Edinburgh & Glasgow 2-2-2 Locomotives in Great_Britain

Class Inspection engine (Locobase 12391)

Data from G A Sekon, "Illustrated Interviews - Mr. John Conacher," Railway Magazine (April 1898), pp. 289-306

Conacher noted that this locomotive entered service in 1850 as one of the original express passenger locomotives on the E & G. It was produced by Neilson & Company of Glasgow. At some much later date, the shops bobbed the 2-2-2's tail and added a full cab to the footboard.

NB: Tube length is an estimate based on the calculation of tube surface area by subtracting reported firebox heating surface from reported total evaporative heating surface

Class unknown (Locobase 12389)

Data from "Passenger Locomotive Engine for the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway," The Artizan, Volume 19, No 219 (1 March 1861), p. 11.

The Artizan spoke glowingly of the qualities of the locomotives produced by Messrs Beyer (a German-born engineer who gained invaluable experience with Sharp, Brothers & Co) and Peacock (described as "...one of the most -- if not THE most -- practical of the locomotive engine builders of the present [1861] day." Their training and long experience, the journal declares, is the source of "... their apparent fondness for giving uniformity of character to the chief parts of the several engines -- to maintain, as far as possible, uniformity of type, simplicity of construction, combining great strength with the least weight, and a general character of finished excellence, superadded to the utmost mechanical accuracy."

The Artizan quoted Daniel Kinnear Clark in praise of the design as well.

By the time Beyer, Peacock supplied this design (and 2 others) to the E & G, its 47-mile main line between the two largest Scottish cities consisted of most level track with the one 1 in 45 grade (2.2%) at Cowlairs using a winch system to haul the trains up out of Glasgow and on their way to Edinburgh.

In 1865, the E & G was incorporated into the North British Railway.

NB: Tube length is calculated by subtracting the reported direct heating surface from the reported evaporative heating surface, then using the count and diameter of the tubes to derive the length required to achieve the tube heating surface. Boiler pressure is an estimate based on other 2-2-2s produced in England in the same period.