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Well, like that really. Aaaaaand now it's time for another of those videos where I explain railway
terminology for the benefit of people who aren't massive nerds like me. Something I've come across
a few times online is people asking what exactly a tank engine is. This is often followed up with
some joke about hybrids of tanks and trains, which actually isn't quite so crazy as it sounds.
You've probably heard the term "tank engine," and likely thanks to a certain fictional locomotive.
When Britt Allcroft adapted Reverend W Awdry's stories to TV, she chose to name the adaptation
after the most popular character, Thomas the Tank Engine, rather than use the more generic
"Railway Series," which the books were published under. In 1946, when the character was first
introduced to the world, steam trains were a part of everyday life and it was reasonable to expect
that kids would know what a tank engine was. In 1984, when the TV series made its debut, not so
much. In recent years, the series has been renamed to Thomas and Friends, which seems to imply
that they've given up on the idea that anyone would be familiar with the term "tank engine."
Alright, so, what is a tank engine? Well, it's a type of self-contained steam locomotive.
As you are probably aware, a steam locomotive requires water and fuel, usually coal, to run.
The supply of coal and water is either kept on board the engine or in a separate tender that
is coupled to the locomotive. When the supply is on the locomotive, you have a tank engine. As the
name implies, the water is kept in tanks. The fuel is carried in what's called a bunker. Between the
tanks and the bunkers, this is all sounding very militaristic. The first tank engine was probably
Novelty, one of the locomotives that competed against Stephenson's Rocket in the Rainhill trials
back in 1829. In just about every other respect, though, Novelty was a technological dead end.
Tank engines are usually smaller than tender engines. Having no tender in the way,
there are no visibility problems when running in reverse, so they don't have to be turned around at
the end of the line. Being smaller, they tend to be lighter and able to negotiate tighter curves.
The big disadvantage is that they have a shorter range before they need to refuel. There are plenty
of duties that a tank engine is ideally suited to. Branch lines and light railways are perfect. The
track and bridges are not so strong on those lines and they are often built on the cheap,
so they don't have space for extensive turning, coaling and water facilities. Loads are usually
lighter and trains less frequent. A tank engine is the economical solution. Shunting is another use.
Railways require a lot of shunting and in steam days, even more so. Shunting in railway terms
means the movement of rolling stock to where it's required. It doesn't make the railway any money
and rarely requires a lot of power. In a shunting yard or big station you need good visibility,
and shunting doesn't require traveling over long distances. The engine will never venture
far from a coal and water supply. With the water tanks being located on the engine itself, this
means that the weight of the water can improve the engine's adhesion to the rails. Some tank engines
were designed purely for shunting and so had very little space for coal. Industries in Britain
almost exclusively used tank engines, because their requirements were primarily for shunting.
If their private line did run any distance, it was usually a feeder to a main line railway.
They often had tighter curves than a main line. A well-designed tank engine could be something of a
jack-of-all-trades. The Great Western Railway's 5700 class and the London, Midland and Scottish
Railway's 3Fs, better known as Jinties, were perfect examples of this. They could shunt,
but they could also haul branch line trains and keep pace with trains on the main line.
They were equally suited to passenger and goods trains and, being 0-6-0s, they had an excellent
power-to-weight ratio. Not all tank engines were small. A large tank engine was ideal for
medium jobs like commuter trains. They could even haul express trains, provided they didn't
have to go too far. For instance, the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway had a main line
less than 40 miles long and was operated almost entirely by tank engines. There were even some
big shunters. The Southern Railway's Z class was a perfect example of this type. As you can see,
it has small tanks and a small wheelbase relative to its size. These were built for marshalling
heavy trains around London and for hauling them the (fairly) short distance between yards.
Some engines had tanks and a tender, though this was quite unusual in Britain. The Small and Large
England class on the Ffestiniog railway are probably the most notable examples.
Some modern heritage railways have converted engines this way because
the engines they have were designed for shorter ranges than are required today.
There are different kinds of tank, but their names are usually pretty self-evident.
Your standard tank engine is what we call a "side tank" - the tanks are, well, on the sides.
The saddle tank has the water in a tank that sits on top of the boiler like, yes, a saddle.
A well tank has the water slung below the boiler. The Great Western Railway was very fond of pannier
tanks, which were like a halfway house between side tanks and saddle tanks, giving maximum
access to the fittings above and below the boiler. Rarer kinds still were box tanks (the tank is a
box) and wing tanks, which were like side tanks, but at the very front of the engine for balance.
I don't know why they're called wing tanks, those things don't look like wings at all.
So that's a basic outline of what a tank engine is. They're not as glamorous as the big express
engines, but they were an essential part of the operation of the railway network.
They were, in short, really useful engines.
Good evening! I hope you enjoyed today's video! If so,
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