Messrs. Beyer, Peacock & Co. Ltd.
Gorton Foundry, Liverpool Road, Manchester
2-4-0 Bissell-truck Tank Locomotives, 3 ft Narrow Gauge

Description:
 
The first three locomotives ordered from Messrs Beyer, Peacock & Co. Ltd. would appear to have been built in relative short order under General Arrangement Drawing No. 20273 dated 22nd January 1873.   The drawing indicates Beyer Peacock allocating an Engine No. of 2965, the discrepancy with the allocated Works No.'s not being clear.
 
The locomotives were of a compact design with 2-4-0 wheel arrangement, side water tanks and a coal bunker located within the confines of the cab rear.  The front pair of wheels were mounted in a Bissell-type pony truck which was pivoted from a main frame cross stretcher located on the same centre line as the valve gear weighshaft, boiler feed clack valve and dome. The pony truck had its side frames and axleboxes outside of the wheels (the axleboxes having overhead leaf springs) and supported the front of the engine, in particular the outside cylinders, inside-frame steam chests and smokebox.
 
The cylinders, drive motion, valve chests and valve gear were arranged on  incline of 1 in 9 from the main driving axle centre, the cylinders being located above the pony truck although with little clearance from the pony truck's leaf spring assemblies. The cylinders each had front and rear drain cocks operated by a series of links, rods and cross shafts from the cab.
 
Valve gear located inside the frames was of the Allan straight-link design, being driven on each side by two eccentrics mounted on the driving wheel axle.  Reversing was my means of a lever located on a quadrant stand assembly, which itself was riveted to the right-hand main frame within the cab.  The reversing lever connected via a rod and crank to the valve gear weighshaft previously referenced, to which the valve gear's expansion links were also connected by lifting links.  Slide valves operated within the steam chests, the valve rods extending through glands on the front covers of the steam chests for guidance, but concealed within external brass covers typically visible beneath the smokebox door on all of the Isle of Man locomotives supplied by Beyer, Peacock.

Braking arrangements were simple.  A single hand operated brake shaft which passed through the coal bunker raised or lowered a crank attached to a brake weighshaft mounted at the bottom edge of the main frames.  This in turn, through cranked ends, pulled (or pushed) brake rods which ran either side of the wheels and connected to brake hangers in front of each main wheel.  To the hangers were attached large wooden brake blocks made of oak.
 
Moving above the chassis, the locomotives had a typical round top boiler with rather narrow firebox so as to fit between the frames.  On each side of the boiler and mounted on brackets were relatively small side tanks of different front and rear section heights. Construction was all riveted.  The top of the front section of the tanks was level with the height of the boiler centre-line whilst the rear section, forming part of the cab side, was half as high again.  The coal bunker was located within and to the full width of the cab, matching in height to the rear sections of the side tanks.  "Wrap-over" style front and rear cab sheets, with two round spectacles in each, joined at roof height although slightly rear of cab the centre-line.  Small cab side plates above the side tanks completed the rather basic and cramped cab design.
 
To the front of the locomotives, a smokebox and saddle assembly, again of riveted construction, sat on top of the steam chests with the front smokebox plate and door reclined at 1 in 9 to the vertical so as to match the cylinder / steam chest recline.  Separate plates, joined to the smokebox with lapping strips, sat between the main frames to conceal the steam chests at both the front and rear.  Running boards were attached to the cylinder tops and connected back to the side tanks.

Typical Beyer, Peacock embellishments to the locomotives included a tall tapered chimney with copper cap and brass numeral and an open bell-mouthed dome cover concealing the inner dome with two Salter-type safety valves, although the springs for the valves were located externally and to the rear of the dome.

Other fittings of interest include two Giffords water injectors located in front of the cab above each side tank, steam and water inlets being controlled by wheel valves inside the cab, with long copper water delivery pipes ending in sweeping reverse curves connected to the delivery clack valves on each side of the boiler, on the same centre-line as the dome.  A small shrill whistle was located centrally on a boiler manifold and inspection plate immediately in front of cab, which also had the steam take-off feeds for the two water injectors.  The whistle was again operated by a control rod from inside the cab.

Cylinder lubrication was by way of two brass displacement lubricators,  located each side of the smokebox and feeding into the steam pipe within the smokebox.  The remaining motion was generously lubricated by hand although certain bearings had fitted oil pads or oiling cups.

Inside the cab, the backhead contained 2 water gauges (3-cock design), the regulator quadrant and handle which operated a shaft through the boiler to the Stroudley-pattern regulator within the dome, a blower valve control rod which ran straight through the right-hand boiler handrail and, via a small crank and connecting rod, operated the blower valve located externally just behind the chimney on top of the boiler.  In each front corner of the cab were sand boxes which gravity fed sand via large bore pipes running through the side tanks and outside of the coupling rods to end between the main wheels in line with their treads.  Those items aside, other operating controls included the front and rear ashpan damper control rods and the already mentioned cylinder drain cock control rod.
 
In concluding the description of these locomotives, tapered wooden buffer beams were fitted front and rear held to metal plates by long and large headed coach bolts.  The plates were in turn attached by riveted angle to the main frames.  The buffer beams were each fitted with a centrally located Norwegian-type buffer/coupler (a chopper was fitted to the rear coupler only and a retaining strap to the front coupler), a pair of safety chains with end hooks and two lamp brackets. It should be noted that the original General Arrangement drawing of Sutherland omits the safety chains and it would also seem from earliest photographs of the IOMR that the locomotives were not initially fitted with same. This was certainly to be rectified quickly as wagons delivered for the opening of the line had the chains fitted. The front buffer beams also had guard irons fitted to their rear face.  At the back of the locomotive, larger guard irons were mounted on the main frames themselves and included cross rods between them.

Technical Specifications:

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