FROM STEAM RAILWAY NEWS

ISSUE No. 57 - JANUARY 1981

This locomotive is undoubtedly the most important item of motive power on the Isle of Man Railway.  Built by Beyer, Peacock & Co., in 1873, works number 1253 and taking the name of the Duke of Sutherland, the well-known railway financier of the day.  The locomotive arrived in the island on 27th March and caused a sensation among the local population.  Local accounts say that long with the first items of rolling stock, a preliminary trip was made from Douglas at 10.00am on the 1st May.  The train ran to Glenfaba Bridge (approximately half a mile from Peel) and then returned in order to work a special train that afternoon.

The official train departed at 2.15pm and contemporary accounts of the day mention six people on No. 1's footplate.  Two mentioned being the Duke of Sutherland and Colonel Rich, the Board of Trade Inspector of Railways.  The journey was not without its problems for at Glenfaba Bridge the pony truck left the rails, delaying the train for 30 minutes.  At Peel, whilst running round its train No. 1 again fell off the line and such was the derailment that no attempt was made to re-rail the engine.  Instead, a contractors locomotive was summoned to work the return trip.  Sutherland also played an important part in the opening day, 1st July 1873, hauling the first official opening train to Peel.  The smokebox was suitably decorated with a banner: "Douglas & Peel United".

No. 1 was one of three identical locomotives supplied for the opening of the railway and we publish here the maker's photograph, taken at Gorton Foundry in Manchester shortly before delivery.  The photo shows the original condition of all three locos as supplied, it can be seen in the photographs that the injector overflow pipe of the feed finishes at the top of the water tank.  This was clearly unsafe for passengers (or anyone else) who could be scaulded by hot steam and water, and an early modification to all three locomotives was to extend down the overflow pipe to the bottom of the footplate..  At the same time, the locomotive name plate was moved forward on the water tank.  Another early modification was the fitting of wrap round hand rails on the cab side and front.

In 1912/1913, the opportunity was taken to rebuild the first three locomotives with the object of incorporating design improvements of subsequent locomotives supplied by Beyer, Peacock & Co.,  The water tanks which had always been too small for general traffic requirements carrying on 320 gallons, were replaced by larger 2' 6" high tanks holding 385 gallons.  The front cab sheet was also renewed and included rectangular spectacle glasses in place of the circular ones fitted in the original design.  The method of sanding the rails was also improved.  Originally, sand was supplied from sand boxes in the front corner of the cab and fell by gravity between the drving wheels.  Thus, only one set of driving wheels was sanded - depending upon which direction the locomotive was travelling.

On the modified design, steam sanding was fitted, with one sandbox mounted on the boiler barrel where originally the feedpipe and clack valve had been located.  The feed pipe was modified and the clack valve moved forward.  This brought to an end the ornate curved feed pipe arrangement characteristic of engines 1-6 when supplied.  The second sand box was built into the cab floor under the coal bunker.  The modification thus enabled both driving wheels to grip on sanded rail, no matter which direction the locomotive ran.

A number of small design changes occured over the years and in order to understand how these changes affected various locomotives it is essential to understand that the railway had a standard fleet of locomotives.  All the small boilered locomotives 1-9 had been supplied by the same manufacturer, to the same design.  it was therefore possible to swap parts from one locomotive to another.  The main item which was swapped was the boiler.  The next important point to remember is that when a new boiler arrived from Beyer, Peacock & Co., it was supplied as a complete ready to use unit possessing all boiler fittings, smokebox, chimney, safety valves, whistle, hand rails, boiler sheeting and dome cover.  Therefore, when a boiler was moved from loco to loco, all the fittings moved with the boiler, and so a characteristic of one loco could be moved to another at the time of major overhaul.  At such times, either a new boiler or a spare boiler which had been under repair would be fitted.

