Single Fairlie
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A Fairlie locomotive is a type of
articulated An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent coupling in its construction. This coupling works as a large pivot joint, allowing it to bend and turn more sharply. There are many kinds, from heavy equipment to buse ...
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...
that has the
driving wheel On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons (or turbine, in the case of a steam turbine locomotive). On a conventional, non-articulated locomotive, the driving wheels are all coupled t ...
s on
bogie A bogie ( ) (or truck in North American English) comprises two or more Wheelset (rail transport), wheelsets (two Railroad wheel, wheels on an axle), in a frame, attached under a vehicle by a pivot. Bogies take various forms in various modes ...
s. It was invented by Robert Francis Fairlie. The locomotive may be double-ended (a double Fairlie) or single ended (a single Fairlie). Most double-ended Fairlies had wheel arrangements of or . All were
tank locomotive A tank locomotive is a steam locomotive which carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender (rail), tender. Most tank engines also have Fuel bunker, bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a #Tender ...
s. While Fairlie locomotives are now used only on
heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...
s, the majority of diesel and
electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a Battery (electricity), battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime mover (locomotive), ...
s in the world follow the basic form of the Fairlie — two power trucks with all axles driven. Many also follow the Fairlie's double-ended concept, capable of being driven equally well in both directions.


Development of the design

In 1864, the
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
engineer Robert Francis Fairlie published a pamphlet detailing his plans for a new type of articulated locomotive. He had become convinced that the conventional pattern of locomotive could be improved on, and that his proposed design would have higher
tractive effort In railway engineering, the term tractive effort describes the pulling or pushing capability of a locomotive. The published tractive force value for any vehicle may be theoretical—that is, calculated from known or implied mechanical proper ...
as all the locomotive's weight was on the
driving wheels On a steam locomotive, a driving wheel is a powered wheel which is driven by the locomotive's pistons (or turbine, in the case of a steam turbine locomotive). On a conventional, non-articulated locomotive, the driving wheels are all coupled tog ...
, was able to traverse sharper curves than a non-articulated locomotive of the same length, would be better at producing steam from its double boilers and would not need
turntable A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding phys ...
s because it could be driven in either direction. He received a patent for this design in May 1864. Fairlie's design was a double-ended steam locomotive that carried all its fuel and water on the locomotive and had every axle driven. It had a double-ended
boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...
, with one firebox in the centre and a
smokebox A smokebox is one of the major basic parts of a steam locomotive exhaust system. Smoke and hot gases pass from the firebox through tubes where they pass heat to the surrounding water in the boiler. The smoke then enters the smokebox, and is ...
at each end.


Predecessors

Fairlie was not the first engineer to design and build a double-engine. In 1850, the Belgian company John Cockerill & Co built a double-boiler locomotive called ''Seraing'' which featured two independently articulated driving bogies. It had several differences from Fairlie's design, notably the buffers were fixed to the carrying frame, not the bogies, and the bogies were attached to the frame using four carrying pins, which restricted the degree of articulation. ''Seraing'' was a failure and Robert Fairlie was likely unaware of it when he produced his design in the 1860s. In the early 1860s, Archibald Sturrock, the locomotive superintendent of the Great Northern Railway, experimented with powered bogies under the tenders of GNR steam locomotives. While these were not ultimately successful, Fairlie was influenced by Sturrock's work, and by the use of back-to-back locomotives on the Bhor Ghat incline on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway starting in 1856.


Firebox

The first locomotive was ''The Progress'', built in 1865 by James Cross and Company for the Neath and Brecon Railway. However, having the draught from both halves of the boiler through one firebox was unsuccessful. There was a tendency for most of the hot gases from the fire to go through one half of the boiler, so the other half made little contribution to steam-raising and was inefficient. The first, Festiniog Railway Little Wonder, had separate fireboxes with a water jacket between them and proved far more successful.


Controls

The locomotive driver (US:
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...
) worked on one side of the locomotive, and the fireman on the other; the fireboxes separated them. The regulators for both power bogies were located above the centre of the fireboxes, with the
steam brake A steam brake is a type of brake for steam locomotives and their tenders, whereby a steam cylinder works directly on the brake linkages. Steam brakes were primarily used on railways where vacuum brakes were used to brake the train, but where th ...
valve at one end.


Power bogies

Underneath, the locomotive was supported on two swivelling powered bogies (US: trucks), with all wheels driven; smaller locomotives had four-wheel bogies, while larger had six-wheel. The
cylinder A cylinder () has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infinite ...
s on each power bogie pointed outward, towards the locomotive ends. Couplers and buffers (where fitted) were mounted on the bogies, not on the locomotive frame, so that they swivelled with the curvature of the track.


