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The J
& A Brown Abermain Seaham locomotive fleet included two Avonside
saddle-tank locomotives, No.1 and No.2. The first ‘Abermain No.1’ (Avonside
b/n 1606 of 1911) was originally built for the Abermain Coal Company, while
the younger ‘Abermain No.2’ was built for Abermain-Seaham Collieries
limited. They first worked at Abermain No.2 & 3 Collieries and were nicknamed
'Bristol Bombers'. Not really ideal for main line haulage, it seems the
pair spent their early careers at Abermain Colliery and their later years shunting
at Hexham.
J &
A Brown merged with Abermain Seaham Collieries in 1931 to form J & A
Brown Abermain Seaham, and the two Avonside locos retained their numbers
but were in fact the second locos to carry the numbers 1 & 2 in the combined
J & A Brown roster. The original Nos.1 & 2 were ancient 0-4-2T
locomotives built in 1856 by R & W Hawthorn, Newcastle-on-Tyne. According
to Brian Robert Andrews’ authorative work on the J & A Brown
operations, these ancient 0-4-2T locos were intended for Crimean War duties
prior to arriving in Australia. Alas these two historic locos were cut up well
before the railway preservation era.
Abermain
No.1 suffered boiler damage in 1961 and was withdrawn from service, being stored
at the ‘Fodder Shed’ near Wallis Creek for some years before being cut up
in 1966, apparently yielding some parts to keep sister No.2 operational. Abermain
No.2 was the luckier of the pair, remaining in shunting duties at Hexham until
withdrawn in 1969. It was stored in the loco shed at Hexham until purchased
for preservation in 1973, being the first steam loco preserved in
connection with today’s Dorrigo Steam Railway & Museum collection and
accordingly No.2 features on the letterhead of that organisation.
The
family likeness to earlier Avonside 0-6-0ST products can be seen in
comparison to South Bulli No.4;
perhaps J & A Brown No.2 is effectively an updated version with
Walschaerts valve gear. Several similar Avonside locos are also preserved
worldwide, as listed in Wikipedia.
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