GWR oil burning steam locomotives

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The Great Western Railway (GWR) experimented with oil burning steam locomotives at two points in its history. A single experimental tank engine was constructed to burn oil in 1902, and 37 engines of four different classes were converted to burn oil between 1946 and 1950. Neither experiment resulted in the long-term use of oil as fuel for steam locomotives. A single pannier tank locomotive was also converted under British Rail in 1958.

Contents

No. 101 of 1902

GWR No. 101 was an experimental 0-4-0 side-tank locomotive built at Swindon Works under the direction of Churchward in June 1902. Initially built as an oil-burning locomotive, it was rebuilt in 1905 as a coal burner, with the cab backplate replaced by a bunker. No further engines were built to this design, and the locomotive was withdrawn and scrapped in 1911. [1]

Oil burning after WWII

GWR locomotives had been designed to take advantage of high quality Welsh steam coal. Following the end of World War II, coal supplies were scarce and of poor quality as the best coal was exported. GWR CME Hawksworth obtained permission to try using oil as a fuel in steam locomotives. He modified a number of locomotives of different classes, and the results were successful enough that it was planned to turn Cornwall into an oil fired area. The Government decided that such a scheme should be extended across the country, and asked Hawksworth to provide details of the technology to other railway companies. Several million pounds were spent on the scheme before it foundered on the uneconomic cost of the imported fuel, which had to be purchased using scarce foreign exchange. All the locomotives involved were reconverted to burn coal. [2]

Initial plans were to convert a number of 2800 class 2-8-0 , and 4200 class 2-8-0 T engines working in South Wales, although in the end no tank engines were converted. The fireboxes were modified by replacing the firebars with a plate that had openings for the air supply, lining part of the firebox with high alumina firebrick to cope with the change in combustion, and mounting a single burner at the front of the firebox that directed the oil, atomized by steam, upwards towards the back of the firebox. Initial problems with the burner saw them replaced by the Laidlaw-Drew type. Tenders were altered to hold a 1,800 imp gal (8,200 L) tank for oil, with steam heating coils to make the heavy grade of oil used thin enough to flow. The success of the initial conversion saw the scheme extended to Castle and Hall class 4-6-0 locomotives, for work in Cornwall. [3]

Oil burners had their own maintenance requirements, including the daily removal and cleaning of the atomizers to keep them effective. Overall, though, they were easier for the firemen to maintain and run than coal fired engines. Depots were re-equipped for refuelling the engines at Bristol Bath Road, Bristol St Philip's Marsh, Cardiff Canton, Didcot, Gloucester, Llanelly, Newport Ebbw Junction, Newton Abbot, Old Oak Common, Plymouth Laira, Reading, Severn Tunnel Junction, Swindon, and Westbury. Work at Banbury and Swansea was cancelled before completion. [4]

A total of thirty-seven locomotives were converted to burn oil, starting with No. 5955 Garth Hall in June 1946 and continuing into the next year. Some locomotives carried new numbers while they were oil burners. Reconversion to coal firing started in September 1948, and was complete by April 1950. Renumbered engines went back to their old numbers. [5]

Locomotives converted

All engines were converted back to coal firing by 1950, and regained their original numbers. However, the 1400s were never renumbered back to 4800s. [5] [6]

List of locomotives converted [5]
ClassOriginal
number		Oil burner
number		Date
converted		Date
reverted		Name
2800 28324806Nov 1946Apr 1949
2800 28344808Jul 1947Jan 1950
2800 28394804Nov 1946Oct 1948
2800 28454809Aug 1947Dec 1949
2800 28474811Sep 1947Jun 1949
2800 28484807Jun 1947Jul 1949
2800 28494803Nov 1946Apr 1949
2800 28534810Aug 1947Jun 1949
2800 28544801Nov 1946Feb 1949
2800 28624802Nov 1946Sep 1948
2800 28634805Nov 1946Mar 1949
2800 28724800Nov 1946Sep 1948
2884 28884850Nov 1946Sep 1948
2884 38134855Jul 1947Jun 1949
2884 38184852Nov 1946Sep 1948
2884 38204856Jul 1947Jun 1949
2884 38314857Aug 1947Mar 1949
2884 38374854Jun 1947Aug 1949
2884 38394853Jul 1947Nov 1949
2884 38654851Nov 1946Apr 1949
Castle 100A1 [lower-alpha 1] Jan 1947Sep 1948Lloyds
Castle 5039 [lower-alpha 1] Dec 1946Sep 1948Rhuddlan Castle
Castle 5079 [lower-alpha 1] Jan 1947Oct 1948Lysander
Castle 5083 [lower-alpha 1] Dec 1946Nov 1948Bath Abbey
Castle 5091 [lower-alpha 1] Oct 1946Nov 1948Cleeve Abbey
4300 6320 [lower-alpha 1] Mar 1947Aug 1949
Hall 49073903May 1947Apr 1950Broughton Hall
Hall 49483902May 1947Sep 1948Northwick Hall
Hall 49683900May 1947Mar 1949Shotton Hall
Hall 49713901May 1947Apr 1949Stanway Hall
Hall 49723904May 1947Oct 1948Saint Brides Hall
Hall 59553950Jun 1946Oct 1948Garth Hall
Hall 59763951Apr 1947Nov 1948Ashwicke Hall
Hall 59863954May 1947Feb 1950Arbury Hall
Hall 69493955May 1947Apr 1949Haberfield Hall
Hall 69533953Apr 1947Sep 1948Leighton Hall
Hall 69573952Apr 1947Mar 1950Norcliffe Hall

