Train Simulator 2019: Stirling Single (1) The Island On The South Coast

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DC 4260 Productions

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14,300

Published on January 31, 2019 12:11:36 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q3sklPGdVk

Game:

Train Simulator Classic (2009)

Duration: 41:24

1,284 views

11

*First of all, I want to apologize for the terrible frame-rates. It seems that both the Stirling Single herself and the recording software take a big chunk(us) out of the frame-rate.*

This is - sadly - not my first attempt at recording a video with the Stirling Single. If anything, it's about the 4th or 5th attempt.

The Stirling Single is a class of 53 steam locomotives, which were built by the Great Northern Railway's Doncaster works between 1870 and 1895. They were designed by Patrick Stirling - hence their name. The engines were given the 4-2-2 wheel arrangement - just like a lot of single-driver engines at the time (e.g. Midland Railway 115 class and Caledonian Railway 123). The Stirling engines are notable because of their absolutely massive driving wheels, which measure 8ft 1inch in diameter.

The locomotives were used to haul the Great Northern Railway's premier express trains out of London King's Cross. They were capable of 85 miles per hour, and could haul a 279 ton train at 50 miles per hour. Although they initially lacked domes, some engines from the were fitted with domes by H.A. Ivatt - Stirling's successor - after 1898.

Between 1898 and 1903, twenty-two C1 class 4-4-2's were built at Doncaster Works. These engines displaced the Stirling Singles for their top-link duties. The first Ivatt Atlantics appeared at around the same time some of the Stirling engines were fitted with domes.

Withdrawals of the Stirling Singles began in 1899. The last of the class was withdrawn in 1916. Sadly this meant that none of the class passed into London & North Eastern Railway ownership, let alone British Railways.

Stirling Single No. 1 was set aside for preservation. She took part in the locomotive cavalcade at the Stockton & Darlington Railway centenary celebrations in 1925. Other engines that took part in the cavalcade were as follows:

LNER U1 class No. 2395
LNWR 4-2-2 No. 3020 'Cornwall'
NER Longboiler No. 1275
LNER P1 class No. 2393
GWR 47xx class (number unknown)

No. 1 was used as part of a publicity stunt around the time the new Flying Scotsman service was introduced. She took people from Kings Cross to Stevenage, where they transferred to the new train. At least, I think that's what happened.

Fast forward to the present day, and GNR No. 1 is now part of the National Collection, and can be found on display at the National Railway Museum in York. She has appeared - 'in steam' - in a theatre production of The Railway Children, as did LSWR T3 class No. 563. In the case of the Stirling Single, she wasn't actually in steam. Instead, a smoke generator was fitted in the smokebox. The engine was shunted back and forth by a Class 08 diesel shunter, which was out of sight from the stage. Sadly No. 1 is the only Stirling Single that has been preserved.

For this video, I decided to drive the engine around the old Phorum Peninsula route. We start off in the sidings at St. Bilton, reversing to couple up to her two coaches, then pulling into the platform. Once we have taken on passengers, it's an anti-clockwise run around the island, ending at St. Bilton. Along the way we stop at Peddlestown and Phett's Halt, and pass the Caledonian Railway 123 (in her LMS guise as 14010) on the viaduct between Scarlet Bay and Peddlestown.

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