Amusing incident on the Bowes Railway

[Nick Holliday]

Came across a copy of Colin Mountford's book on the Bowes Railway and thought this little story from it might amuse, and inspire a modelling moment:

One of the drivers, Mr. Burkett, relates an incident from the 1930's, on Loco No 9, which originated in the 1860's as on 0-6-0, built by Ralph Coulthard, and subseqeuntly rebuilt several times, as an 0-6-ST, long bolier.

"I went light to Jarrow and picked up 24 empties.  We had filled her with sawdust and horse dung so she was tight for a while, and when we had got sufficient steam we went off with all the noises imaginable. We soon reached 20 m.p.h. and were doing well till suddenly the steam dropped.  On examination we had lost the smokebox door completely.  I went back and picked up the remains, for I could carry it alone easily.

We pulled a wall down (it is an isolated part here) and with the stones and sods of earth we built a stone smokebox door. Off again, and we had nearly finished our journey when the sods and earth dried and took fire.The whole of the front was aflame and heated red. I arrived at the shed to the aghast gaze of many onlookers; but after building a brick door with lime, we completed our day's work while our door got patched up."

As an aside, the first locos on the line, in 1826, were 0-4-0's from Robert Stephenson, some of their earliest products, and delayed to allow the locos for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway to be delivered first.

[eastworld]

Came across a copy of Colin Mountford's book on the Bowes Railway and thought this little story from it might amuse, and inspire a modelling moment:

One of the drivers, Mr. Burkett, relates an incident from the 1930's, on Loco No 9, which originated in the 1860's as on 0-6-0, built by Ralph Coulthard, and subseqeuntly rebuilt several times, as an 0-6-ST, long bolier.

"I went light to Jarrow and picked up 24 empties.  We had filled her with sawdust and horse dung so she was tight for a while, and when we had got sufficient steam we went off with all the noises imaginable. We soon reached 20 m.p.h. and were doing well till suddenly the steam dropped.  On examination we had lost the smokebox door completely.  I went back and picked up the remains, for I could carry it alone easily.

We pulled a wall down (it is an isolated part here) and with the stones and sods of earth we built a stone smokebox door. Off again, and we had nearly finished our journey when the sods and earth dried and took fire.The whole of the front was aflame and heated red. I arrived at the shed to the aghast gaze of many onlookers; but after building a brick door with lime, we completed our day's work while our door got patched up."

As an aside, the first locos on the line, in 1826, were 0-4-0's from Robert Stephenson, some of their earliest products, and delayed to allow the locos for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway to be delivered first.

Would make an interesting model variation!

 

Stu

[Thunderforge]

What a great image, would be quite scary seeing that coming up the line, all stones and flames!

 

Interesting the use of sawdust and horse dung, I presume used for cheap fuel, or a way to keep a coal fire burning but less intense? Obviously not something kept as standard practice into nationalisation haha!

[Osgood]

I took it to mean they'd stuffed some bearings with the mix.........but now I'm not so sure........

Edited June 20, 2018 by Osgood

[PatB]

I think they're talking about bunging up leaks in the boiler.

[Osgood]

What I can't understand about that is how you 'fill her' - you'd have to apply the stuff from the inside to prevent leaks.

You wouldn't even seal the ends of a leaking tube. Surely stuffing it into leaking plate joints from outside would not hold either?

Just shoving it into the water space wouldn't work (like Radweld) as both materials would float.

Reasonable to assume we're not talking high pressure - maybe 80 to 100psi psi for an ancient engine set down a bit due to condition?

 

I guess you could well be right about 'tight' referring to not leaking, but I wonder how on earth they might have used it?

Edited June 21, 2018 by Osgood

[Osgood]

I wonder if it relates to packing piston and valve rod glands? Oh for a time machine!!

Edited June 21, 2018 by Osgood

[PatB]

I would imagine that the contents of a working boiler are quite turbulent and so fibrous material like dung and sawdust would distribute quite well throughout the water space, rather than simply floating on the surface, and be automatically carried in sufficient quantity to any leaks to seal them, at least while it remains wet.

[Osgood]

Only thing I can find from a quick online search is anecdotal reference to American boilermakers sometimes putting mashed potato, sawdust or corn starch into boilers to stop minor leaks until rust took over to seal the gaps better.

 

Looks like the boiler it was then!!

[Corbs]

I read somewhere that in pre-preservation days on the Talyllyn Railway, crews would put oats into 'Talyllyn's boiler as the leaks were an issue.

[Nick Holliday]

Although I was reminded of the old idea of breaking an egg into the radiator of a car to temporarily seal leaks, I thought that this was more to do with the smokebox, given the eventual failure. Packing this fibrous mix into the gaps in the smokebox would be fairly simple, even if it wouldn't last, and would probably burst into flames, as did the sods used later.

[Thunderforge]

I'd probably agree with you Nick, I could imagine sealing a smokebox door with those materials, but not a boiler. I thought of the old egg in the radiator trick, but a radiator isn't as high pressure.

It would explain why the smoke box door fell off in the first place!

[ian@stenochs]

David L Smith in his book on the Dalmellington Iron Company describes how the driver of No3, Hawthorns of Leith wks No138, stopped multiple leaks from the firebox by feeding a mulch of peat and water into the boiler through the injector overflow. He says it was amazing how each leak stopped hissing almost with a click as the peat got to it!

 

The same Author in his Tales of the G&SWR also describes how the crew of a 22 class sealed up the gaping smokebox door with turfs cut from the cutting sides.

 

Would current engine crews do anything similar now?

 

Ian.

[5050]

Would current engine crews do anything similar now?

 

Ian.

Not with H&S breathing down their necks!  It seems to me that these days, locos are declared as 'failing' with things that, back when they were in service, would have been ignored as being readily workable around.

[Thunderforge]

Down here in the West Country we use straw and horse dung as building material. Cob it’s called. Before I moved here I thought people had given up using ‘wattle & daub’ in the dark ages, guess we’re a little behind the times...

[Ruston]

If there's no smokebox door there's no blast and no way of drawing the fire and the sods of earth and the bricks replacing the door aren't under pressure; in fact it's negative pressure inside the smokebox, thanks to the effect of the blast pipe.

 

There's a picture, by Colin Garratt, of an old Bagnall 2ft. gauge 0-4-0ST, somewhere in India, where the rotten smokebox door has been sealed up with cow dung to prevent air leaking in.

[Killian keane]

I think they're talking about bunging up leaks in the boiler.

Exactly what I thought, they had to seal up the boiler on Sans Pareil with more meal and oats than would fatten a pig

[avonside1563]

Peckett 2081 No.11 on the Foxfield Railway ran with a boiler full of oats for the last 12 months of her last ticket due to ongoing leakage. It helped but also meant you could smell when she was going past, and the water in the tank took on an odd dark look!