Steam supply

Steam was delivered to the cylinders via flexible tubing. Initially, this was a coiled
copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
tube but this would fracture after a period of use. Later locomotives had rigid connecting tubes with the necessary flexibility provided by metal ball-and-socket joints similar to those used in
laboratory glassware Laboratory glassware is a variety of equipment used in science, scientific work, traditionally made of glass. Glass may be blown, bent, cut, molded, or formed into many sizes and shapes. It is commonly used in chemistry, biology, and analytical ...
.


Fuel and water

Fuel and water were carried on the locomotive, in side tanks beside each boiler for the water, and bunkers for the fuel above them.


Examples in use

Armed with the success of ''Little Wonder'' on the Ffestiniog, Fairlie staged a series of very successful demonstrations on the Ffestiniog line in February 1870 to high-powered delegations from the many parts of the world. This sold his invention (and the concept of the narrow-gauge railway on which it was based) around the world. Locomotives were built for many British colonies, for the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
, and even one example for the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. In 1879, the first government
railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...
in
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
from
Geraldton Geraldton (Wajarri language, Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu language, Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West (Western Australia), Mid West region of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. As of the , Geraldt ...
to
Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...
utilised two double Fairlies as its third and fourth items of motive power, respectively, but without much success. The only really successful uses of the Fairlie locomotive, other than on the Ffestiniog Railway, were in
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, and
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
(on the Transcaucasian Railway).


Wales

In 1869, Robert Fairlie's company built a locomotive named ''Little Wonder'' for the
Ffestiniog Railway The Ffestiniog Railway () is a heritage railway based on Narrow-gauge railway, narrow-gauge, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia#Snowdonia National Park, Snowdonia National Park. The ...
, a
narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curv ...
slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...
railway in
North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...
. The Ffestiniog was the first gauge railway to use locomotives. The Fairlie design meant that the fireboxes and ashpans were not restricted by frame or track width, but only by the overall
loading gauge A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and k ...
. ''Little Wonder'' was such a success that Fairlie gave the Festiniog Railway Company a perpetual licence to use his locomotive patent without restriction, in return for using the line and the success of its Fairlie locomotives in his publicity. During its original operation, the Ffestiniog owned a total of five Fairlie locomotives (four Double and one Single), one of which is on display in the UK National Collection. Since the reopening of the railway in preservation, their
Boston Lodge Boston Lodge is situated at Penrhyn Isa, Minffordd, Penrhyndeudraeth, on the A487 road about 1 mile SE across the River Glaslyn, Afon Glaslyn causeway from Porthmadog, Gwynedd in north-west Wales. It has a Boston Lodge Halt railway station, ...
workshops have built three new Double Fairlies, the most recent being ''James Spooner II'' which entered service in 2023 to replace ''Earl of Merioneth''.


United States

The locomotive sold in the US was ordered for the newly built
Denver and Rio Grande Railroad The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south fro ...
in 1872, and was named "Mountaineer". It was the only Double Fairlie to operate on an American narrow-gauge railway. This was a smaller locomotive with four-wheel bogies, giving it a configuration. The railroad's experience with the locomotive was typical, and an indication of the fact that, though Fairlie had eliminated several problems of the conventional locomotive, he had introduced new ones of his own. At least one double Fairlie No. 164 ''Janus'' (pictured) was built by the
Mason Machine Works The Mason Machine Works was a machinery manufacturing company located in Taunton, Massachusetts, between 1845 and 1944. The company became famous for an early invention by its creator, William Mason, the self-acting mule, first patented in 1840 ...
in
Taunton, Massachusetts Taunton is a city in and the county seat of Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. Taunton is situated on the Taunton River, which winds its way through the city on its way to Mount Hope Bay, to the south. As of the 2020 United States ...
and worked on the
Lehigh Valley Railroad The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad in the Northeastern United States built predominantly to haul anthracite, anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Northeastern Pennsylvania to major consumer markets in Philadelphia, New York City, and ...
.


