BRITAIN’S BIGGEST NEW-BUILD BOILER COMPLETED FOR WHR GARRATT
Northern Steam Engineering Ltd has completed what it claims to be the biggest boiler to be finished in Britain since the BR era.
The boiler, ordered for Welsh Highland Railway-based ‘NGG16’ 2-6-2+2-6-2 No. 130, was lifted onto the Garratt’s frames at Dinas on December 12. It is believed to be the largest engine boiler completed in Britain since 1966, when Hunslet built four spare 4-8-2 boilers for export to Sudan (SR450).
At 18ft long (including the smokebox), with a diameter of 4ft 9½in and a grate area of 19½sq. ft, the boiler is comparable in size to a Standard ‘2MT’ tank’s pressure vessel, albeit shorter and with a larger grate area.
Designed and built entirely in-house by NSE staff under the supervision of Project Director and Lead Boilersmith Adam Dalgleish, the boiler is of partriveted, part-welded design which takes into account the external dimensions of the original design and the requirements of modern safety standards.