The Furness Railway No.3, nicknamed "Old Coppernob", is a preserved English steam locomotive. It acquired its nickname because of the copper cladding to its dome-shaped "haystack" firebox.[2][3][4]

Furness Railway No.3 "Old Coppernob"
No. 3 Old Coppernob, Furness Railway (1846–1899)
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
BuilderEdward Bury
Build date1846
Specifications
Configuration:
 • Whyte0-4-0
 • UICB
Gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Driver dia.4 ft 9 in (1.448 m)
Total weight19 long tons 10 cwt (43,700 lb or 19.8 t) (175,600 lb or 79,700 kg)
Boiler pressure110 psi (0.76 MPa)
CylindersTwo, inside
Cylinder size14 in × 24 in (356 mm × 610 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort7,718 lbf (34.3 kN)
Career
OperatorsFurness Railway
LocaleGreat Britain
First runFebruary 1846
Withdrawn1900
DispositionHoused as a static exhibit at Barrow 1900-1940s, now preserved.[1]

History edit

It was built in 1846 by Bury, Curtis, and Kennedy of Liverpool,[5] a company with which the Furness Railway's first locomotive superintendent, James Ramsden, had been an apprentice. It is a four-coupled version of Edward Bury's popular bar-frame design of the period, with iron bar frames and inside cylinders, and is historically significant as the only survivor in the United Kingdom of this type. It is also one of the few items of rolling stock surviving from the Furness Railway whose Indian red livery it carries.

Withdrawal edit

It shared with three other similar engines all traffic on the Furness Railway for around six years. Latterly it was used for shunting around the docks at Barrow-in-Furness and on local duties, being withdrawn in 1900, completing nearly 55 years of service.[6][7]

Preservation edit

 
The locomotive displayed at York

It is now housed in the National Railway Museum, York. It has shrapnel wounds from German bombs, acquired during World War II when it was displayed in a glass pavilion at Barrow-in-Furness station.

In February 2007, No. 3 had one of its shedplates stolen at York. In 2014, it was placed on loan to the Dresden Transport Museum in Germany to take part in an exhibition celebrating the 175th anniversary of the Leipzig–Dresden railway due to its similarities to early locomotives built for the line.[8]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Casserley, H.C. (1960). Historic locomotive pocket book. London: Batsford. pp. 10–11.
  2. ^ "Cumberland and Westmorland Archives – Furness Railway". Cumberland and Westmorland Archives.
  3. ^ "Furness Railway 'Coppernob' 0-4-0 steam locomotive, No 3, 1846". National Railway Museum.
  4. ^ "Furness Railway No. 3 Locomotive Old Coppernob". Lindal & Marton Community Website.
  5. ^ Lowe, James W. (1975). British Steam Locomotive Builders. Cambridge: Goose and Son. ISBN 0-900404-21-3.
  6. ^ Rush, R. W. (1973). The Furness Railway, 1843–1923. Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-117-3.
  7. ^ Fancey, W. F. (1899). "An old locomotive". Railway Magazine. 4: 217–218.
  8. ^ Verkehrsmuseum Dresden gGmH (Editor): Deutschland wird mobil. 175 Jahre Leipzig-Dresdner Eisenbahn. Dresden 2014. ISBN 978-3-936240-03-0, page 14-15.

Further reading edit

  • Bailey, Michael R. (2014). "The Bury Type". Loco Motion. The History Press. pp. 136–138. ISBN 978-0-7524-9101-1.