Canada

Five narrow-gauge Fairlie Patent locomotives were built by the
Avonside Engine Company The Avonside Engine Company was a locomotive manufacturer in Avon Street, St Philip's, Bristol, England between 1864 and 1934. However the business originated with an earlier enterprise Henry Stothert and Company. Origins The firm was original ...
,
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
in the early 1870s for use by Canadian railways. The
Toronto and Nipissing Railway The Toronto and Nipissing Railway (T&N) was the first public narrow-gauge railway in North America. It chartered in 1868 to build from Toronto to Lake Nipissing in Ontario, Canada, via York, Ontario, and Victoria counties. At Nipissing it would me ...
used a single gauge Fairlie from 1871 until the line was converted to in 1883. The
Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway The Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway (TG&B) was a railway company which operated in Ontario, Canada in the years immediately following the Canadian Confederation of 1867. It connected two rural counties, Grey County, Ontario, Grey County and Bruce ...
of Ontario also used one gauge Fairlie locomotive, delivered in 1872. In
Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...
, three gauge Fairlie Patent locomotives built by Bristol's Avonside Company were used to haul coal between Sydney and Reserve Mines from 1872 until 1902. Herb MacDonald's book "Cape Breton Railways: An Illustrated History" (Cape Breton University Press, 2012) states that "a railway industry journal published early in 1903 stated that 'the old double-end locomotives... have recently been taken apart at the Reserve, and will be disposed of as old junk. The machinists who took them apart say it was the hardest job they ever tackled, as the engines were very strongly built and the parts mostly forge-made'."


Mexico

In Mexico, the Ferrocarril Mexicano (FCM) used Fairlies on a mountainous stretch of line between
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
and
Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...
, where 49 enormous Fairlies weighing about apiece were imported from England. The largest and most powerful locomotives built there up to then, they were used until the line was electrified in the 1920s. The
tractive effort In railway engineering, the term tractive effort describes the pulling or pushing capability of a locomotive. The published tractive force value for any vehicle may be theoretical—that is, calculated from known or implied mechanical proper ...
figures (see table below) are notably high compared to relatively modern locomotives (such as the
BR Standard Class 9F The British Railways Standard Class 9F is a class of steam locomotive designed for British Railways by Robert Riddles. The Class 9F was the last in a series of standardised locomotive classes designed for British Railways during the 1950s, a ...
). Rolt wrote:
"...it was the Mexican Railway that became Fairlie's most devoted adherent. Three twelve-wheeled
Avonside Avonside is an eastern suburb in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is one of the oldest suburbs of the city, with only Heathcote being older. History The Avonside district was first mentioned in the Lyttelton times as a local district by Bish ...
Fairlies were built for this Company in 1871 to work traffic on the steeply graded section of the main line between Cordoba and the . Boca del Monte, Mexico summit in the Orizaba mountains, a distance of . So successful were they that they were the forerunners of no less than fifty Fairlies supplied to Mexico by Avonside and other British builders over a period of forty years."
Durrant took a more sceptical view:
"The largest Fairlies built were... examples for the Mexicano Railway...Despite their impressive proportions, these engines were devoid of superheaters or modern valve arrangements and were soon replaced by
electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...
."
This table shows brief details of the locomotives. Detailed specifications can be found at steamlocomotive.com Key: * Date = building date of first locomotive in batch. Delivery may have been spread over several years * n/k = not known * T.E. = tractive effort Durrant shows a photograph (credited to
English Electric The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during the war, made munitions, armaments and aeroplanes. It initially specialised in industrial el ...
) of FCM number 184, built by Vulcan Foundry (VF) in 1911. This is of typically British appearance apart from the sanding dome which, curiously, is provided at one end only. This photograph of FCM number 18

shows a locomotive of distinctly American appearance. If it is one of the VF engines, it has certainly been heavily re-built. The VF engines were almost certainly built as Oil burner (engine), oil-fired. The photograph in Durrant's book looks like a works photograph showing the engine in new condition and there are rectangular tanks on top of the boilers, which was the usual arrangement on oil-fired Fairlies. Heat from the boilers kept the oil warm and prevented it from becoming too viscous in cold weather.


Ireland

* The
Great Southern and Western Railway The Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland from 1844 until 1924. The grew by building lines and making a series of takeovers, until in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was the larges ...
had two single Fairlies.


New Zealand

In New Zealand, the
R class R class or Class R may refer to: Rail transport *LCDR R class, a British steam locomotive class *NER Class R, a British steam locomotive class *NZR R class, a type of New Zealand steam locomotive *Rhymney Railway R class, class of tank locomotive * ...
and S class single Fairlies and the B class and E class double Fairlies were ordered in the 1870s for use on the
narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curv ...
()
system A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its open system (systems theory), environment, is described by its boundaries, str ...
built under
Julius Vogel Sir Julius Vogel (24 February 1835 – 12 March 1899) was the eighth premier of New Zealand. His administration is best remembered for the issuing of bonds to fund railway construction and other public works. He was the first Jewish prime min ...
's 1870 "Great Public Works" programme to open up the country. Three of the S class Fairlies were sold to Western Australian Government Railways in 1891.


