Edward Thomas Celebrates its Centenary

Edward Thomas was built by Kerr, Stuart & Co Ltd at their California Works in Stoke-onTrent for the Corris Railway, as engine No 4047 of the Tattoo Class in 1921. It is an 0-4-2ST saddle tank built to the 2ft 3in gauge. with 2ft 0in driving wheels and 1ft 4in training wheels and a boiler pressure of 160lbf/in2.

Corris Railway

The Corris Railway was a 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) gauge horse-drawn tramway built in 1859 under the name of the Corris, Machynlleth & River Dovey Tramroad. A title which, fortunately was shortened by an Act of 1864, followed by a further Act which authorised the purchase of locomotives. The railway was of the same gauge as the tramway, which consisted of a mainline from Machynlleth north to Corris and on to Aberllefenni, a distance of about six and a half miles to which quarry branches from Maespoeth (just suth of Corris) to Upper Corris and up the valley beyond Aberlefeni added another four and a half miles. A passenger service was introduced on the 4th July 1883 between Machynlleth and Corris and on 25th August 1887 extended from there to Aberllefeni. The railway company owned three locomotives, built in 1878; by the end of World War I all three were in poor condition, and the railway ordered a fourth, a modified version of Kerr Stuart›s 0-4-2 ST «Tattoo» class, in 1921.[1] It initially struggled with the workload on the Corris and was provided with a new boiler with a greater number of tubes in 1928. The Corris Railway was taken over, as part of the Crossville Motor Services Ltd, by the Great Western Railway in 1930, after which duties were shared between No.4 and the surviving original loco, No. 3.However, passenger services were withdrawn as from the 1st January 1931. By late 1947 No. 4 was out of service needing a major overhaul, and as a result never worked under British Railways following nationalisation in 1948, as the Corris closed on 20 August that year.

Cambell Thomas and Oliver Veltom

Mr Campbell Thomas was the GWR and BR Stationmaster at Machynlleth. One of his responsibilities was running the former Corris Railway which ran from the lower yard at Machynlleth to Corris and Aberlefenni serving the slate quarries. Mr Campbell Thomas was very fond of the Corris Railway which had been under threat of closure. Trains on the line ran three days per week and sometimes did not run according to the then working timetable but to suit Campbell Thomas`s fishing requirements. Thanks to his efforts and

Nos 3 & 4 behind the Corris Station at Machynlleth

that of Sir Haydn Jones and Edward Thomas of the Talyllyn Railway, they kept the Corris Railway going and saved it from closure enabling it to survive under the British Railways era. Writer George Behrend author of the classic book ‘Gone With Regret’ read in the ‘County Times’ newspaper at the beginning of August 1948 that the Corris Railway had closed. He had wanted to see the line in action, so he decided to go to see the remains of the line before it disappeared for ever.

Accordingly, he journeyed to Machynlleth. When he got there, he was so pleased to find the line had not yet closed and Mr Campbell Thomas invited him for a trip along the line behind locomotive No.3. Although not known at the time, it was to be the penultimate working of the Corris as, unfortunately, flooding from the River Dovey was undermining the railway embankment. The driver was Mr Humphrey Humphreys and the guard Mr Pryce Owen both of whom had given many years of service to the railway. George had a wonderful trip returning on the footplate of No.3 His abiding memory of the day was that he drank beer in the Slater`s Arms with the driver and guard of the Corris! Sadly, the line closed on 20th August 1948 as the flooding did its worst.

Mr Cambell Thomas was a visionary. He knew the two Corris Railway locomotives Nos 3 and 4 were of the same unusual gauge as the nearby Talyllyn Railway so he stored them in the lower goods yard putting tarpaulins over them and placing standard gauge wagons in front of them so they would be hidden from prying eyes. It was his hope they would eventually go to the Talyllyn Railway, which at the time was on its last legs and needing another locomotive. At a time of a national scrap drive, he accidentally ignored instructions from Swindon to send the locomotives for scrap.

Locos 3 and 4 at The Wharf on the Talyllyn Railway 17 March 1951. The BR crew who delivered the locos pose with their special delivery (TR-Archive)

Somehow, he held on to them and getting his loyal staff to ensure they would be in a condition to work again. The TRPS was not formed until 1950 so, when it was up and running and they had bought the two locomotives, Campbell Thomas`s vision was fulfilled. As George Behrend wrote, “His efforts to save the Corris locomotives went unsung as he would have expected, as secrecy was of the first importance.” In March 1951 Mr Campbell Thomas was able to supervise the loading of Nos 3 and 4 for their journey to Towyn (old spelling) and preservation.” The engines were originally offered for sale by British Railways at the price of £85 each, but the negotiated price was for £25 each and the eventual bill of sale to the TRPS showed a final price of thirty pounds, twelve shillings and ninepence for the sale of both engines. They were transported to Tywyn via the mainline, then off-loaded onto the Talyllyn tracks

No2 taking Nos 4 and 3 up to Pendre is a still from a 16mm film by Pat Whitehouse (Martin Fuller)

by crane from the original BR slate transfer siding which runs alongside the TR slate offload siding at Wharf station.

