Isle of Wight 2-4-0 Locomotives in Great_Britain

Class Brading (Locobase 20770)

Data from A R Bennett, "The Isle of Wight Railway and Its Locomotives," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol XXVI (February 1920), pp. 192-195. Works number was 1638 in 1872.

Joining the other five Mancunian six-wheeler tanks (Locobase 20769) on the Isle of Wight Railway, this engine was a bit bigger and noticeably heavier than than the first set. Not only was the boiler pressure set to 120 psi on delivery, its setting was never increased during Brading's operational life.

Its relatively greater power, Bennett's 1920 report said, meant it was "used preferably for goods traffic, which is chiefly dealt with early in the morning and late at nght so as to leave the line clear for passenger work during the day."

Like the other 2-4-0Ts, the crews liked to run the Brading with its bunker pointed toward Ryde to give them "the best possible look-out when approaching St John's Road and Pier Head."

Class Ryde (Locobase 20769)

Data from A R Bennett, "The Isle of Wight Railway and Its Locomotives," The Locomotive Magazine, Vol XXVI (February 1920), pp. 192-195. Works numbers were 400-402 in 1864, 848 in 1868, 1141 in 1872.

Bennett, writing in 1920, noted that the six-wheeled tank Ryde may not have had a road number, but it was first to haul a passenger train and the first locomotive through the Ventnor Tunnel in 1866. "The lad who stoked her on that occasion," added Bennett, " is still driving." With Ryde came Sandown and Shanklin. Ventnor arrived in 1868, a duplicate of the original three.

All four had the dome over the firebox and directly ahead of the weatherboard. In lieu of running board access to the front end, the crew had to use handrails rigged to the top of the tank. Although Bennett suggests that the crew member would climb up on the tank, Locobase wonders if he might have worked his way along the lip at the base of the tank. Either way, a challenging way to travel.

The fifth locomotive was Wroxall, delivered in 1872 to essentially the same design, but with the dome shifted forward to the center of the boiler and being fitted with injectors. Wroxall had "a few square feet less" of heating surface area and 2,688 lb (24 cwt or 1,219 kg) in added weight. Most of the latter was due to the increased bunker capacity over the original 47.2 cu ft. (1.34 cu m).

Later all five locomotives would trade their 168 2" tubes for about 24 more 13/4" tubes that contributed nearly the same amount of heating surface area. Even after this change, boiler pressures remained set at 120 psi.

Bennett's 1920 report noted that the crews liked to run their bunkers pointed toward Ryde to give them "the best possible look-out when approaching St John's Road and Pier Head."