In the case of No.1 Sutherland, its first replacement boiler in 1891 was exactly the same as the one it replaced.  This boiler lasted for 28 years before being scrapped in 1919.  This was the be the last new boiler purchased for No. 1.  The next replacement boiler coming off No. 7 Tynwald came in 1903.  This boiler was already almost at the end of its useful life having been fitted to No. 7 for some 16 years, and was indeed only on No. 1 for 4 more years, until it was replaced by No. 5's boiler of 1907.  No. 5's boiler of 1907 provides and ideal example of the ability to swap boilers around and at the same time provide changes in outward appearance.

The boiler was built to the older design which incorporated a rod in the right hand rail on the boiler barrel.  This rod, by a series of mechanical links entering the base of the chimney controlled the breather valve in the smokebox.  The boiler was fitted to No. 5 in 1907 and ran on the engine for seven years, when the engine was rebuilt with a larger boiler and larger side tanks in 1914, at this time the boiler went to No. 8 as this engine had previously had a boiler to a more modern design working at a higher pressure and incorporating a blower valve rod which and inside the water.  The boiler handrail was manufactured in one piece and wrapped around the smokebox as one continuous rail.  The boiler remained on No.. 8 for only 4 years, the boiler finally arrived at No. 1 where it stayed for 16 years.

In 1939 the 1907 boiler was scrapped and replaced by No. 7's 1923 boiler.  This was a somewhat unusal hybrid boiler which had been supplied in 1923 along with an identical one which was fitted to No. 2.  Up until this time all boilers supplied by Beyer, Peacock & Co., were built with the Salter spring safety valves and the charactertistic bell-mouth brass dome.  James Bradshaw, the locomotive superintendant insisted on the fitting of a modern and more efficient safety valve - the Ross "pop".  As the boilers  were at an advanced stage of manufacture when the decison was taken, the pop valves were not mounted on the boiler in front of the whistle turret as was to become standard practice on all subsequent boilers.  One pop valve was fitted on top of the dome and a second on top of the boiler barrel at a point between the chimney and dome.  To ensure maximum safety for the locomotive crew, the safety valved in the dome was set to lift a few pounds higher than the second valve.  This proved to be effective, and it is difficult to find a photograph which shows the front valve blowing steam.

This was the last boiler to be fitted to No. 1 and it indeed the one which it carries today (1981).  The loco was withdrawn from service in 1964; it was left in the gloom of the carriage shed at Douglas Station until reopening by the Marquis of Ailsa.  In the winter of 1967/1968 the locomotive, along with locos 6, 14, 15 and 16, was externally restored and placed on display at St. John's.  With the closure of the Peel and Ramsey lines, the locos returned to Douglas and with the addition of Nos. 3 and 9 displayed in the goods siding in 1969, 1970 and 1971.  The locomotives were stored in the carriage shed and each morning would be brought out for display; usually the locos on display were shunted into two sets but on a number of occasions, usually when the morning loco had been slow to steam, the whole rake of display engines would be shunted together.  The sound of No. 12 Hutchinson shunting 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 14, 15 and 16 out of the carriage shed could be heard all over Douglas.

With the Marquis of Ailsa leaving the railway in 1971, the Isle of Man Railway Company once again took over operations in 1972.  One of the first decisions was to finish displaying the old locos and so came to an end what must have been one of the most spectacular sights seen on a preserved railway, with 10 locomotives on the move together.  In 1973, locos 1, 3, 14, 15 and 16 were placed on display on road three to mark the centenary of the Railway Company, but at the end of the same year, the locos returned to the carriage shed.  The next, and latest move for No. 1 came on 6th August 1975 when No. 13 Kissack steamed out of Douglas with a special working, hauling No. 1, F.75, F.36 and F.49 to Port Erin, over the then-closed section between Douglas and Castletown.  It was destined for the newly-created Railway Museum at Port Erin, where it forms one of the most important exhibits, and each summer continues to give pleasure to the many holidaymakers who pay to see it.