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[STR-totem] Henschel 0-4-0 Tank Locomotive
No.6 �Thomas Edmondson�
Loco No.6 photo

Locomotive Details:-

Steam locomotive �Thomas Edmondson� arrived at the South Tynedale Railway, Alston, Cumbria in 1984. It is a 90 horse power, 0-4-0 tank locomotive, constructed to a standard World War I German Army design and was built in 1918 by Henschel & Sohn, of Kassel, Germany, works No. 16047.

This locomotive was built as one of many identical locomotives for use on the Tigris Kreigsbahn in Turkey, to a standard Army design of the period, as Tigris Kreigsbahn locomotive No. 125. Although it is believed never to have been delivered there, due to the end of World War I. It was stored at the Field Eisenbahn in Frankfurt, Germany, until its sale as part of a batch of twenty indentical engines acquired by the Spanish Government, to the Spanish �Zapadores y Militar de Espanina� for use in Spanish Morocco, in the Rif campaign in the 1920s. It was later transferred to the military railway of the Servico Militar de Ferrocarriles, at Cuatro Vientos, near Madrid (Spanish military engineers) and was used for training purposes. At the end of its military service in 1962, it was sold to Minas y Ferrocarril de Utrillas S.A. for use on the colliery railway system in the Teruel region of Spain until its closure in 1966. However, all nine of the M.F.U. narrow gauge locomotives survived in their engine shed.

Following lengthy negotiations, it was purchased by the South Tynedale Railway Preservation Society and delivered to Alston in 1984.

Photo: �Thomas Edmondson� photographed on display at Alston Station in September 1997, coupled to Hudswell-Clarke diesel locomotive No.4 �Naworth�.

Restoration:-

Full restoration included the fitting of a Polish-made steam air pump, ex-PKP (Polish State Railways), imported by the South Tynedale Railway Preservation Society, and it entered passenger service on 18th July 1987.

On 23rd August 1987, in conjunction with the Transport Ticket Society, it was named by the Society's Patron, the Earl of Carlisle, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the invention of the traditional-style railway ticket.

In December 1991 �Thomas Edmondson� had been taken out of service and was being prepared for its annual boiler inspection, new gauge glasses were fitted in March 1992 and it passed its cold examination. The locomotive re-entered service in May 1992.

By April 1993 this locomotive was nearing the end of its useful life before a major overhaul was required, although it received its boiler certificate, it was only used as a standy during 1993 which was to be its last season in service.

In order to put this locomotive back into full working order, a bid for a grant of �35,100 to the Heritage Fund of The National Lottery was prepared during 2002 and was announced that it had been successful in December 2002. The money will be used towards the cost of a full restoration project, which is to be carried out over a two-year period.

Dimensions and livery:-

Original dimensions:-
Cylinders = 10 in. (254 mm) x 14 in. (356 mm).
Fitted with Walschaert�s valve gear. Working pressure of 10 atmospheres (147 per sq. inch).
Weight = 12 tonnes empty, 14 tonnes in full working order. Tractive effort at 60% of boiler pressure = 4,660 lbs (2,114 kg).
Length = 16 ft 6 in. (5,029 mm). Width = 6 ft 8 in. (2,032 mm). Overall height = 9 ft 6 in. (2,896 mm).
Wheel diameter = 2 ft 2� in. (673mm). Wheelbase = 5 ft 1 in. (1,550mm).

Present dimensions:-
Length = 20ft 0 in. (6,096 mm). Width = 6 ft 8 in. (2,032 mm). Height to top of cab = 9ft 3in. (2,819 mm).
Wheel diameter = 2ft 1in. (635 mm).

Livery:-
Mid-Brunswick green, with black frames and wheels, red valve gear and buffer beams.

Other similar locomotives preserved:-

One hundred and thirteen of these locomotives were built from various sources, it has been established that only fourteen remain. The only one which is in working order being No. 16047 �Thomas Edmondson�, which the South Tynedale Railway Preservation Society believes is the only working example of the Tigris Kreigsbahn Henschel 0-4-0 tank locomotive in Great Britain and Europe and probably - in the world.

The other remaining locomotives of this class which are known to exist, outside of Spain, are:-

  • No. 15943 of 1918 - On static display at the Haskoy Dockyard area of the Rahmi M. Koc Muzesi (museum) at Haskoy, Istanbul, Turkey. (As reported in Narrow Gauge News No. 263, July 2004 issue, published by the Narrow Gauge Railway Society).

  • No. 16032 of 1918 - Outside the manufacturers, Henschel, factory in Kassel, Germany. - Not in working order.

  • Nos. 16043, 16045 and 16073 (converted to 0-4-2 configuration) are all located in England. These may be restored at some time in the future and exhibited at a proposed museum in Aberystwyth, Wales.

  • No. 16062 of 1918 - At Seleck Railway Museum, Turkey. Plinthed and not in working order.

Other locomotives are reported to be privately preserved in Spain and these are not in working order. According to the Locomotive Club of Great Britain Overseas Tours booklet covering Iberia and preserved locomotives, railcars and trams of Spain and Portugal 2004 edition, it lists seven locomotives in Spain, these are:-

  • No. 16024 of 1918 (ex Minero Siderugica de Ponferrada S.A.) - shown as fleet No. 11, plinthed at Cabeza plano inclinado, Villaseca, in the Leon area of Castilla y Leon region, of north western Spain.

  • No. 16032 of 1918 (ex Minas y FC de Utrillas) - shown as fleet No. 31, as a plinthed locomotive on the N420 road (Avenida Valencia), at km 653 located opposite a police station at Utrillas, in the Teruel area of the Aragon region. But this may really be works No. 16031.

  • No. 16051 of 1918 - At the Military Station of San Gregorio, to the west of Zaragoza city on the Huesca road, in the Aragon region of north eastern Spain.

  • No. 16061 of 1918 (shown as metre gauge, ex Sociedad Industrial Asturiana Gijon) - named as �Angel del Campo� in a private garden at Riba Roja del Turia, in the Valencia region.

  • No. 16069 of 1918 (shown as 650 mm gauge), named as �Alemana� now carries No. 20, at the Asturian Railway Museum, located in the old RENFE terminal station at Gijon, in the Asturias region.

  • No. 16070 of 1918 (ex Antracitas de Gaiztarro) - At Coto Minero Sil, Ponferrada, (Columbrianos) in the Leon area of Castilla y Leon region, of north western Spain.

  • No. 16072 of 1918 (ex Servicio Militar de Ferrocarriles) - Although shown as an 0-6-0 tank, this may be an 0-4-0 tank, as fleet No. 150 at the Museo de la Academia Militas, in Hoyo de Manzanares, near Torrelodones, in the Madrid region.

For more information about the South Tynedale Railway, please contact:-
SOUTH TYNEDALE RAILWAY PRESERVATION SOCIETY
The Railway Station, Alston, Cumbria, CA9 3JB.
Tel. 01434 381696.��� Talking timetable tel. 01434 382828.
Registered Charity No. 514939.

E-mail enquiries - please click on links below:
South Tynedale Railway information - Send e-mail to South Tynedale Railway
STRPS membership information only - Send e-mail to Kathy Aveyard
Tynedalesman information only - Send e-mail to Liesel Metz

This page was last updated on 23rd March 2005.
� South Tynedale Railway Preservation Society 2005.

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