Russia

In Russia, Fairlies were used on a gauge Imperial Linvy Railway between Tambov and Saratov (1871–1887) and on Surami Pass of the Transcaucasian Railway (from 1872). These locomotives, like the ones used in Mexico were an configuration. The first of them were built in England (
Avonside Engine Company The Avonside Engine Company was a locomotive manufacturer in Avon Street, St Philip's, Bristol, England between 1864 and 1934. However the business originated with an earlier enterprise Henry Stothert and Company. Origins The firm was original ...
, Yorkshire Engine Company and Sharp, Stewart and Company), the second tranche were made by German factories (1879), the last – 17 for the Russian State Railways by the Kolomensky Works, Kolomna (1884) under licence. The largest locomotives weighed 90 tons and were Oil burner (engine), oil-fired. In 1912 all Fairlies in Russia were included in ''series F'' and used until 1934, when the line through Surami pass was Railway electrification in the Soviet Union, electrified.


India and Burma

In 1879, the
Avonside Engine Company The Avonside Engine Company was a locomotive manufacturer in Avon Street, St Philip's, Bristol, England between 1864 and 1934. However the business originated with an earlier enterprise Henry Stothert and Company. Origins The firm was original ...
built 25 Double Fairlies intended for service in the Third Anglo-Afghan War. The order was cancelled in 1880, but 17 locomotives had already been built and they were purchased by India, though one was lost at sea during transit to India. The remaining locomotives worked on the Bolan Pass#Bolan Pass railway, Bolān Pass Railway but were not successful and were put into storage in 1887. Ten went to Burma in 1896 and four others were sent to the Nilgiri Mountain Railway in 1907. The Nilgiri locomotives worked there until at least 1914.


Problems with the design


Fuel and water

Capacity for fuel and water is limited by the layout of the locomotive. Fairlie's design has less room for fuel supplies than a normal
tank locomotive A tank locomotive is a steam locomotive which carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender (rail), tender. Most tank engines also have Fuel bunker, bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a #Tender ...
, that can be fitted with a bunker at the back of the cab. Solid fuel can't be carried in a tender because there is no access from the central cab. As was later the case with Bulleid's SR Leader class, Leader class locomotives, limited fuel supplies would not have been a problem if fuel oil had been used instead of coal. Some of the large Fairlies for Mexico (see above) were oil-fired and oil-firing has, in recent times, been used on the Ffestiniog Railway.


Steam pipes

The flexible steam pipes to and from the cylinders of each swivelling engine were prone to leakage which wasted power. These problems were partially solved. It is recorded by Rolt that difficulties encountered in 1909 with the design and construction of steam-tight flexible steam connections for the Garratt locomotive were solved by Beyer, Peacock & Company's designers after studying the spherical steam joints on a Fairlie locomotive built for the Ffestiniog Railway.


Power bogies

Unpowered wheels on a steam locomotive reduce its tendency to wander or 'hunt' when rolling on straight track, and lead the locomotive into curves, thereby reducing derailments. Early Fairlies had a tendency to be rough on the track, and more prone to derailment than they should have been. The Festiniog Railway's first Fairlie ''Little Wonder'' was worn out after less than twenty years' use. To a large extent the problem was not the use of power bogies but faults in their design and especially the absence of weights on the trailing ends of the bogies to counterbalance the cylinders. Subsequent FR engines were much easier on the track. All FR Fairlies have had a reputation for a smooth footplate ride when compared with the original George England and Co. built 0-4-0 engines.


Visibility

The driver is on one side of the firebox and the fireman on the other. As a result, the locomotive is left-hand drive going in one direction and right-hand drive in the other. This potentially reduces the visibility of signals.


Single Fairlie locomotive

A variation of the Fairlie that enjoyed some popularity, especially in the United States, was the single Fairlie, essentially half a double Fairlie, with one boiler, a cab at one end, and a single articulated power bogie combined with an unpowered bogie under the cab, maintaining the ability to negotiate sharp turns. This design abandoned the bidirectional nature of the double Fairlie but gained back the ability to have a large bunker and water tank behind the cab, and the possibility of using a trailing tender if necessary. The single conventional boiler made maintenance cheaper and did away with the crew's separation. The first Single Fairlie locomotive was an designed and constructed by Alexander McDonnell (engineer), Alexander McDonnell for the Great Southern & Western Railway in 1869. The design was especially popular with William Mason (locomotive builder), William Mason, Fairlie's licensee in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, who built 146 or so Mason Bogie locomotives, which were a variant on this design. In the UK, a single Fairlie was used by the Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway and three s by the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways. As well as their iconic double Fairlies, the Ffestiniog railway also has a single Fairlie loco, the power bogie of which is essentially the same as those used by their double Fairlies. In both the UK and the USA, single Fairlies were the first locomotives in each country to use the European Walschaerts valve gear. The Stephenson valve gear, Stephenson link gear, which was usual at the time, used multiple eccentrics between the frames but the Walschaerts gear was mounted ''outboard'' of the frames and connecting rods. This was advantageous because the Fairlie system required this space between the frames for the bogie pivot.


