Waddon arrived in Canada 50 years ago today

Here is Waddon today, just about finished. There are a couple of small jobs we didn't get around to that can be done later, but she is good for another few years.




Cheers,
Owd Sweedy.

 

Ooooh, can you like a post multiple times?

Lovely to know she is so well cared for!

Tom

 

Looking absolutely splendid, if I manage to get to Canada again I must visit.

Nick

 

Thank you Owd Sweedy for the recent excellent pictures especially of those of between the frames.

Many a Brighton/Stroudley fan such as myself would i am sure like to thank you for your care Waddon.

Cheers,
Julian

 

Pity she couldn't have come over with DofC a few years ago.

 

Terrier 150 in 2022 anyone?

 

Thank you Julian, it is a labour of love, and really good fun as well!!
I enclose some more photos for you of the Stephenson's gear and the unusual valve spindles. It seems that the slide valves are not dead in line with the eccentrics so the spindles are turned "off centre" to accommodate this. Is this usual practise?







Cheers
Peter.

 

We have discussed this in the volunteers mess room a few times. My own opinion is that nothing is impossible, but there would be quiet a few boxes that would need ticking first. It would probably need the NRM to organize and underwrite it, and get all the Terrier owners on board, but hey, you've got seven years.....

 

hi Owd Sweedy,

many thanks for the further 2 pics.

it is quite normal for the valve rods to be closer together than the expansion links and hence intermediatte valve rod that connect to same and the die block, with some kind of offset, on an inside cylindered loco.

many many interesting details are shown in your pics, including the Stroudley channel section slidebars.

cheers,
julian

 

Thanks Julian. One thing not shown in the photos and we have been scratching heads trying to figure it out, is how were the water pumps controlled? Is there some sort of bypass mechanism inside the tanks that the two control handles in the cab were connected too? I looked into Waddons tanks but could see no sign of a control system. Incidentally the two control handles in the cab are just cosmetic and not attached to anything.
Waddon was moved out of the workshop on Saturday and after a jaunt around the site pulled by the John Molson, she is now back in display building 5.
Cheers,
Peter.

 

There's a reference to the water supply arrangements in HJ Campbell-Cornwell, and a reference to an early modification of the pumps in Bradley:

Campbell-Cornwell writes, in reference to the tank engines in general (class A, D and E):

"The rear end of the side tanks carried two fittings which were used to regulate the supply of water to the boiler. On each one was a small sector plate and handle, the latter operating the shut-down valve which controlled the quantity of water passing to the feed pump. Below each of these handles was a wheel connected to the relieving valve on that side of the engine. The relieving valve (sometimes referred to as a 'pet cock' or circulator) was placed on top of the feed pump and allowed water to be diverted back into the side tank when the boiler was full."

The "small sector plate and handles" are still extant, though now they control the water supply to the injectors on those Terriers still in operational condition.

HJ C-C then goes on:

"In their original condition, the 'Terriers', alone of all the tank engines, had no means of operating the relieving valves from the cab. The enginemen had to clamber along the running plate to attend to them, but after one man had fallen off his engine in Rotherhithe tunnel, the controls to the valves were bought back into the cab."

Bradley has a similar story, though differing in some detail:

"The feed pumps were peculiar to the class, and could usually be relied upon to start at once, for the top clack on the boiler seldom stuck. If, however, one proved stubborn, there was no means of operating the pet-cock from the footplate, and the driver was obliged to venture forth along the running plate and work it by hand. A by no means easy task, especially after dark. Much later, after several drivers had fallen from their engines, the cocks were bought into the cab."

So it appears that the two prominent quadrant valves in a Terrier cab were original fittings and, as originally set up, controlled the amount of water flowing through the pumps, giving the fireman some control on the rate at which water is replenished. In addition, each pump had a bypass valve (the "pet-cock" or "circulator" referred to above), which was initially only accessible from the front framing, but later had its control moved back into the cab. That's my reading of the references, in any case.

