In
1942, in anticipation of an invasion of the Continent, it
was decided to design and construct a heavy shunting locomotive.
R.A. Riddles, seconded from the LMS to the Ministry of Supply,
took charge of the design. Initially the LMS Standard shunter,
known to many as the Jinty, was chosen. However, under pressure
from the locomotive building industry, it was sensibly decided
that an industrial tank locomotive with shorter wheelbase
was a simpler and more easily maintained alternative for the
duties required. The Hunslet Company took the lead and the
shunting engines known as the Austerity saddle tank, were
born.
The
design of the Austerity was summarized by Don Townsley,
the knowledgeable historian of the Hunslet engine company,
as an amalgam of the standard Hunslet 18 x 26 in. cylinder
steelworks shunter, first built in 1937 for Guest, Keen
and Baldwin's at Cardiff, and locomotives of similar power
built to the order of Stewarts and Lloyds in 1941. Both
designs were a natural progression from an 0-6-0 side tank,
Works no. 1506, built in 1930 for the Pontop and Jarrow
colliery railway. In essence the frame of the Jarrow machine
was married to the Guest, Keen engine and the extended
saddle tank of the Stewarts and Lloyds variant. A larger
coal bunker was fitted and the cab roof had rounded eaves
to provide a better loading gauge clearance. This 'trimming'
of the cab was to some extent necessitated by the increase
in wheel diameter from 4 ft. 0 ½ in. on the previous designs to 4 ft. 3 in. on the
Austerity so as to provide greater clearance above rail level
and to permit the use of easily replaceable under-hung springs.
The boiler proportions were chosen to give quick steaming
without being uneconomical during standby periods.
The first 'Austerity' left Hunslet's works in Leeds on 1 January
1943, less than six months after the initial order for fifty
locomotives had been placed. Hunslet's production was
supplemented by Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns, Hudswell
Clarke, Bagnall and, later, Vulcan Foundry and Andrew Barclay. Of the 377
Ministry locomotives supplied between 1943 and 1946 Hunslet built 120, RSH
ninety, Bagnall fifty-two, Hudswell Clarke fifty, the Vulcan Foundry fifty
and Andrew Barclay fifteen. After the war, 106 further Austerity locomotives
were built, seventy-seven for the National Coal Board, fifteen for the steel
industry and fourteen more for the Army. With the exception of two from Robert
Stephenson and Hawthorns Ltd and eight from the Yorkshire Engine Company,
these all came from Hunslet. There were very few observable variations
throughout the 485 locomotives as built.
.
After the war the
LNER bought 75 from the Ministry of Supply for general shunting
work, becoming class ‘J94’ (power classification
4F). They became widely used in industry, while the War Department
retained a number for use at military installations around
the country. Others remained on the Continent with many sold
to the Netherlands.
The K&ESR locomotives were all built by Hunslets for
the Army after the war. Their works numbers are: No. 23,
3791 (built 1952); No. 24, 3800 (built 1953); No. 25, 3797
(built 1953).
Each was stored initially at the Longmoor Military Railway.
The WD logbook for No. 23 shows it was put into service at
Bicester in 1956 as WD 191 Black Knight, generally repaired
in 1957/58, stored in May 1962 at No. 1 Engineers Supply Depot,
Long Marston, before final transfer in December 1967 to No.
1 Railway Group, Royal Corps of Transport at Shoeburyness.
There it worked for only nine months before again being put
into store. From Shoeburyness it was sold out of Army use,
arriving at Rolvenden in February 1972. It ran a total of
23,178 miles during its 20 year military career.
No. 23 entered service in August 1974, No. 24 becoming available
three years later. In 1977 Dr. John Coiley, then Curator of
the National Railway Museum, named the former Holman
F. Stephens after the Railway’s engineer and
first Managing Director.In almost continuous use it returned
once again from overhaul in 2004.
No. 24 saw service at Bicester as WD 200 before transfer back
to Longmoor and then went to Shoeburyness. Upon disposal
it was privately purchased for use on the K&ESR, arriving
in January 1971. No. 24 initially carried the name William
H. Austen in honour of Stephens’ successor
but this has been changed in recent years to the traditional
K&ESR name Rolvenden once carried by
Terrier No. 5.
No. 25 worked at various Army locations, including Longmoor
in 1957, before coming to the K&ESR in 1977 from the
Command Ordnance Depot at Bicester where, as ARMY 197 it
had been named Sapper. During its first
two years it remained Army property and remained on a back
siding at Rolvenden. The Ministry of Defence disposed of
it to a small group of members in October 1979. A ‘low mileage’
model it re-entered service at the end of 1981 in a distinctive
lined blue livery similar to that used at Longmoor and not
without resemblance to the K&ESR livery used in Colonel
Stephens’ days. As the Sapper nameplates
were not available the locomotive was renamed Northiam
by TV personality Andrew Gardner in April 1982. The locomotive
has remained in service ever since
TECHNICAL DATA
Weight: 48 tons 3 cwt
Tractive effort: 23,870 lbs
Cylinders (2) 18 in. dia x 26 in. stoke
Boiler Pressure 170 lbs
Tank Capacity: 1,200 gals.
Coal capacity: 21/4 tons
Wheels 4 ft. 3 in. diameter.
|
