Event Recap: Statfold Barn Railway "Trangkil 50" 12/06/21
Event Recap:
Statfold Barn Railway
"Trangkil 50" 12/06/21
I was lucky enough to have my first ever visit to Statfold Barn during their "Trankgkil 50" event. I've photographed a number of their extensive loco collection on a number of times when their engines have been loaned to Beamish & Threlkeld Quarry. This post looks at some highlights from the event and gives a brief history on those locomotives.
Trangkil No.4 (the birthday girl)
returning from the Balloon loop. The engine was the last Commerical made industrial steam locomotive to be built in the UK by Hunslet. The coach behind the No.4 was built for the
aborted Kielder Green Dragon railway.
Making its debut during the event was Andrew Barclay 0-4-0WT “Cegin”. It built in 1931 for the Burnhope Reservoir railway in Weardale. And originally named
“Red”. It was sold in 1936 to the Penrhyn Quarry
railway in North Wales. The engine behind, “Marchlyn” was built by Avonside
again for the Burnhope Reservoir railway. This engine
was originally named Wear and also ended up at Penrhyn. When the Penrhyn system closed in the 1960s, both locos and a number of others were exported to America and Canada. All engines have now returned to the UK.
Visiting
from the Ffestiniog railway was “Prince”. "Prince" was built in 1863 by George England for the Ffestiniog railway in North Wales. "The Prince", as it was originally known, was built as an open cabbed side tank. But, was later rebuilt with a cast iron tank on top of the two side tanks for added weight. This rebuild also included a weather board, work on the cylinders, a boiler retube and new sandboxes. A rebuild in the early 1890s saw the side tanks replaced with a saddle tank and a full cab was added, giving it the appearance it has today. The name was also shorted to just "Prince". In 1923 the engine hauled the first train from Dinas to Portmadoc on the Welsh Highland Railway.
Also visiting from North Wales was Tasmanian Railway K class "K1". K1 was built in 1909 by Beyer Peacock & Co, Manchester and is the world's first Garratt Locomotive. K1 and sister engine K2 were built for the North-East Dundas Tramway in Tasmania. Both engines worked on that line for 20 years before being withdrawn in 1929 when traffic declined on the line. Both engines were put into storage at Zeehan. K1s boiler was sold to a sawmill but in 1947 her builders bought her, and she was returned to the UK. The engine that returned consisted of K1s power units and the boiler and boiler cradle from sister K2. The engine was sold to the Ffestiniog railway in 1966 when Beyer Peacock closed down. K1 was too tall for the loading gauge of the FR so it was cosmetically restored and put on static display at the National Railway Museum in York. K1 was restored for use on the rebuilt Welsh Highland Railway, returning to steam in 2006. Sadly, K1 is not capable of hauling the heavier trains on the line and was withdrawn in 2014. It moved to Statfold Barn in 2019 where it was quickly returned to steam.
Running on the dual gauge tramway was newly overhauled Hunslet "Hastings". Built in 1888 and originally named "Liverpool" the loco was used during the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal. After this work, the engine moved around a lot. It spent time at Immingham Dock before moving to Park Gate Iron & Steel Company in Rotherham. Before finally moving to Sproxton Quarry in Leicestershire during 1935. When rail traffic ceased in the early 1960s it was sold into preservation and moved to the Kent & East Sussex railway, where it steamed in 1965. It moved to the Mangapps Farm Railway in 2002 for restoration and then to the Elsecar Heritage Railway in 2018, although the boiler was at the North Norfolk railway for repair during this point. The boiler steamed again in January 2019 and the whole engine was moved to Statfold Barn for completion of its overhaul.
"Isaac" was built by Bagnall in 1953 for the Rustenburg Platinum Mines in South Africa. It and sister engine now named "Gelert" arrived at the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway in 1982. It was named "Moel Tryfan" while based there. Limited work was carried out here, and in 2008 it was sold and moved to a private workshop in Wakefield. In June 2012 it moved from Wakefield to Boston Lodge on the Ffestiniog railway for completion of its overhaul, where it ran with "Gelert". It then moved to Woody Bay on the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway. The engine was put up for sale and is now based at the Statfold Barn Railway.
"Bagnall" 4-4-0T "Isibutu" built in 1945 for Tongaat Sugar in Natal, South Africa. The engine recently returned to work following a boiler overhaul. 3 other engines of the same design are also in the UK.
The newest arrival at the railway is 3ft GAUGE Hudswell Clarke 0-4-0ST "Handy Man". The loco was built in 1900 for Burton Ironstone Company. Recently the engine has been stored outside at the NRM at York. But, has now been transferred to the Statfold Narrow Gauge Museum Trust who plan to cosmetically restore the engine.
A loco I was very much looking forward to seeing was Hudswell Clarke "Fiji". This impressive 0-6-0 tender engine was built in 1912 for Colonial Sugar Refining's Lautoka Mill. In the 1980s, the engine was converted into a diesel. A diesel engine was place in the tender and part of the firebox was cut away, so a transmission could be fitted. Thankfully, this work has been reversed, and the loco is once again steam powered. The full gallery from the trip can be found here.
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