In Colour 198: Southern freight: Bodmin & Wadebridge duties

摘要

The Beattie 'Well Tanks' proved the perfect fit for the specific needs of the lightly-laid and sharply-curved Wenford Bridge mineral branch of the Bodmin & Wadebridge Railway, the line's characteristics in part due to its early opening. From I October 1834 until the arrival of the GWR at Boscarne Junction in 1888 it was completely isolated, and it was not until I June 1895 that the North Cornwall main line reached Wadebridge. Beattie 'Well Tanks' were already on hand by then! As part of the L&SWR, Southern Railway and BR network the goods-only terminus at Wenford Bridge held the accolade of being the furthest outpost from Waterloo, 266 miles, and it duties became the last stand of the Beattie 'Wells Tanks', with three examples famously living on well beyond the demise of their compatriots.