Researching Loco Prototype

[Nant Gadwen]

Hi all,

 

I'm trying to research the railway of the Benallt/Rhiw Managanese mines near Rhiw North Wales, one loco I'm doing very well on but the other is a struggle!

Boyd says it was an 0-4-0WT aquired secondhand circa 1905. It's 3foot gauge and is apparantly called 'Jeannie'. Another source says it came from Ffestiniog, I say no way as regauging a well tank is not something you can do in the Rhiw area!

 

So any ideas on where to go looking for more detail? My thoughts on the matter are being 3 foot gauge and a Well tnak it's most likely an Andrew barclay product - I doubt Koppel would have made 3 foot gauge locos, metre possible but not 3 foot? The name is evidently an older one, the loco they purchased new was named 'Rhiw', so that gives us another hint possibly. Anyone know of any contractors locos possible named Jeannie?

 

A massive long shot but no harm in asking!

 

Cheers folks!

[asmay2002]

The footnote in Boyd lists "Jeannie" as possibly ex T W Ward and 3' gauge might suggest something like ex dam building contract.

[Nant Gadwen]

My thinking exactly - although I have no idea where to go to start digging RE T.W. Ward

[Alastair-I]

The only T.W. Ward I can think of is the breakers of Inverkeithing.  Some quick research suggests they also had ship-breaking yards at Grays in Essex and Briton Ferry in Glamorgan.  I've also found reference to them cutting locos in Killamarsh (Sheffield) during the '60s.

 

They were probably dealers, buying up redundant locos and selling them on.  Some Googling finds a few other examples of narrow gauge locos acquired from them by other railways in the early 1900s.

[PGH]

Industrial Railway Society records, as published in their North Wales Handbook (usually more reliable than Boyd), list this loco as 0-4-0T(WT?), so there is some doubt about whether it was actually a well tank.  It was reputedly acquired from T.W.Ward in Liverpool, and the registered office of the mine owners - North Wales Iron & Manganese Co.Ltd. - was also in Liverpool.  The Bagnall loco RHIW was ordered from the Liverpool office.

 

Thos W.Ward Ltd were machinery dealers among other things and brief details of the firms history can be found here:  http://www.wardcnc.com/content/1/4/history.html

 

Orenstein & Koppel did construct 3ft gauge locos, they supplied a 3ft  gauge 0-4-0WT to Brundrit's Penmaen Quarries at Penmaenmawr in 1907.

 

I followed the route of the line in 1967 and at that date the incline brakedrum at Benallt Mine was still in situ and the double line of rails could be seen where the incline crossed a minor road.  It was very unusual for a rope worked incline to cross a public road on the level.  The pier had disappeared but there were remains of the brakedrums on the two inclines down to the pier.  I measured the ruins of the loco shed which were 35'-0" long x 10'-3" wide inside.