Tom

 

When we restored W11 Newport (originally 40 Brighton) we found that the "small sector plate" controls for the water valves were disconnected. It seems that the operating rods inside the tanks had been removed when the engine was prepared for exhibition at Butlin's Pwllheli. The rods go the full length of the tanks just under the top and operate the water valves through internal bell cranks at the front of the tanks To allow (small) fitters to enter the tanks the rods have some curves around the filling holes. We never proved it but we assumed that they were removed as a safety measure to stop people getting stuck inside the tanks as they cannot be passed when rotated as I found to my cost!

Nick

 

hi Peter,

Nick and Tom are quite correct. it is perhaps worth adding that the same side tank water valves were rather ridiculously used later for the replacement injectors on those locos so fitted - and which Tom has described how fiddly and unsuitable they are to operate for the injectors.

i dont ever think that the Terriers had pet cocks fitted to the pumps, or later a means of operating them from the cab if so fitted. the drawings i have of the unique small pump fitted to the Terriers dont show a pet cock or relief valve. it was fitted to the larger pumps to get rid of any air lock. it wasnt a 'bypass' valve as such.

cheers,
julian

 

What's the purpose of that little box behind the coal bunker?

 

It's the toolbox.

Tom

 

I've been wondering about this statement. On the one hand, it is contradicted by both HJ C-C and Bradley (above). On the other, it does seem somewhat unusual to have a piece of equipment (the relieving valve) that would be needed in regular use situated remote from the cab, especially as in general, Stroudley was known for well thought out cab layouts.

I do wonder if the reference to engine men going along the framing was more about trying to get a recalcitrant pump to pick up in the first place, rather than routine adjustment of the pump, for example by twiddling the drain cock?

HJ C-C has a long discussion about the pumps in general (too long to quote here). He sets out the differences between classes and doesn't explicitly say that the Terrier pumps did not have relieving valves: the drawing used for illustration is from an E class, however. He does make an interesting comment about a difference in technique between the tender and tank engines. Apparently, on the tender engines, the relieving valve discharged surplus water onto the track, whereas in the tank engines it was recirculated to the tanks. On the tender engines, the general protocol was to keep the relieving valves shut, and adjust the water supply valves so that the pumps matched the steam demand from the boiler. Whereas on the tank engines, the technique was to open the water supply right up, and then use the relieving valves as needed to either supply water to the boiler or recirculate it to the tanks. Again, he doesn't explicitly state that the Terriers were any different in that regard than the D and E tanks.

It would be interesting to see some more photos of the arrangement on Waddon (hint hint!) and compare with Julian's drawing, though conceivably what is left on Waddon may no longer be a complete installation.

Tom

 

Ahh, thought so, just looked a rather large box.... or would that be small loco.....

 

Don't forget that we are talking about an 1872 design here. Breakdowns and minor repairs by the crew would not have been an uncommon event with contemporary locos in those days. In fact Mr Stroudley designed such a good little loco that I suspect that few tools were used in practise.

 

Tom will no doubt be able to quote from H. Cambell Cornwall the list of tools to be included in the toolbox - it was quite a lot! personally i think the main reason for the toolbox was for the batteries for the Rushbridge communication system though this didnt come into use till a few years after 1872. some of the tools on Campbell Cornwall's list wouldnt fit into a 5ft wide Terrier toolbox anyway!

re the 'pet cock' i have the drawings for 'Grosvenor' and Edward Blount' which show a quite different type of pump to that fitted to the Terriers. there is no evidence of any cab control for such a fitting on any Terriers. there is a well known accident report relating to the operation of the Stroudley 'pet cocks' and the BOT recommendation/requirement that they be operated from the cab not the running board. as no Terriers had such cab controls subsequently fitted i am quite certain that the pumps never had them fitted!

unfortunately H. Campbell Cornwall wasnt much of an engineer and much of the technical stuff in his book is copied verbatim but unattributed from Stroudley's papers to the technical press of the day in a rather hap hazard fashion. when you read the original Stroudley papers all becomes a lot clearer than in the Campbell Cornwall book!

Campbell Cornwall does state quite clearly that the Terrier pumps were unique to the Terriers. p.44 refers to a wheel below the pump water valve connecting to a relieving valve (the 'pet cock'). as stated above, no such wheel was ever fitted to a Terrier.

cheers,
julian