0-6-2 Saddle Tank Steam Locomotive Barber


	A History of the Harrogate Gas Works Railway.

The following information has been compiled from an article entitled:-
An Interesting Narrow Gauge Railway written by Rev. E. J. Robinson, M.A.,
which was published in the Railway Magazine No. 350, August 1926 edition.

The South Tynedale Railway Preservation Society is grateful to member, Trevor Tattersall for providing Daniel McIntyre with a photocopy of the pages of this article. It is reproduced on this page as part of the history of the Harrogate Gas Works Railway, on which the steam locomotive Barber, which is currently on loan to the South Tynedale Railway from Armley Mills Museum in Leeds, used to operate.

Introduction

There are probably not many people who have not heard of Harrogate, Yorkshires delightful spa town. But there are few even in the immediate neighbourhood, who know that the Harrogate Gas Company was once the owner and operator of a most interesting and efficient little railway.

Harrogate is a clean and modern town, well laid out, with the result that the gas works were well laid out, with the result that the gas works were placed well away from everywhere, about a mile out of town on the Ripon Road, to all intents and purposes out in the open country. They were on a scale commensurate with the size of the town, and the demands made on them, producing about 466,000,000 cubic feet of gas annually.

When they were first built, all of the coal required had to be brought in by horse-drawn carts from the railway station at Starbeck, a distance of three miles. This method, as might be expected, was slow and costly. Thus in 1880, steps were taken to make an improvement and sidings were laid down at Bilton Junction on the Leeds and West Hartlepool branch of the then North Eastern Railway. The railway delivered the coals here, and the gas company conveyed them to the works - in seven-ton road wagons in trains, drawn by a fleet of road locomotives. One of the latter was a three-wheeler with a vertical boiler, known as The Coffee Pot.

This method was indubitably an improvement on the former one, but it was eventually found to have certain drawbacks. A certain amount of nuisance was caused and also the gas company found that owing to their special traffic using it, they were responsible for the upkeep of the road, at very considerable expense. In 1908 they tackled the problem boldly and decided that the real solution to their difficulties lay in a railway.

Construction of the line and route description

Accordingly the matter was placed in the hands of Edward Wilson Dixon, M.Inst.C.E., of Harrogate and Leeds, who designed and built a two foot gauge line for them. He was also responsible for a similar but longer line for the Harrogate Corporation Waterworks from Masham to their reservoirs at the head of Colsterdale. The contractors for the gas works railway were Messrs. Holme & King of Liverpool.

The length of line was 1¾ miles and it ran from the sidings at Bilton Junction to the gas works on Ripon Road. As far as possible it followed the lie of the country, on the ground level but in places there were embankments. For the greater part of its length it ran through open fields. All of the way it was unfenced. Where it past one field to another there were cattle guards to prevent the stock of the various farmers fields through with it went, straying from one owner to another. These cattle guards consisted of deep concrete pits, over which the lines are carried on narrow girders. This form of guard has been found to be much more efficient than the usual wooden type.

The line has several engineering features, a plate girder over-bridge over a public road (Old Trough Lane) and a tunnel under a small hill and the main Harrogate to Skipton Road. The tunnel is five furlongs in length. It was built partly cut and cover and was partly driven through the rock. It is concrete lined with three half-brick arches where it passes under the Skipton road. There is a ventilating shaft about midway along its length. It commences with an S bend at the gas works end, on a falling grade and then runs straight and level for most of the distance. A trip through it on the locomotive for the first time was very exciting.

The line was laid to 2-foot narrow gauge and consisted of flanged rails, 40 lb. to the yard, spiked with creosoted sleepers, and was ballasted with clinkers. With the exception of a loop near the over-bridge and the sidings at the termini, the line was straight throughout. There were some quite severe curves, one being of three chains radius, whilst there are grades of 1 in 21 and 1 in 25.

Locomotive and Rolling Stock Details

The rolling stock consisted of two locomotives and six Twinberrow steel hopper wagons of 10 tons capacity, weighing 4 tons each, carried on two four wheeled bogie trucks. They are fitted with bottom discharge and empty their full load in 30 seconds. There are two tar tanks of five tons capacity and one home built ballast wagon. All of the stock is fitted with centre buffer couplings.

With regard to the locomotives. The first one was named Barber after the Chairman of the company, and has been running for 17 years, having had two new fireboxes and tubes during that time. It was used in the building of the line and is a smart little 0-6-2 saddle tank with a swivelling trailing truck and was built by Messrs. T. Green & Sons of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, it carries makers (works number) No. 441. It is painted green with red buffer beams and underframe.

