Kerr Stuart 4415 shunting in Minffordd Yard.

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(52°55′35″N, 4°5′17″W)

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684

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Kerr Stuart 4415 shunting in Minffordd Yard.

Kerr Stuart 4415 shunting loaded slate waggons in Minffordd Yard during early 1929. Note the chopper couplings, side chains & vacuum pipe fitted during the brief period spent working winter trains on the WHR. The cut down cab was necessary in order for the locomotive to fit the FR loading gauge. The cylindrical exhaust silencer was another early modification, replacing the previous 'double chimney' arrangement.

At the time it was built this was a truly experimental, and as events would turn out, revolutionary prototype thanks to its J&H McLaren (licensed Daimler-Benz) four cylinder diesel engine. The use of the railway as a testbed for a pioneer of what would become the dominant railway motive power for the rest of the century was a historic milestone, even if Colonel Stephens refused to recognise the potential.

After initial trials it found use as Bottom Shunter, where its relative power made it a better substitute for steam engines than the petrol tractors which regularly broke down under the strain. J.W. Bill Willans (the son of the locomotive's designer Kyrle W. Willans and first cousin to L.T.C. Rolt who attended the locomotive's trial period as a Kerr Stuart apprentice) is seen leaning against the locomotive. Note the large timber outside the goods shed on the left.

Source. FRCo. Photographic collection. Catalogue. KS/MN/01C
KS 4415

///rivers.appoints.driftwood
SH5971838603

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