A list of fireless steam locomotives preserved in Britain. Contact online >>
A list of fireless steam locomotives preserved in Britain.
Locomotives built by Andrew Barclay:
Works number/build date, site of preservation
Locomotives built by W.G. Bagnall:
Locomotives built by other manufacturers:
Builder, works number/build date, site of preservation
A fireless steam locomotive is similar to a conventional steam locomotive, but has a reservoir, known as a steam accumulator, instead of a boiler. This reservoir is charged with superheated water under pressure from a stationary boiler. The engine works like a conventional steam engine using the high pressure steam above the water in the accumulator. As the steam is used and pressure drops, the superheated water boils, replacing the used steam. The locomotive can work like this until the pressure has dropped to a minimum useful level or the water runs out, after which it must be recharged.
Any factory which possessed a stationary boiler could use it to charge a fireless steam locomotive for internal shunting operations. As there is no risk of sparks the use of a fireless locomotive removes the chance of igniting flammable materials and as they do not emit any exhaust except steam, they can shunt into buildings without endangering the workforce with noxious fumes.
The 0-6-0F locomotives delivered to the Ministry of Munitions had rail washing gear fitted to its leading and trailing coupled wheels. This was reduce the risk of sparks by easing the travel over sharp radius curves within the confined spaces of the munitions sites.
They are also very economical as shunters when there is a good supply of steam available.
The first British manufacturer of fireless locomotives was Andrew Barclay Sons & Company, Ltd of Kilmarnock, Scotland, which started producing these engines in 1912. This was a narrow gauge engine (Works No 1212) which was converted to a standard steam tank engine – possibly before being delivered.
The first one to be deployed was a narrow gauge engine (Works No 1307) which was delivered in November 1013 to the Admiralty for Bedenham at Portsmouth.
The first standard gauge fireless locomotive was delivered by Andrew Barclay in February 1916. This one (Works No 1434) was one of a batch of six locomotives built for the Ministry of Munitions.
The next five standard gauge engines were also ordered as part of the effort for the First World War. They were delivered between June 1916 and October 1916. These (Works Nos 1471-73 and 1476-77) were supplied to Vickers to work at National Filling Factories and the Ministry of Munitions to work at Gretna. 1472, 1473 and 1477 have been preserved. Works Nos 1474-75 were narrow gauge locomotives built for the Royal Navy to work in a cordite plant in Dorset.
The first delivery to a none military establishment took place in July 1917 when two were delivered to British Dyers at Huddersfield.
Fireless locomotives are not really suited to running on heritage railways but two have operated in preservation in the 1990s. Andrew Barclay Works No 1989 Lord Ashfield at the Museum of Science and Industry at Manchester and Andrew Barclay Works No 2243 Laporte at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. Andrew Barclay Works No 1952 has operated at the Doon Valley Railway since it was overhauled in July 2015.
Preserved Fireless Locomotives
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A fireless locomotive is a type of locomotive which uses reciprocating engines powered from a reservoir of compressed air or steam, which is filled at intervals from an external source. They offer advantages over conventional steam locomotives of lower cost per unit, cleanliness, and decreased risk from fire or boiler explosion; these are counterbalanced by the need for a source to refill the locomotive, and by the limited range afforded by the reservoir.
They were eventually replaced for most uses by diesel and battery electric locomotives fitted with protective appliances; these are described as flame-proof locomotives.[1] They still have some limited use at factories that produce large amounts of excess steam and where the tasks of the locomotive do not require it to move far from the steam source.
John Fowler attempted to make a "hot brick" locomotive for the London Metropolitan Railway, but trials in 1861-1862 demonstrated that the idea was not yet mature, and this embarrassing failure was later nicknamed Fowler''s Ghost.
The fireless system then gained a new lease of life for industrial shunting locomotives. Any factory which possessed a stationary boiler could use it to charge a fireless steam locomotive for internal shunting operations. Fireless shunting locomotives became especially popular in Germany and some remained in service into the 1960s. Fireless industrial shunters were usually of the 0-4-0 or 0-6-0 wheel arrangement but some 0-8-0s were built, by companies including Heisler. Pennsylvania Power and Light "D", in the gallery below, is an example of an 0-8-0 fireless Heisler locomotive.[6]
As of 2020, fireless locomotives were used for shunting the heavy coal hopper trains for the thermal power station in the German town of Mannheim.
European fireless steam locomotives usually have the cylinders at the back, while American ones often have the cylinders at the front, as in a conventional locomotive. Major builders of fireless steam locomotives in the UK included Andrew Barclay and W. G. Bagnall.
Outside Switzerland the first locomotive to run on compressed air was built in 1890, and by 1895, the basic principles of efficient compressed air engines had been developed. A particularly important engineering breakthrough was the development of the reducing and stop valve which maintains a uniform pressure of air to the engine, even as the pressure in the storage tank reduces with use.[7] Compressed air locomotives have been used for many years, mainly in mines,[8] but have also been used on tramways. (See Mekarski system)
Several hybrid locomotives have been built that have either used a fire for part of the time, e.g., Fowler''s Ghost of London''s Metropolitan in 1861, or have used a fire to superheat stored steam, such as the Receiver Locomotives built by Sentinel Waggon Works. None has been a success.
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