Ffestiniog Articulated Locomotives in Great_Britain

Class James Spooner (Locobase 15376)

Data from "The Locomotive 'James Spooner'", Engineering, Volume 15 (3 March 1873), pp. 179-181. See also Festpedia, hosted by the FR Heritage Group, at [] (last accessed 25 August 2013). (Thanks to Alexander Blessing for his 10 September 2019 email correcting the valve gear ID.) Avonside works numbers 929-930 in 1972.

The Ffestiniog found its double Fairlie "Little Wonder" appropriate enough for its steep grades and tight grades (Locobase 5978) to buy a second locomotive three years later. By now James Fairlie had negotiated an alliance with Avonside that would endure for a couple of decades. The Yorkshire-based manufacturer weighed in with some innovations of its own.

The James Spooner seems to have been a big of a maintenance hog. Within a couple of years of its delivery, it was retubed (in June 1875) and had its frame repaired in 1877 after cracks appeared in 1876. A new boiler from Neilson & Company in 1889 proved difficult to install and troublesome in service, tubes were referruled (new copper ends) in 1891, 200 new tubes installed in March 1901, and an entirely new wagon top boiler from Vulcan had 222 red metal tubes, 203 of which were reused.

Withal, the James Spooner remained in service until 1928, but its condition had deteriorated badly and it stood standby until 1931 when it was withdrawn. Cutting up ended in 1937.

Class Little Wonder (Locobase 5978)

The Locomotive Magazine of September 1900 details this early double Fairlie, which had two boilers and engine bogies under a frame with two fireboxes back to back that fed both boilers. See also "The Festiniog Railway", reprinted from Engineering, 24 September 1869 in C E Spooner, Narrow Gauge Railways, 2d Edition (London: E & F N Spon, 1879), pp. 18-24. (Thanks to Alexander Blessing for his 10 September 2019 email correcting the valve gear ID.)

The LM article notes the locomotive's surprising power as it hauled 110-120 tons up the grade to the quarries of this Welsh narrow gauge. She also took the sharp curves at up to 35 mph, thus vindicating the design. Surprisingly, perhaps, The Locomotive Magazine doesn't tell the reader that the track was too roughly laid and the Little Wonder wore herself out by 1882.

A near-duplicate -- James Spooner -- was delivered from Avonside in 1872; see Locobase 15376.

Class Merddyn Emrys (Locobase 8059)

Data from [], accessed 4 January 2007; and "The Festiniog [sic] and its Locomotives", Locomotive Magazine, Volume XXVI [26] (15 July 1920), pp.152-154.. (Thanks to Alexander Blessing for his 10 September 2019 email correcting the valve gear ID.)

Once the Little Wonder and James Spooner had demonstrated a certain value to this narrow-gauge Welsh railway, the Festiniog's own shops took on the job of building the third Double Fairlie. George Percival Spooner began construction of this locomotive in 1877 and it rolled out on 21 July 1879. Cost to build: +2,235 7s 8d.

Running through several boilers over the next several decades, the Merddyn Emrys finally fell silent in 1946 for over a decade. As work began to revive the engine, the website notes, "The work required for a return to service post-preservation was significant, unlike the funds available to finance it ..." Even so, it returned to service in 1961 for six years. The rebuilt boiler showed its real age (it dated from the 1920s) and back into mothballs went the ME in 1967.

Three years later, Merddyn Emrys returned to service with a Hunslet-built, superheated boiler and riding on the wheels that originally drove the James Spooner. 1984 saw a revamping of the locomotive's profile to better resemble the original outline and the locomotive went back in service again in 1987.

By then the Ffestiniog had built modern replicas of earlier Fairlies and the ME presumably was worked at a lower pace. Twenty years later, the railway still ran the now nearly 130-year-old engine.