Steam Improvements of
the Last 30 Years
Ffestiniog
Railway "Linda"
updated 05/05/2000
Ffestiniog Railway 2-4-0ST+T
"Linda"
photo courtesy of Phil Girdlestone
| This locomotive was extensively
modified in the early 1980s by Phil Girdlestone.
Ffestiniog locomotives were oil-fired and the
worldwide increase in prices of the mid to late
1970's created quite a crisis, and the resulting
use of inferior and cheaper qualities gave many
operational problems. At this time Girdlestone
got to know Porta and Wardale and as a result of
this association drafted a plan to rebuild a
locomotive with the Gas Producer Combustion
System to enable a return to coal, reduce fuel
costs and improve reliability. The design work
was carried out during 1983 with long-range help
and advice from Porta and Wardale and the
locomotive (a Hunslet 2-4-0ST/T) was rebuilt
under his direction during 1984 while he was
Manager of Boston Lodge Works. Apart from the
GPCS it had a Lempor exhaust system, improved
superheat and other detail changes. After tuning
up it gave fuel costs only 73% of that it would
have incurred burning oil and compared with the
Alco and articulated "Fairlie" types
hauling the same weight trains it was some 50%
cheaper. It was re-converted to burn oil in 1986
when prices dropped after he had left the FR. |
Linda
Smokebox showing Lempor exhaust system. Note
superheater header and elements (very unusual for
a pre-1900 locomotive on a tourist railway!).
This photo was taken after Phil had left the
railway, and some modifications had already been
reversed, such re-routing the vacuum ejector
exhaust up through the stack (it had been earlier
modified by Girdlestone to exhaust exterior to
the smokebox to avoid the detrimental effects on
drafting). Additionally, the locomotive had
reverted to oil firing by this time, hence the
absence of spark arresting apparatus in the
smokebox. Also note the blanked-off flanged
connection teeing off of the exhaust steam pipe
on the right. This was previously used to supply
under-fire cooling steam for the GPCS when the
locomotive was a coal-burner. |
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