Péchot-Bourdon locomotive

The Péchot-Bourdon locomotive was the final development of the Fairlie type. The Péchot-Bourdon was developed by Captain Péchot of the France, French artillery to operate on gauge railways associated with field artillery and fortresses. The design was chosen with the belief that if one
boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...
or set of valve gear was damaged by enemy fire, the loco could continue to operate. The primary difference between a Fairlie and the Péchot-Bourdon is that the latter only had one steam dome. Only one design was constructed, an . About fifty examples were constructed in 1906, and a further 280 were constructed during World War I, some by the American Baldwin Locomotive Works. ;Preservation Two examples are preserved, one in Frankfurter Feldbahnmuseum on loan from Dresden Transport Museum, Germany, and one in Serbia at Požega, Serbia, Pozega Railway Museum. ;Models A 1:32 scale model of the Péchot-Bourdon locomotive is produced by Scalelink.


Modified Fairlie locomotive

The Modified Fairlie was introduced by the North British Locomotive Company to the South African Railways in 1924. It was similar in appearance to a Garratt locomotive but the boiler, fuel and water tanks were all mounted on a single frame which was pivoted on the power bogies. This arrangement differs from the Garratt in which the fuel and water tanks are mounted directly on the power bogies.


Fairlies today


Operational

The Ffestiniog Railway in Wales still uses Fairlie locomotives. It has three double Fairlies in running condition. The most recent of these, ''James Spooner'', was built in 2023 in the Ffestiniog's
Boston Lodge Boston Lodge is situated at Penrhyn Isa, Minffordd, Penrhyndeudraeth, on the A487 road about 1 mile SE across the River Glaslyn, Afon Glaslyn causeway from Porthmadog, Gwynedd in north-west Wales. It has a Boston Lodge Halt railway station, ...
works on the 153rd anniversary of ''Little Wonders trials of 1870. ''Merddin Emrys'' of 1879 was the first engine to be built at Boston Lodge. The Ffestiniog also owned and operated ''Taliesin'', a single Fairlie, from 1876 to 1927. It was scrapped in 1935 but a replica was built at Boston Lodge in 1999. The Fairlies on the Ffestiniog Railway were designed to burn coal. Following trials in 1971, in common with most other Ffestiniog engines, they were modified to burn oil. In 2005, ''Earl of Merioneth'' was converted to coal having been built as an oil burner. The success of this conversion resulted in ''Merddin Emrys'', the oldest of the FR Fairlies, being converted back to coal burning in 2007. The oldest Fairlie still in operation is a Mason Bogie preserved at the The Henry Ford, Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. The locomotive was built in 1873 and still hauls passengers on a tourist train during the summer season.


Non-operational

Double Fairlie locomotive The Earl of Merioneth is now preserved, at Boston Lodge works where it was built in 1979. It was withdrawn from service on the 8 April 2018. Double Fairlie ''Josephine'' (Dunedin & Port Chalmers Railway #2, NZR E 175, PWD #504) is preserved at Dunedin, New Zealand's, Otago Settlers' Museum, and NZR R class, R 28 a single Fairlie, at Reefton, New Zealand, Reefton. R 28 is the only original British Single Fairlie to have survived, the Festinog's ''Taliesin'' is a replica built in 1999. The remains of another, R class number 271, was dumped at Oamaru to protect the railway yards against coastal erosion in 1930, and has since passed into the ownership of the Oamaru Steam & Rail Restoration Society. Two more R class boilers, and two power bogies from one each B and E class double Fairlies are held by the Canterbury Railway Society at its Ferrymead Railway in Christchurch. A double Fairlie tramway type engine is also preserved in Eastern Germany, and one of the original Festiniog locomotives, ''Livingston Thompson'' of 1885, is in the National Railway Museum in York.


In fiction

In the children's television series ''Thomas & Friends'', based on the Wilbert Awdry, Rev. W. Awdry's ''The Railway Series'', Mighty Mac is a double Fairlie on the
narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curv ...
Skarloey Railway.


See also

* Articulated locomotive * South West African Zwillinge, South West African twin locomotive


References


Bibliography

* * * * * {{Ffestiniog Railway Fairlie locomotives Scottish inventions Ffestiniog Railway Articulated locomotives Steam locomotive types