The Tasmanian Garratt: Piloting a Pioneer...

"Driver Sam and Fireman Eddie alongside K1" (M.Waldron)

Today, at long last, I managed to take hold of a regulator for the first time in 2021. Interestingly, that regulator happened to belong to none other than the worlds first Garratt locomotive: the K1. When the roster appeared for the Statfold Barn Railways June enthusiasts weekend a week or so ago, I was quite surprised to see my name penned to the Beyer Peacock behemoth but I was sure we'd give it our best shot. Sharing the footplate with me was well known alarm clock snoozer 'Eddie the Late', of Bure Valley fame. It was quite a momentous occasion for us ex-Shackerstone crew mates, having not officially been booked on together since a very wet Statfold job back in 2016. This morning I arrived at the sunlit gates of Statfold at 06:00 and, having changed into my prep gear, wandered down to find K1 sitting on the middle road of the shed apron. It was already a very warm morning...

Having signed in and read the notices, I clambered up into the cab (which is quite tall for a 2ft gauge engine) to have a check around. Everything seemed well, with 1/3 of a glass of water in the boiler and both the smokebox and firebox dry. I then went off in search of wood, knowing that Fireman Eddie may well not turn up before lunch! Statfold uses chopped up wooden blocks which are great for the 'regular' sized engines here but K1 would require a few helpings to cover the much larger grate. With mounds of wood ready to go, I lit the embryo fire: my first for 2021...

With the paraffin-soaked rags now blazing away on the grate, I added a good supply of wood to get things going. Once the wood was crackling away nicely it was time to add a few rounds of coal. It was quite a novelty firing from a shoveling plate with an almost full size shovel! With the fire made up, I closed the doors and let the big Garratt get on with it. A darkened plume of smoke rising steadily skyward from the chimney assured me that all was well and that I could begin the oiling up process. Fireman Eddie soon arrived to a chorus of good hearted ribbing from the other crews as to the size of todays steed. "That's a big engine for you these days, Ed" so on and so forth. I did look for a set of stepladders to help him up into the cab but none could be found! All in good humour as I say. Before I began oiling up I wanted to check and ash out the ashpan. The side damper doors have a mesh screen beneath, held in place by wing nuts (no doubt to stop lineside fires). However, the damper control didn't seem to want to latch in place properly at fully open so I chocked them up on wood for safety: I wasn't losing a limb this early in the day! The ashpan was soon raked out...

Now for some K1 history. As I said it was the pioneer Garratt locomotive, built by Beyer Peacock in 1909 (along with its sister K2) for the North East Dundas Tramway in Tasmania. Herbert William Garratt had patented his design in 1907, leading to the building of these engines. K1 and K2 hauled silver-lead ore trains in Tasmania until their withdrawal in 1929. The engines differed from later Garratts in that their cylinders faced inward towards the boiler rather than outward, as on later designs. K1 and K2 were also compound locomotives, with steam used first in the high pressure rear engine before being transferred via a long pipe beneath the boiler to be used in the low pressure front engine prior to exhaust. The success of this aspect of the design has been the subject of long running debate, though only one further compound Garratt was ever built after this first pair, perhaps suggesting the answer. Following retirement in Tasmania, Beyer Peacock purchased K1 back in 1947 and it became a museum exhibit before eventually being sold to the Ffestiniog Railway in 1966. Having spent time on display at the NRM in York, K1 was returned to steam in 2004. 

Although the engine is almost too big for Statfold operations, she was deemed underpowered for the Welsh Highland Railway for which she was restored. Therefore, when her boiler ticket expired in 2014, she was placed into storage at Dinas. Following a move to Statfold for display in November 2019, the engine was assessed for overhaul and returned to steam in around 70 days following a re-tube and light repairs. She operated during last years enthusiasts days and proved a popular performer, particularly with Garratt fans. Myself and Eddie were understandably dubious of the huge engine but were quietly looking forward to the day. Eddie can be seen here, chewing the fat with good mate John Britt who was driving "Alpha" today...

Whilst Eddie gave K1 a wipe over with some clean rag, I carried on oiling round. There are a fair amount of oiling points on this engine, particularly with eight axleboxes, four sets of separate Walschaerts valve gear and two mechanical lubricators. It's on par with a Great Western express engine on that score I'd say! Meanwhile, the engine was brewing up nicely. I was quite taken with the BR (W) pressure gauge: bit of quality there! At 08:30 we attended the usual Safety Briefing on the lawn before the long awaited bacon rolls were given out to the hungry hoards of engine crews and train staff. Cob devoured, I headed off to my car to get changed before we enjoyed a cuppa' next to a quietly simmering K1. At around 10:15 we were called to pull K1 down a touch, providing our first move of the day. Having tested the vacuum brake and warmed the steam brake, we cautiously set back. A cold K1 was reluctant at first but eventually eased away from the shed onto the gradient. We were soon pulled up behind "Alpha" which was awaiting the signal to go off shed... 

With "Alpha" now gone, we were next in line: last but not least! The yard master duly set the road and the signal was pulled off to allow us to leave shed. I had opted to spend the majority of the day using the vacuum brake as the steam brake is located towards the firemans side of the cab which makes it a tad awkward when trying to use the regulator. With a pip on the shrill whistle, I released the brake and we sauntered steadily down through the point work to come to a stand at the signalbox...

