Monarch

Monarch was for a time expected to join the WHR (Caernarfon) fleet, but this did not happen, as the engine was sold back to the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway. This page tells the tale of its ten-year trip to Gwynedd.

Built by Bagnall of Stafford in 1953 (the name commemorates the Coronation of that year), this articulated Bagnall-Meyer 0-4-4-0T was the last narrow gauge (2'6") steam loco built for British industry, specifically the Bowater's paper mills in Kent (a system partly preserved by the Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway). Peter Excell's pictures below show Monarch in steam at Bowater's circa 1965, still fitted with the original spark arrestor chimney.

The design is almost identical to earlier Bagnall-Meyers built to 2' gauge for sugar plantation work in South Africa, one of which is now in a private collection in England. Another is at the Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad in Colorado, USA.

In 1966 Monarch was sold to the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway, but was not initially a success there, with a history of poor steaming, leaking tubes, and broken steam pipes. The loco only served as the main service machine on the W&LLR for one season in the 1970s, when no other engine was available, and the entry into service there of Kerr Stuart 0-6-2T Joan and the ex-Sierra Leone Hunslet 2-6-2T (a close relative of WHR[P]'s Russell) relegated Monarch to at best spare loco status, and it became a sorry, neglected sight on a siding at Llanfair Caereinion by the time of reopening to Welshpool in 1981.

In 1992, Monarch was acquired for the Ffestiniog Railway by two individuals who believed it had potential for use there, and ownership later passed to the FR Company. Like many Bagnall designs, Monarch has a cylindrical marine-pattern firebox, of simpler and cheaper construction than the conventional locomotive type, but harder to press for steam with traditional coal firing by hand - notoriously so in this case as Monarch's firebox is particularly long. It was thought that oil firing (as used by the FR) could transform Monarch's usefulness, and this consideration contributed to its acquisition for the FR. The engine is seen below in Minffordd yard soon after delivery to the FR in February 1992. The loco was dismantled shortly afterwards, with a view to conversion from 2'6" gauge and overhaul, but in the event work came to a standstill as more urgent projects took precedence at Boston Lodge.

Monarch's main components were stored in Minffordd Yard. In the right-hand view below, the boiler is sitting between the condemned boiler of privately-owned Baldwin Brasil (left - loco sold to the Brecon Mountain Railway in 2002), and the long-replaced original boiler of Mountaineer. Monarch's marine firebox is clearly apparent.

The partially-stripped power bogies are seen below at Boston Lodge Works.

A regauged Monarch was considered for use on lighter Welsh Highland services, assuming it could prove capable of the 25mph running planned for future WHR services - its superstructure was slightly too large for use on the FR. This could have involved some quite drastic re-designing and mechanical surgery, in addition to the regauging work, and by no means everybody was convinced of the loco's potential for the WHR. In addition, its historic status as the last narrow gauge steam loco built for British industry suggested a strong case for keeping it in as close as possible to its original condition.

Thus the wheel turned full circle, and the FR came to the decision that Monarch would not form a part of future plans for the FR or WHR fleet. Following negotiations with a group of Welshpool and Llanfair volunteers with plans for the locomotive, it was officially announced in late July 2002 that the loco was to be sold back to the W&LLR.

The dismantled Monarch made the journey back to the W&LLR in three stages. On 23rd November 2002, most of the smaller parts such as motion and boiler fittings were moved; the bogies, boiler, frames, cab and tanks followed on January 6th 2003, followed the next week by a further load of small parts.

A group of W&LLR volunteers have since made steady progress with restoring Monarch to display condition, working around maintenance and overhaul of the operational fleet. The bogies and boiler were ready by early 2007

The major components of the loco were reassembled in Summer 2007, and the loco made its first public appearance for many years in September. Much work remained to be done before the cosmetic restoration could be considered complete; Monarch may go on display at Welshpool when this is done.