Oliver and the Narrow Gauge

The devotion of Campbell Thomas and Oliver Veltom to the narrow-gauge railways of North Wales did not end there, however. Inspired by Campbell Thomas, Oliver Veltom, BR District Superintendent at Oswestry saved the Vale of Rheidol Railway from closure in the 1950s and renovated it to such an extent that his men called it ‘Veltom`s own Railway.’ His greatest achievement was helping to save the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway. When it closed in November 1956 the newly formed Preservation Society did not have enough money to buy it, never mind obtaining their only locomotives Nos 822 and 823, so Oliver emulat-

No 2 Dolgoch re-enacting taking the newly arrived Corrs Nos 3 and 4 to Pendre (Barbara Fuller)

ed his colleague Campbell Thomas and had them stored in Oswestry Works from 1956 to 1962. This gave the preservationists the time to raise the money to buy them and the line and it could re-open in 1963. Oliver helped those trying to purchase the last ‘Dukedog’ No.9017 from scrapping by keeping it in Oswestry Works from 1960 to 1962. Oliver cared for his men. When the Ruabon to Barmouth line closed in 1965 he wrote to all the employers in the area asking them to give work to redundant railwaymen.

Oliver Veltom, although of Cornish stock, was born in London. He died in July 1980 and at his request his ashes were placed on the Vale of Rheidol Line near Rheidol Falls Halt on 8th August 1980. A plaque was placed there in his memory. His funeral at Oswestry was attended by 350 people such was the esteem in which he was held by so many. The Cambrian Railways Society at Oswestry named one of their locomotives after him. Oliver had been their President as he was for the Vale of Rheidol Railway Supporters` Association.

On its Travels

Along with No. 3, No 4 kept its Corris number, giving both locos the unusual distinction of carrying the same number through the ownership of four different railway companies (the Corris, Great Western, British Railways and Talyllyn Railway). Because both railways were built to the unusual gauge of 2ft 3in. it was relatively easy to adapt the Corris locomotives to work on the Talyllyn Railway. Upon arriving, No.4 was in need of a major overhaul but was unserviceable as the Talyllyn Railway were struggling for money. John Alcock, the chairman of the Hunslet Engine Company, was a member of the Preservation Society and had No. 4 overhauled free of charge at his works. Like Sir Haydn when it arrived at the Talyllyn Railway it had no buffers, so was subsequently fitted with them.

Edward Thomas, fitted with its Giesl Ejector in 1962

In 1958, Dr Giesl-Gieslingen approached British Railways to offer a free trial of his Giesl ejector. When this offer was turned down, the inventor made the same offer to the preserved Talyllyn Railway in Wales, and Edward Thomas was fitted with one. Although a coal saving of 40% was officially announced at the time, this has since been disputed by the railway’s chief engineer. The ejector was removed in 1969, and no difference in coal consumption was found. The ejector is now on display in the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum at Tywyn.

Reconstruction of the Corris Railway commenced in the 1970s and in October 1996 No.4 returned there for a brief visit to run demonstration trains. On 17 May 2005 a newbuild Tattoo class locomotive, similar in design to No.4, arrived on the Corris Railway and currently hauls passenger trains there.

New build Corris No 7 (left) and Edward Thomas (right) during a vist of the former to the Talyllyn Railway

21st Century Heralds Centenary for Edward Thomas

Until 2000 the loco was running in the guise of “Peter Sam” (of Thomas the Tank Engine fame), in red livery. It was then repainted into British Railways black, the colour scheme it might have acquired had the Corris line survived a little longer. An extensive overhaul, which has included the fitting of a new boiler, was completed in late May 2004 and the loco returned to public service on Sunday 30th May as “Edward Thomas”, in unlined green livery. The loco is now running in the standard TR livery of deep bronze lined with black borders and yellow lining.

On Wednesday March 17th 2021, the day of the 70th anniversary of the arrival of these two locos, the Talyllyn Railway celebrated the occasion with a re-enactment of the arrival of No 3 and No 4 at Tywyn Wharf and their being taken up to Pendre works behind Loco No 2, Dolgoch. Although Covid 19 lockdown restrictions prevented this being open to the public, we felt it was an important part of our 70th anniversary year and should be marked with an appropriate remembrance. The re-enactment was arranged as a live Facebook stream, and you can watch it on the Talyllyn Railway’s YouTube channel.

Currently, the Talyllyn will remain closed until the Coronavirus (Covid 19) restrictions are lifted. To celebrate the 100th birthday of Loco No. 4 in September, it will be returning to Corris as a guest loco as part of a joint venture with the Corris Railway, returning to Tywyn for its own birthday over the weekend of 11th /12th September. Spring 2021 GREAT WESTERN STAR MAGAZINE 45