Fireless Loco Picture

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ge_rik
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Fireless Loco Picture

Post by ge_rik » Tue Jun 15, 2021 6:47 pm

By coincidence, I've just been scanning some photos for the NGRS and one I've been puzzling over is this
V Bradley Collection 8-05 1930 0-4-0 fireless loco at Raynes quarry Llysfaen Orig S6901 Neg No 9704.jpg
V Bradley Collection 8-05 1930 0-4-0 fireless loco at Raynes quarry Llysfaen Orig S6901 Neg No 9704.jpg (1.85 MiB) Viewed 2828 times
I'm wondering if it's a fireless loco - but it doesn't seem to have a steam dome.
It's a bit of a puzzle - I'm trying to figure out how to caption it.

Does anyone think it might be fireless - or do you think it's a very early diesel loco?

Rik
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Re: Fireless Loco

Post by -steves- » Tue Jun 15, 2021 6:54 pm

ge_rik wrote: Tue Jun 15, 2021 6:47 pm By coincidence, I've just been scanning some photos for the NGRS and one I've been puzzling over is this
V Bradley Collection 8-05 1930 0-4-0 fireless loco at Raynes quarry Llysfaen Orig S6901 Neg No 9704.jpg
I'm wondering if it's a fireless loco - but it doesn't seem to have a steam dome.
It's a bit of a puzzle - I'm trying to figure out how to caption it.

Does anyone think it might be fireless - or do you think it's a very early diesel loco?

Rik
What intrigues me is the hose/line going across the floor to the loco. If it's a water pipe it's a steam loco, if it's a steam pipe it's a fireless loco and if it's a charging lead then it's a diesel. So it's simple, just work out what that pipe/hose/line is :lol: :lol:

On a proper note...

I can't see a firebox door, and the controls do look steam driven, so best guess is that it's a fireless loco. :thumbup:
The buck stops here .......

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Re: Fireless Loco

Post by ge_rik » Tue Jun 15, 2021 7:05 pm

On the other hand, is that some sort of chimney protruding from the top of the cab?

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Re: Fireless Loco

Post by philipy » Tue Jun 15, 2021 8:13 pm

ge_rik wrote: Tue Jun 15, 2021 7:05 pm On the other hand, is that some sort of chimney protruding from the top of the cab?
It does look a bit like it, although it could be the top of one of those MW type conical/bottle shaped safety valve housings.

The pipe/cable looks more like a cable or possibly a water pipe. It doesn't look fat enough for a steam pipe, which you'd expect to be lagged.
Personally I can't see it being an electrical connection and it looks most like a common garden hose to me!

None of which gets you anywhere, I'm afraid. :lol:

The vehicle in the background looks rather like a side tipper of some sort, and the guards around the motion suggest a tramway type operating environment, or possibly protecting workers in narrow clearances in tunnels ( mine working?). If so, that in turn might point towards fireless?
However, the front of the boiler ( if thats what it is) seems to be bolted to the back if the rectangular boxes on the front - does that suggest some sort of smoke and steam capturing system, which would explain why there is no obvious chimney?
Philip

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Re: Fireless Loco

Post by ge_rik » Tue Jun 15, 2021 10:49 pm

The only info I have is that it was taken at Raynes Quarry Llysfaen - which quarried limestone (I think). It's dated 1930 - but some of these dates are approximate or based on guesswork. To me it looks older than 1930.

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Re: Fireless Loco

Post by GTB » Wed Jun 16, 2021 8:32 am

ge_rik wrote: Tue Jun 15, 2021 6:47 pm By coincidence, I've just been scanning some photos for the NGRS and one I've been puzzling over is this
The loco in the photo is a 1920s Sentinel industrial loco, not fireless, but probably just about as weird........

The boiler is a small coal fired, water tube, vertical boiler, which can just be seen taking up most of the front of the cab and the chimney exits through the cab roof.

The high speed motor is vertically mounted under the box at the front. The drive to the wheels is by chain.

The cylindrical 'boiler' in the middle is actually a water tank.

Mechanically much the same as the Sentinel railcars and the better known mainline Sentinel shunters, but the bits are arranged differently. The bodywork changed over time, making them look more like a diesel and less like a potato digger.......

There are a few Peter Angus 16mm scale models around and there are details of them in his book.

Regards,
Graeme

ps. the 'pipe' hanging over the side is most likely a garden hose being used to fill the cylindrical water tank through the lid of the tank filler.

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Re: Fireless Loco

Post by philipy » Wed Jun 16, 2021 8:41 am

GTB wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 8:32 am
The boiler is a small coal fired, water tube, vertical boiler, which can just be seen taking up most of the front of the cab and the chimney exits through the cab roof.

Thanks Graeme, now you say it, it is fairly clear that the thing half visible in the cab is a vertical boiler. :thumbright:
Philip

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Re: Fireless Loco

Post by ge_rik » Wed Jun 16, 2021 8:53 am

Thanks Graeme
After spotting the chimney, I was beginning to wonder. The irony is that a Sentinel is the only steam loco I've actually driven, albeit a standard gauge version :oops:

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Re: Fireless Loco Picture

Post by Soar Valley Light » Wed Jun 16, 2021 8:16 pm

I think the Cliffe Hill Quarry Railway in Leicestershire had a couple of something very similar to this. If I could find my book about the line I'd check! :oops:

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