Pannier conversion by BR

In April 1958, under British Rail, GWR 5700 Class 0-6-0 PT No. 3711 was converted to burn oil, with a fuel tank installed in the bunker. The conversion was done by Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns. [7]

See also

Oil burner (engine)

Notes and references

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Not renumbered

Related Research Articles

George Jackson Churchward was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the Great Western Railway (GWR) in the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1922.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GWR 4900 Class</span> Class of 259 two-cylinder 4-6-0 locomotives

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">GWR 2884 Class</span> Class of 2-8-0 steam locomotive

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">GWR 6959 Class</span> Development of the GWR Hall Class

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">GWR 1400 Class</span> British 0-4-2T steam locomotive class

The GWR 1400 Class is a class of steam locomotive designed by the Great Western Railway for branch line passenger work. It was originally classified as the 4800 Class when introduced in 1932, and renumbered in 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GWR 2800 Class</span>

The Great Western Railway (GWR) 2800 Class is a class of Churchward-designed 2-8-0 steam locomotive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GWR 1361 Class</span>

The 1361 Class were small 0-6-0ST steam locomotives built by the Great Western Railway at their Swindon Works, England, mainly for shunting in docks and other sidings where track curvature was too tight for large locomotives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GWR 4300 Class</span> Class of 342 two-cylinder 2-6-0 locomotives

The Great Western Railway (GWR) 4300 Class is a class of 2-6-0 (mogul) steam locomotives, designed by G.J. Churchward for mixed traffic duties. 342 were built from 1911–1932.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SR U class</span> Class of 50 two-cylinder 2-6-0 locomotives

The SR U class are 2-6-0 steam locomotives designed by Richard Maunsell for passenger duties on the Southern Railway (SR). The class represented the penultimate stage in the development of the Southern Railway's 2-6-0 "family", which improved upon the basic principles established by GWR Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) George Jackson Churchward for Great Western Railway (GWR) locomotives. The U class design drew from experience with the GWR 4300s and N classes, improved by applying Midland Railway ideas to the design, enabling the SECR to influence development of the 2-6-0 in Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Collett</span>

Charles Benjamin Collett was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway from 1922 to 1941. He designed the GWR's 4-6-0 Castle and King Class express passenger locomotives.

The Great Western Railway (GWR) 5800 Class was a class of twenty 0-4-2T steam tank locomotives. They were built by the GWRs Swindon Works in 1933 and were used for light branch line work. They were similar to the GWR 1400 Class, but lacked the equipment for working autotrains. The last survivor of the class, number 5815, was with withdrawn in 1961. No members of the class were preserved.

The GWR was the longest-lived of the pre-nationalisation railway companies in Britain, surviving the 'Grouping' of the railways in 1923 almost unchanged. As a result, the history of its numbering and classification of locomotives is relatively complicated. This page explains the principal systems that were used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oil burner (engine)</span> Steam engine that uses oil as fuel

An oil burner engine is a steam engine that uses oil as its fuel. The term is usually applied to a locomotive or ship engine that burns oil to heat water, to produce the steam which drives the pistons, or turbines, from which the power is derived.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GWR 2021 Class</span>

The GWR 2021 Class was a class of 140 0-6-0ST steam locomotives. They were built at the Wolverhampton railway works of the Great Western Railway between 1897 and 1905. 1897 was the very year of George Armstrong's retirement, so it is uncertain if the design should be attributed to him or to his superior at Swindon, William Dean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New South Wales D55 class locomotive</span>

The D55 class was a class of 2-8-0 steam locomotives built by Clyde Engineering for the New South Wales Government Railways in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GWR 850 Class</span>

The GWR Class 850 was an extensive class of small 0-6-0ST locomotives designed by George Armstrong and built at the Wolverhampton railway works of the Great Western Railway between 1874 and 1895. Aptly described as the GWR equivalent of the LB&SCR "Terrier" Class of William Stroudley, their wide availability and lively performance gave them long lives, and eventually they were replaced from 1949 by what were in essence very similar locomotives, the short-lived 1600 Class of Frederick Hawksworth, which in the headlong abandonment of steam outlived them by a mere seven years or so.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GWR 101 Class</span> Unique oil-burning steam locomotive

The GWR 101 Class consisted of a single experimental 0-4-0T side-tank steam locomotive. It was built at GWR Swindon Works under the direction of George Jackson Churchward in June 1902.

The Great Western Railway (GWR) 3901 Class is a class of 2-6-2T steam locomotives rebuilt from class 2301 'Dean Goods' 0-6-0 tender locomotives.

References

  1. ↑ Haresnape (1976).
  2. ↑ Griffiths (1987), pp. 47, 123.
  3. ↑ Griffiths (1987), pp. 123–124.
  4. ↑ NRMFriends (2022).
  5. 1 2 3 Whitehurst (1973), p. 98.
  6. ↑ Haresnape (1978), p. 73.
  7. ↑ Haresnape (1978), p. 59.

Sources

  • Friends of the NRM (19 May 2022). "A brief flirtation with Oil - Firing". Friends of the NRM. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  • Griffiths, Denis (1987). Locomotive engineers of the GWR. Wellingborough: Stephens. ISBN   0-85059-819-2.
  • Haresnape, Brian (1976). Churchward locomotives : a pictorial history. London: Ian Allan. ISBN   0-7110-0697-0.
  • Haresnape, Brian (1978). Collett & Hawksworth locomotives : a pictorial history. London: Ian Allan. ISBN   0-7110-0869-8.
  • Whitehurst, Brian (1973). Great Western engines, names, numbers, types, classes: 1940 to preservation. Oxford: Oxford Pub. Co. ISBN   0-902888-21-8.
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