The North British Railway (NBR) No. 224, was one of six 420 Class 4-4-0 steam locomotives designed by Thomas Wheatley and built at Cowlairs Works in 1871. The six were built to be used for express passenger trains on the Edinburgh–Glasgow, Edinburgh–Carlisle, and Burntisland–Dundee routes.
On Sunday December 28, 1879, No. 224 was involved in the Tay Bridge Disaster; one of the worst bridge disasters of the late 19th century.
The Tay Bridge was built to carry the railway across the Firth of Tay in Scotland between Dundee. In 1879, the first Tay Rail Bridge collapsed while No. 224 was crossing over it with a passenger train on the Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line from Burntisland bound for its final destination of Dundee. 75 people perished in the accident including the crew of the locomotive and the passengers. The bridge—designed by Sir Thomas Bouch—used lattice girders supported by iron piers, with cast iron columns and wrought iron cross-bracing. The piers were narrower and their cross-bracing was less extensive and robust than on previous similar designs by Bouch. There were other flaws in detailed design, in maintenance, and in quality control of castings, all of which were, at least in part, Bouch's responsibility.
Divers exploring the wreckage of the bridge found the remains of the train still within the girders. The engine was salvaged, repaired, and was returned to service in 1885. After the accident the locomotive was nicknamed "The Diver" by engine crews. Many of the superstitious drivers were reluctant to take it over the new double-track bridge, built by the NBR in 1887 over the spot where the old one stood, fearing that it would once again take another plunge into the water.
No. 224 was eventually withdrawn from service in 1919 and was most likely cut up for scrap at some point afterwards. All that is known to physically remain of No. 224 is the number plate from it's tender which is currently being preserved at the Selkirk Museum in Scotland.
Trivia[]
- No. 224 was the first inside-cylinder 4-4-0 engine to run in Great Britain, and predated the G&SWR 6 Class by some two years.
- After it's rebuild in 1885, No. 224 was the only compound-expansion locomotive on the NBR, and one of just three tandem compounds in Britain.
Gallery[]
.jpg "Steam engine salvaged from the Tay (5181424024).jpg (35 KB)")