In August 1996, we went looking for this Scottish exotic at the East Kootenay Railway (Provincial Heritage Park), Fort Steele, British Columbia. After much searching, we found the engine in a dimly lit shed. The best we could achieve was a shaky, long-exposured hand-held photograph of her left front end which we first placed online in 2003. A hundred years earlier though, Clement E. Stretton was more successful and wrote a description of the train soon after it commenced operations:
Stretton, pp. 238-239: «There are so very few instances in which passenger engines are owned and maintained for private use, that the new locomotive lately constructed by Messrs. Sharp, Stewart & Co., at the Atlas Works, Glasgow, to the designs of Mr. David Jones, the Locomotive Superintendent of the Highland Railway, for the Duke of Sutherland, deserves attention here.
The engine, "Dunrobin" (Fig.120), is used for the purpose of working special trips as required, between the private station at Dunrobin Castle and Inverness; the engine and saloon of the Duke of Sutherland having running powers over the portion of the Highland Railway Company's system.
The "Dunrobin" has four coupled wheels and a trailing bogie. The cylinders are 13 inches, the stroke 18 inches; coupled wheels 4 feet 6 inches diameter; heating surface 575 square feet, and the weight in working order 31 tons 4 cwts.
The engine is fitted with the automatic vacuum brake, and has a very roomy cab, provided with seats and side-glazed shutters. There can be no doubt that the engine affords the most comfortable accommodation for passengers that can be found on any locomotive in use in this country.
The saloon is a fine example of the carriage-builder's skill, and includes everything necessary to make railway travelling an unquestioned luxury. The exterior of the carriage is painted white and green with ornamentation in gold. At the rear are apartments for servants and a compartment for the guard.
The engine is always kept in readiness at Dunrobin.»
One must immediately point out that the saloon shown in the various Canadian archive images is not the one described above. Rather, when the train was purchased by a private owner in Canada back in 1965 from the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway, U.K., Dunrobin came with a 1909 coach built by the Highland Railway.
The only interesting aspect of our fuzzy photo is that it documents that a Westinghouse pump, with cooling fins, was retrofitted at some stage next to the smokebox during its days at the East Kootenay Railway.
Jordan, p.332: «Westinghouse Pump Westinghouse Brake and Signal developed the air brake as an alternative to the less efficient vacuum brake at the end of the nineteenth century, and the classic way of mounting the steam pump that supplied the high pressure air to the brake system, was to fit it to the side of the smokebox, where it emitted an irregular panting noise when the locomotive was stationary. The pump came to be known by its manufacturer's name.»
An alternative placement was next to the cab, as can be seen on the Gladstone which is exhibited at the National Railway Museum, North Yorkshire, U.K., and which we had the opportunity of seeing back in May, 1978:
Semmens and Goldfinch, p.316: «Plate 8.4 The Westinghouse brake pump on the preserved London, Brighton & South Coast 0-4-2 Gladstone. The steam cylinder is at the top, with its supply coming from the main on/off valve in the cab. Exhaust steam is discharged through the larger-diameter pipe on the right. The simple non-return valves for the delivery air are alongside the lower, air, cylinder, which is[sic; in] this case is not fitted with cooling fins. »
Ultimately, the "best" location was one that did not impede operation and maintenance of the locomotive in any appreciable manner.
Finally, note that Dunrobin and the saloon were purchased and repatriated in 2011 by the Beamish Museum, U.K., for restoration to working order.
References
- Jordan, O. (2003), Jordan's Guide to British Steam Locomotives, The King's England Press Ltd., Rotherham, U.K., ISBN 1 872438 70-9.
- Protheroe, E. (1914), The Railways of the World, George Routledge & Sons, Ltd., London, UK.
- Roberts, E.W. and Stremes, D.P. (Editors) (1996), Canadian Trackside Guide 1996, Bytown Railway Society Inc., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, ISBN 0829-3023.
- Semmens, P.W.B. and Goldfinch, A.J. (2000), How steam locomotives really work, Oxford University Press, Oxford, ISBN 0 19 856536 4.
- Stretton, C.E. (1896, reprinted 1989), The Development of the Locomotive: A Popular History 1803-1896, Bracken Books, London, ISBN 1 85170 247 4.
- Wikipedia (2019), Dunrobin (locomotive). Page last edited on 14 March 2019, at 07:41 (UTC).
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