Monkland & Kirkintilloch

The Monkland & Kirkintilloch Railway is credited as making the first successful use of steam locomotives in Scotland. This was in 1831, and was the result of something in the nature of a race between this company and the Garnkirk & Glasgow Railway. The latter was known to have ordered some of Stephenson 's 'Planet' type of locomotives for the opening of its line. Accordingly the M. & K. directors instructed their locomotive superintendent, Isaac Dodds, to produce designs for two locomotives capable of hauling 60 tons gross weight at a speed of 5 m.p.h. Dodds based his design on the Killingworth type and an order was placed with Murdoch & Aitken, Hill Street, Glasgow, who thus achieved fame as having constructed the first steam locomotives to be built in Scotland.

The builders delivered the first engine on May 10, 1831, the second one following on September 10th the same year. The boilers of these engines were 4'-6" diameter and contained 62 tubes 1½" diameter and 5' long, while the working pressure was 50lb/in² and the firegrate 4 ft² area. The cylinders were 10½ x 24" and the coupled wheels, of which there were four, were 3'-9" diameter and were provided with 1" side play. The coupling rods had ball and socket joints and the pistons were fitted with metallic packing, one of the earliest examples of its use in the locomotive field. The packing consisted of two iron rings, in three segments, a wedge piece between each pair of segments being pressed outwards by means of a spiral spring. The valves were operated by tappet gearing moved by eccentrics. Although the Killingworth type of locomotive was now being looked upon as having been surpassed by the 'Planet' type designed by Stephenson, these Murdoch & Aitken engines for the M. & K. were considered highly efficient machines by the directors of the company. They bore the appropriate names "Monkland" and "Kirkintilloch" until later numbered 1 and 2.  By 18?? The company was known to have a stud of ten locomotives, of which eight were in service at any time.
One unfortunate original feature of the line was the lack of clearance through the tunnel where the line passed under the Glasgow to Stirling road near Moodiesburn. Until this was rectified one of the original two locomotives worked the line to the north of the obstruction and the other to the south.  One might assume that "Kirkintilloch" was the one chosen for the northern section and "Monkland" for the southern section!
It is unfortunate that no details have survived of the first locomotive to be built the M. & K. works at Mosside in 1837, the first to be built in a railway company's workshops in Scotland. The subject of this distinction was named Victoria and all that is known of it is that it was used for experimental work towing canal boats on the M. & K. Canal.

At the amalgamation of the Monkland Railway Company with the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, and subsequent take-over by the North British Railway, various kinds of locomotives became the property of the new organisation. Among them were outside cylinder 0-4-2s by Neilson & Co. and Hawthorn & Co. and some 0-6-0s by the latter firm, and except for Paton's early banking engines, the first 0-6-0s on the N.B.R. All these had 16 x 24" cylinders and 5' drivers except one engine with wheels 4'-6" diameter. The N.B. numbers allotted to this batch were 267-279, No.277 being the 4'-6" engine. The remainder of the Monklands stock comprised 0-4-0 mineral engines and pugs.  To complicate matters, one such 0-4-0 locomotive, coincidently (?) also built by Hawthorn & Co, was numbered by the North British 273A (see photograph below).  Such duplication of numbers seems to have been common around this time as many small companies were absorbed by the larger groupings, though why two locomotives from the same company should end up with duplicate numbers is a mystery.
 

The Monkland Railways Locomotive described above, numbered 273A by the North British Railway and Photographed near Kinneil.  This locomotive was built in 1885 for the opening of the Bathgate to Blackston branch.  It was rebuilt by the NB in 1867 and was withdrawn in 1888

Glasgow, Bothwell, Hamilton and Coatbridge Locomotives

In 1877 four powerful 0-6-0 side tank locomotives were ordered from Dübs & Co. to the designs of A. Simpson C.E. engineer of the Glasgow, Bothwell, Hamilton & Coatbridge Railway. These engines were acquired by the North British Railway in 1879 and became N.B.R. Nos. 502-5 on delivery, the working of the G.B.H. & C.R. being in the hands of the N.B.R. representing a Joint Committee of Management. The cylinders were 18 x 24" wheels 4'-6" diameter and the working pressure 130lb/in² Thus the tractive effort of these useful machines was 15,900lb. When in 1895 and 1897 Holmes re-boilered them he raised the pressure by 10lb/in²., which had the effect of increasing the power by 1,224lb. to over 17,120lb. As built, the boilers had 1,065ft² of tube surface and 95ft² of firebox and, after re-boilering 202 tubes It in. diameter gave 1,020ft² in a total 1,113ft² The grate remained at the original 17ft².  The side tanks carried 820 gallons of water and the bunkers held 30cwt. of coal.
 
 

One of the locomotives described above in "as delivered"condition to the G,B,H&C	No. 502 in NBR days.  Note the alterations to the chimney & safety valves.  With coal rails added to increase bunker capacity.

Glasgow Garnkirk and Coatbridge

When the Garnkirk & Glasgow Railway was officially opened in 1831, two of Robert Stephenson & Co's 'Planet' type engines were employed. These were named "St Rollox" and "George Stephenson", maker's numbers 36 and 37. The former was a 2-2-0 and the latter an 0-4-0. "St Rollox" had two cylinders 10 x 14" and driving wheels 4'- 6" diameter. The boiler of this engine was 3' diameter and 6' in length and had a heating surface of 298.5ft². The pressure was again 50lb/in². The cost of this engine was stated to have been £780 and, after five years service on the G. & G.R., it was sold to the Paisley & Renfrew Railway for £350. When the locomotives of this railway were sold for scrap in 1848, it's scrap value was only £13.

The years 1832 to 1836 saw further additions to the locomotive stock. Johnston & McNab supplied an engine of the 0-4-0 'Planet' type named Glasgow in 1832. This was followed shortly after by "Garnkirk", another 'Planet', made by Murdoch & Aitken who also built a six-coupled engine Gartgill the following year. Johnston & McNab were the makers of the third and fourth locomotives which were followed in 1836 by Jenny, another 2-2-0 'Planet' shortly before the firm moved to Paisley. A small firm known as the St Rollox Foundry Company built an 0-4-0  in 1835, this locomotive being named "Frew". Besides being the first six-coupled locomotive built in Scotland, Gartgill had a peculiar drive. The cylinders were mounted high up at the foot-plate end and inclined upwards. From the crosshead a connecting rod worked a crank which drove a second connecting rod coupled to a crank on the middle axle. The cylinders were 12t x 21", the wheels 3' 9" diameter and the wheelbase was 10'.  The boiler contained 90 tubes 1" diameter. Frew was of the same general design as George Stephenson, but Jenny was similar to St Rollox. lt had only 85 tubes giving a heating surface of 294ft², and carried the customary 50lb/in². pressure.