June 1955: Vertical boiler locomotives

Perhaps less well known or celebrated than their freight and passenger carrying cousins, vertical boiler locomotives – by dint of their design – were vital to any operation requiring the movement of heavy loads over relatively short distances.

The narrow-gauge locomotives had several advantages in that they allowed for smaller designs (particularly important where width was to be considered), the fire box wouldn’t be compromised because water was situated above it (this was a particular issue for horizontal boilers when traversing gradients), and they were easily maintained because they were mounted in a frame.

Consequently, the vertical boiler was ideally suited primarily for load-hauling locomotives at work in mines, quarries, dockyards and similar industrial locations.

The June 10, 1955, edition of The Engineer saw the publication of part three of R.A.S Abbott’s history of vertical boiler locomotives.

“No previous history of this type of locomotive has ever been published it is hoped that this excursion into a little explored by-way of locomotive engineering will prove welcome to both the engineer and historian,” The Engineer said in its introduction.