The technical details of the locomotive Barber are given as follows:-

Total length over buffers is 20 feet 10 inches; the coupled wheels are 2 feet 6 inches diametre; the trailing wheels are 1 foot 6 inches diametre; the wheel base is 11 feet 4½ inches; the fixed wheel base is 6 feet. The outside cylinders are 10 inches in diametre by 16 inches stroke. The grate area is 6.75 square feet and the total heating surface is 350 square feet. Working pressure is 155 lb. per square inch. The total weight of the engine is 19 tons. Coal capacity is ½-ton, water capacity is 350 gallons. The locomotive has Stephenson link motion, and is fitted with a steam brake and two injectors.

Barber does most of the work on the line, being more powerful than the other locomotive which is chiefly used as a standby.

The second locomotive is named Spencer, after the late Vice-chairman of the company, and was built by the Hunslet Engine Company, of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, in 1919. Makers (works number) No. 1340. It was originally built for the War Department, but at the cessation of hostilities was sold and never went to France. It was built for the 60 centimetre narrow gauge, and altered to the 2-foot narrow gauge when sold. It is a 4-6-0 tank, painted black.

The technical details of the locomotive Spencer are given as follows:-

Coupled wheels are 23 inch diametre. Length over buffers is 21 feet and weight is 12 tons. It is outside cylinders, with Walschaerts valve gear and is fitted with a steam brake.

A journey along the line described

A trip on the line to see the method of working is extremely interesting. At Bilton Sidings, the London & North Eastern Railway put their full-gauge (standard gauge) hopper bottom discharge wagons on the high level. If it is necessary to move them they are moved by the narrow-gauge locomotive, by means of a wire rope from the lower level. They are discharged into the siding hoppers. The narrow gauge wagons are drawn underneath the hoppers, and are filled by gravity. They are now ready to be taken to the works. Just beyond the hoppers there is a tar dock on a higher level than the London & North Eastern Railway siding. The full tar tanks which have been brought from the works are pushed up on it, and discharged by gravity into the London & North Eastern Railway tar wagons beneath. The usual load on the narrow gauge is two full coal wagons (10 tons load and 4 tons tare each), and to two empty tar tanks from Bilton Sidings to the works, mainly uphill, whilst the load down hill, from the Works to Bilton Sidings is two full tar tanks and two empty coal wagons.

Leaving Bilton Sidings, on the foot-plate, with the full load, we run through the open fields on a gentle grade, up which Barber climbs easily, with very little regulator. It is a pretty run. With glimpes of the River Nidd over to the right, and the fine stone viaduct which carries the London & North Eastern Railway Leeds to West Hartlepool line over the river. Passing a little coppice we commence to climb in earnest, and Barber is given a bit more regulator.

In front there are glorious views of the Nidderdale hills. The bank we are climbing is about ¼ mile in length, with a grade of 1 in 25. Just before the top we traverse a curve of three chains radius and rumble over the Bridge. Here the regulator is eased and we enter the tunnel into which we only just fit. As we round the S bend the regulator is opened wide and we pull up a piece of 1 in 21 into the light once again and are in the yard.

Here the wagons are drawn singly on to an Avery automatic self-registering weighbridge. Then Barber runs round them and pushes them into the coal stores, which have a capacity of 6,000 tons. They are run over hoppers and discharged. It may be said at this point that the coal stores are at one side of the Ripon Road, whilst the gas works are at the other. The coal is drawn from the bottom of the storage hopers into one ton rail trucks running on roller bearings, which are easily pushed by one man through a tunnel under Ripon Road into the retort house. Thus, except for a little trimming the coal is never shovelled.

After discharging her load Barber picks up a couple of full tar tanks and sets off for Bilton again. The large tank seen behind Barber in the photograph fulfils a dual purpose. There are three compartments into two of which tar and ammoniacal liquor are pumped from the works, whilst the third compartment is the water tank. The latter is fitted with a large outlet pipe, so that Barber receives 350 gallons of water in about a minute. The tar tanks are filled from the other two compartments.

Everything on the line is arranged with a view to economical and expeditious working. The line was managed by Gas Engineer, Mr. Frank H. Robinson, Assoc. M. Inst. C.E., to whose kindness this article is due.

The total ingoing and outgoing traffic dealt with in 1924 was 38,550 tons, whilst the cost of working, exclusive of capital charges was 8d. per mile. The whole undertaking is one of which all those concerned are very justly proud.

THE SOUTH TYNEDALE RAILWAY PRESERVATION SOCIETY,
Registered Office Address:-
The Railway Station, Alston, Cumbria, CA9 3JB.
Telephone 01434 381696.
Talking timetable - Telephone 01434 382828.
Registered Charity No. 514939.
Limited by Guarantee: Company Registration No. 1850832 (England).

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