"Alfred" as preserved
- 2000s condition
- Lined yellow livery
- Coreless motor
- Flywheel
- Plunger pickups
- Sprung buffers
- Detailed cab interior
- Factory-fitted speaker
- Poseable rear shutters
- Diecast metal running board
- Optional scale couplings
- Optional bufferbeam inserts
The Port of Par ‘twins’
Alfred and
Judyare possibly some of the most recognisable small industrial steam locomotives to work in the UK. Both of these almost unique saddle tank shunting engines being preserved. Their low profile had been required by the restrictions of a bridge beneath the Great Western mainline. This bridge resulted in a specification being issued in 1936 by the Port of Par engineer, Tommy Truscott requiring a locomotive under the 8 feet high and negotiate curves down to 70 feet radius. (That's just 11 inches in OO scale!)
At a cost of £1,200 Staffordshire locomotive builders W.G. Bagnall supplied works number 2572 in 1937, without a name as the intended Cornish 'Chough' had been transcribed as 'Cough', which evidently didn't seem right. The 16-ton engine was just 90 inches (7ft 6in) high, with the cab floor dropped below the main frames, 16ft 6in long over headstocks (similar to a contemporary mineral wagon!) and carried on 33 inch diameter wheels set just 5 feet apart.
2572 was unnamed until 1955 when the nameplates Judy were fitted.
In 1952 the Ports other engine, a low-profile Sentinel, also needed replacement and another Bagnall was ordered, works number 3058 arrived in 1954, named Alfred. This second Bagnall locomotive had several small differences, including a revised bunker design, flat handrail mountings instead of turned fittings, a flush saddle tank without the prominent rivets used on Judy and the tank filler is reported as opening the opposite way. Alfred weighed 560 pounds more and cost £7,500.
The engines had a hard-working life, hauling thousands of tons of china clay with both engines in operation each day. However, during the 1960s modernisation of the port started and rail traffic started to diminish. The branch line to the china clay workings was lifted and replaced with a road for lorries. In the late 1960s Judy's boiler had become troublesome and the engine was withdrawn from traffic in 1969 - her driver Del Robins taking her into the shed for one last time for not only Judy’s retirement but his own.
Judy was kept cleaned and oiled in the shed at Par whilst Alfred soldiered on until 1977 when, rather unglamorously, shunting was taken over by tractors.
Following the end of steam on the Western Region the locomotives gained a celebrity status not least because of their unusual size and stature. They were some of the last working steam engines in Cornwall and the site became a stronghold of visits by railway enthusiasts. The engines became so popular that they also inspired the Rev. W. Awdry to immortalise them in his Railway Series stories as Bill and Ben, carrying a striking yellow livery.
After the cessation of rail traffic, new homes were sought for the two unusual engines. Judy first went to the recently established China Clay Museum at Wheal Martyn whilst Alfred, in operating condition, went to the Cornish Steam Locomotive Preservation Society and fitted with vacuum brake apparatus to use on passenger services, like 'brake van rides'.
In 1987 the CSLPS had to leave their Bugle site and Alfred moved to the Bodmin & Wenford Railway. In 2004 Judy was passed into the care of the CSLPS and joined Alfred again at Bodmin. Alfred has run for many years, visiting many railway events and other heritage railways, including steaming down to Par Harbour during a St Blazey depot open day. Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fun Judy was returned to steam in 2009.
Steam locomotive boilers are subject to a 10 yearly insurance limit, after which the boiler must be stripped for through internal examination and repair. Judy was returned to operational condition in 2023 whilst plans for returning Alfred to operational condition are being finalised with the intention that both locomotives will be available to work together once again