boiler was fitted at Eastleigh in 1921, but a third threat to No. 0298’s livelihood struck just eight years later when it was actually withdrawn. Thankfully, the Ashford ‘P’ class 0-6-0T that was drafted in damaged the delicately woven track, and the Beattie was reprieved for a third time. After spells as Nos. 0298 and 3298, the engine gained its now familiar number - 30587 - soon after nationalisation in 1948. In 1962, and after 88 years and 1¼ million miles, No. 30587 was finally ‘out’. Weymouth quay pannier No. 1368 was sent to Wadebridge for trials in April 1962 and succeeded where the ‘O2’ and ‘P’ had previously failed. Later that year, Nos. 30585-7 were pushed aside by Nos. 1367-9; it was a sad moment for aficionados of the Beatties. But No. 30587 would eventually emerge for a second
innings. The British Transport Commission saw the immense value in the engine that, upon final withdrawal, was one of the oldest on BR’s books. The 2‑4‑0WT was therefore saved for the nation and finally returned to working order in 2003 at the Bodmin & Wenford Railway. Meanwhile, No. 30585 retired to Quainton.
‘Scamp on’
Former 72F fireman Tony Hallworth speaks highly of the well tanks, despite their ‘0P’ power classification. “They were lovely little engines and they rode beautifully. They would still take up to 29 empty wagons, or 14‑15 full ones. Sometimes you wouldn’t even see the brakevan. “We’d do between 15 and 20mph on the Wenford branch, but they could also get a scamp on when they needed to. In LSWR days in London, they’d have reached 55mph no bother.” “But the Beattie was a locomotive you couldn’t rush. They would slip and slide unless you treated them gently… In damp weather you had to be gentle. We would always stop before the water column in Pencarrow Wood because if we overshot, the engine wouldn’t be able to push the train back up the hill.” Remarkably, Tony is still in the position of being able to regularly clamber back into the confined space of No. 30587’s cab as a volunteer driver at Bodmin, 55 years after he fired two of the redundant class between Wadebridge and Exmouth Junction for disposal. “At the end of 1962, I took two away as fireman and I thought that was the end of everything. I can’t believe it really; it’s a privilege to be back on the footplate of something that I was on as a youngster.” How did he, or rather does he, compare the well tank to the outside‑cylindered pannier? “I still love the Beatties,” he warmly affirms. “They were little sewing machines. Each one had its own character. But if you’ve been on a ‘Western’, you’ve been on them all. “Why they sent the ‘Westerns’ down for the last 18 months [before dieselisation] I don’t know. I suppose because of the boundary change in 1963 [from Southern to Western Region], they wanted their engines.” If anything brought about the end of the ‘0298s’, apart from their age, it was their low water capacity: “The well tanks carry more water in the boiler than in the tank, so we’d always make sure that we left Wadebridge with a full pot. They only carried 550 gallons, so we wouldn’t put the injector on until Dunmere.” That was more than four miles away. In comparison, the ‘1366s’ carried 830 gallons. That was combined with a nominal tractive effort of 16,320lbs, whereas the Beatties punched considerably lower, at 11,050lbs. The duo proved to be a popular draw at the South Devon in February; a line flanked by a river for most of its length, therefore neatly lending itself to re‑creations of the Wenfordbridge branch. “The Beattie was very popular,” said SDR press and PR manager Dick Wood, “although our crews found it a challenge.” Steam in the South West often conjures up images of warmth and blue skies, but the weather for No. 30587’s visit for the Winter Steam Gala on February 11‑19 was, for the most part, anything but… “The first weekend was sub‑arctic,” Dick adds, “and the forecast of dire pestilence didn’t help, but it still washed its face and was worthwhile.” That relative success, coupled to sell‑out photo charter events with both Nos. 1369 and 30587, should mean that these little workhorses of Wenfordbridge will be in big demand for a long time to come.