The ex-Bredgar coaches would form our first train and, once "Alpha" had departed platform 1, we were given the signal to approach our set in platform 2. The compound nature of K1 means that the back engine receives the steam first and, with a cold front engine and no load, you struggle to get steam to the front as there is so little in the back. I'm describing this terribly but hopefully you know what I mean! Therefore, when the rear engine continually slipped on the greasy morning rails, I reached for the simpling valve to give us a boost. This valve supplies live steam directly to the front engine and provided us with around 40psi which, in those large front cylinders, dragged us up into the platform easily. The first hour driving K1 was quite a learning curve but we did get there in the end! Buffering up (or chopper-ing up) with it was surprisingly easy, with K1 proving incredibly docile despite her bulk.

When we received the signal and the "Right Away" from the Guard, we took K1 steadily out into the fields. Fireman Eddie was happy with the steaming of the engine and the injectors were, so far, proving fairly reliable. I found K1 incredibly well riding and, no doubt due to its weight, it seemed quite planted despite its height. We took her steady, down through Oak Tree (where tokens were exchanged) before eventually arriving at the balloon loop. The vacuum brake on the engine eased the train up well, with the train air brake then used to hold the stock when stationary, as well as the loco handbrake. I wasn't convinced on the idea to use the air to slow K1 as the engine probably weighed far more than the train so I didn't wish to add any wheel flats to the stock! So far so good, K1 waits at Cogan Halt for the high level train to pass...

Fireman Eddie leans out from the warm cab of a shining K1...

Despite the several pictures of black smoke, we didn't have a mountain of fire. The coal at Statfold is of a very smoky variety that burns well, doesn't clinker much, ashes little but smokes like mad. We found that we had to keep the grate well covered (due to the pull of the vacuum ejector) but we balanced it out to prevent constant blowing off. Eddie had the engine in fine form all day to be fair, maybe he hasn't forgot his roots after all. Here, Fireman Ed adds another couple of rounds to K1s fire at Cogan Halt...

Returning to Statfold, I got K1 a little more into her stride. Linked up a touch she would go very well, with around 100psi in the high pressure engine and 40psi in the low pressure engine. Having watered at Oak Tree, we returned to base before being shunt released into the headshunt for a layover between turns...

The temperature outside was around 24 degrees today and so plenty of water was our survival tactic. One great luxury afforded to K1 is the addition of a slacking hose from the firemans injector, allowing us to wash the coal to keep the dust down. However, in todays persistent sun, it wasn't long before the dust was blowing about again! Our next outing was with the freight train as the sun continued to blast us...

When the time came, off we went with the freight train...

"K1 leaves Statfold on the freight" (M.Waldron)

Under blue skies, K1 awaits departure from the balloon loop...

The freight was a particularly good run, with K1 now warmed up and sounding better at the chimney as the front engine warmed through. It would be interesting to see her performance at the WHR first hand and see how it needed to be fired. Our third run was with the Bredgars again, bunker first. This is what I had to put up with...

Though we were having a lovely day, it was safe to say that by our fourth trip with the ex-Lynton set after 15:00 we were starting to weaken a little. The sun was relentless, although a pleasant breeze did pass through the cab whilst on the move. K1 was still going well and steam or water wasn't an issue...

"Passing Strawberry Park Loop with K1" (M.Waldron)

By now conditions were hazy with everything so dry. The big Fowler passes alongside K1 here at the balloon loop as we take a break at Cogan Halt...

With the high level train clear, we were given permission to run around the loop to await the next low level service. Once the low level train was safe in the Cogan Halt platform, K1 was given the road and permission to depart for Statfold...

"Driver Sam with K1 at the balloon loop" (B.Bryan)

Our last run back was very pleasant, with K1 going well and seemingly compounding no problem. We had countless conversations with enthusiasts about the engine today: she has quite a following. Her importance to articulated steam locomotive development is unquestionable, although I can see why certain aspects of the design were changed in what later became the Beyer Garratts. After our last trip we were sidelined in the headshunt again whilst the final stock moves were completed. Just after 17:00 there was an impromptu cavalcade at Strawberry Park, where K1 is seen as the last arrival in front of "Alpha". What a lovely day we'd had... 

After the obligatory whistle up, we rejoined K1 and steamed back to the shed at Statfold. As we were at the front of the cavalcade we could get going a bit, providing a lovely bit of breeze. Once safely back on shed, the engine was screwed down and the fire thinned and spread before the boiler was filled. K1 was left with 80psi on the clock and a nice even fire to burn away. There is no sense in cooling boilers too quickly, you just do too much harm. So that was that, nothing left to do but fill in a loco report and wash up before signing out. I've included this final shot, from this morning, of visiting Fes engine "Prince" of 1863. The old George England engine was the star guest of the event and, for us Thomas fans of old, you can't help but think of "Duke" (or Granpuff!) from your younger years. A nice bit of nostalgia for us...

So, what did we think of K1? Well, it was quirky to say the least. It was great to say we've crewed a Garratt (it will probably be my only ever chance), it was great to say we crewed the very first Garratt and it was great to complete the day without issue. The brakes are OK on it but not great so that would be an improvement for me. But yes, I must say, I liked it far more than I thought I would. It's different, which makes it interesting. It's quite a lump to handle, particularly at Statfold, which again makes it interesting. So yes, very nice. It was also a pleasure to spend the day with a good friend, providing a bit of nostalgia of times gone by! Thanks Ed for your comical company and your coal flinging efforts. Thanks also to the photographers who sent in shots for this post and to Statfold for having us. Another great day on that sweet, sweet handle. Until the next time...