ID the industrial locomotive

From a book of historic photographs of Durham - described as 'the steam locomotive, No 1, owned by Ferens and Love, Cornsay Colliery circa 1910'. Would love to know what the two huge 'pots' are for either side of the smokebox

 

Ah well according to the invaluable Industrial Railways and Locomotives of County Durham Part 1 that would be Manning Wardle M Class Works No. 148 of 1865. Apparently she came to Cornsay from Shincliffe Colliery and Brickworks. It's reckonned she was sold 'before 1914' to a 'repair company' and went to Lancashire. My best guess for the huge pots are sand boxes. The proximity to the smokebox might have helped keep it dry. The colliery was on a 2 1/4 mile branch from the NER so perhaps a lot of sand was required during the run.

 

If you look carefully, you can just about make out the delivery pipes running from the sand boxes under the running plate to the front wheels. With no steam assist, the sand would have to be kept as dry as possible hence the proximity to the smokebox.

 

Unless fitted with Lamberts wet sanding apparatus, sand has to be kept as dry as possible whether it is gravity fed or steam assisted. I don't think that proximity to the smokebox was due to keeping it dry, more to do with the convenience and logic of putting the sandboxes there to feed the front wheels. Not the usual arrangement of sandboxes for a Manning, Wardle, though. Probably an owners modification.

 

You're absolutely correct Steve. Most of the Manning Wardle/Kitson locos I have seen have a lower, squarer sand box. The modification might have something to do with the gradients or loads that they were covering, trying to last a shift without having to refill.

 

Cornsay colliery later had an old Fox Walker loco. This was retained after the colliery closed to shunt the brickworks which stayed open for some years. The traffic then was light as the loco worked for some years on just one cylinder!