Kerr Stuart six wheel Diesel Locomotive
This pioneering diesel loco was built by Kerr Stuart at Stoke in 1928 (works number 4415). It was one of the earliest examples of diesel traction to be built in Britain. The 4 cylinder McLaren diesel engine was rated at 60 hp and the loco had a top speed of just over 11 mph. There were no electrics on the loco as built, the starter motor was a single cylinder motorcycle type petrol engine, it would take 2.5 to 3 minutes to start the engine from cold.
Number 4415 was the prototype loco and was used by Kerr Stuart as a demonstrator, travelling to various railways. It went to the Welsh Highland Railway in July 1928, at that time the loco had a full height cab with round windows on the cab front sheet and no silencer. In March 1929 it was transferred to the Festiniog Railway where the cab was cut down to fit the reduced loading gauge there. It was also fitted with a silencer on top of the engine compartment, and vacuum brakes were fitted for hauling passenger trains. In August 1929 it was returned to Kerr Stuart, it was then used on a civil engineering contract. It returned to Stoke again at the end of the year where it was re-gauged to 3 feet, this was probably when the cab was also rebuilt with rectangular windows. The loco was sent to the Castlederg and Victoria Bridge Tramway in December 1929 and remained there on trial until May 1930 making it the first diesel loco to run in Ireland. The CVBT management did not find the loco satisfactory and it was returned to the makers in June 1930. Kerr Stuart closed down in 1930 and the loco was bought by Hunslet who sold it to the Union Vale Sugar Estate in Mauritius where it worked until the early nineteen seventies. The loco was eventually recovered by the Greenwich and District Narrow Gauge Railway Society and it is now stored at Minffordd on the Festiniog Railway.
In my alternative version of history the TBLR bought the loco in June 1930 (£250 was the asking price) and it was transferred there from the CVBT and proved very useful until the line closed in 1935. It was then sold to Union Vale Sugar thus reconnecting with the thread of its actual history.
A total of eight of the 60 hp version of this loco were built, four of those went to The Sudan.
The drawing supplied to the CVBT, Kerr Stuart diagram 33340, appears to be a modification of the production version drawing which had some detail differences in comparison with the prototype, particularly regarding the size of the engine compartment. I have modelled the larger engine compartment of the production version so that I can get all the electrics in but have retained the single engine access doors and the cab step profile of the prototype as these features are still in place on the preserved loco.
Information on this loco was sourced from 'The Castlederg and Victoria Bridge Tramway' by Dr. E. M. Patterson, Colourpoint Books 1998 and a set of excellent articles and drawings by Stuart Baker in 'Narrow Gauge and Industrial Railway Modelling Review' Issue no.72 Vol. 9 October 2007.
Building the Kerr Stuart diesel
In 2007 I purchased an unused LGB Toytrain loco on e Bay. This was intended to be used as the chassis for my model of CVBT No.3 but a few weeks later I obtained a LGB Stainz Loco also on e Bay, which was found to be more suitable for this loco. The dismantled Toytrain languished unused in a cupboard for three years while I decided what to build. I had at first considered a Dublin and Lucan tram loco but I also had a hankering to build the Kerr Stuart diesel. Although the overall wheelbase of the chassis is almost to scale for the diesel and the wheel diameter is correct, I was initially put off by the lack of the extra pair of driving wheels. This problem was resolved when I realised I could attach a pair of freewheeling dummy wheels between the outer driving wheels. These are barely visible anyway when the running plate with skirts is in place. The gallery below shows how the loco was built.
Number 4415 was the prototype loco and was used by Kerr Stuart as a demonstrator, travelling to various railways. It went to the Welsh Highland Railway in July 1928, at that time the loco had a full height cab with round windows on the cab front sheet and no silencer. In March 1929 it was transferred to the Festiniog Railway where the cab was cut down to fit the reduced loading gauge there. It was also fitted with a silencer on top of the engine compartment, and vacuum brakes were fitted for hauling passenger trains. In August 1929 it was returned to Kerr Stuart, it was then used on a civil engineering contract. It returned to Stoke again at the end of the year where it was re-gauged to 3 feet, this was probably when the cab was also rebuilt with rectangular windows. The loco was sent to the Castlederg and Victoria Bridge Tramway in December 1929 and remained there on trial until May 1930 making it the first diesel loco to run in Ireland. The CVBT management did not find the loco satisfactory and it was returned to the makers in June 1930. Kerr Stuart closed down in 1930 and the loco was bought by Hunslet who sold it to the Union Vale Sugar Estate in Mauritius where it worked until the early nineteen seventies. The loco was eventually recovered by the Greenwich and District Narrow Gauge Railway Society and it is now stored at Minffordd on the Festiniog Railway.
In my alternative version of history the TBLR bought the loco in June 1930 (£250 was the asking price) and it was transferred there from the CVBT and proved very useful until the line closed in 1935. It was then sold to Union Vale Sugar thus reconnecting with the thread of its actual history.
A total of eight of the 60 hp version of this loco were built, four of those went to The Sudan.
The drawing supplied to the CVBT, Kerr Stuart diagram 33340, appears to be a modification of the production version drawing which had some detail differences in comparison with the prototype, particularly regarding the size of the engine compartment. I have modelled the larger engine compartment of the production version so that I can get all the electrics in but have retained the single engine access doors and the cab step profile of the prototype as these features are still in place on the preserved loco.
Information on this loco was sourced from 'The Castlederg and Victoria Bridge Tramway' by Dr. E. M. Patterson, Colourpoint Books 1998 and a set of excellent articles and drawings by Stuart Baker in 'Narrow Gauge and Industrial Railway Modelling Review' Issue no.72 Vol. 9 October 2007.
Building the Kerr Stuart diesel
In 2007 I purchased an unused LGB Toytrain loco on e Bay. This was intended to be used as the chassis for my model of CVBT No.3 but a few weeks later I obtained a LGB Stainz Loco also on e Bay, which was found to be more suitable for this loco. The dismantled Toytrain languished unused in a cupboard for three years while I decided what to build. I had at first considered a Dublin and Lucan tram loco but I also had a hankering to build the Kerr Stuart diesel. Although the overall wheelbase of the chassis is almost to scale for the diesel and the wheel diameter is correct, I was initially put off by the lack of the extra pair of driving wheels. This problem was resolved when I realised I could attach a pair of freewheeling dummy wheels between the outer driving wheels. These are barely visible anyway when the running plate with skirts is in place. The gallery below shows how the loco was built.
Click on the first image in the gallery to enlarge it and reveal the caption then click on 'next' to follow the sequence
