Photo:
J.R. Fairman - Leading Axle Outside Springs

The elegant appearance of the Standard well tanks has been attributed to Charles Beyer of Beyer, Peacock & Co. Ltd., Manchester, but the general form of the basic design concept should be credited to Joseph Beattie. This fine engineer was firmly convinced of the importance of having a low centre of gravity to achieve steady running and he obtained this by placing the boilers of the Standard tanks with the centre line only 5ft 10in above rail level and by choosing well tanks instead of side or saddle tanks. This layout dictated the use of outside cylinders which was contrary to conventional practice at that period but Beattie was able to retain the valve gear between the frames and well tanks. One of the most noticeable features of the design is illustrated above. It is the unique arrangement of outside springs and bearings for the leading axle. The weight on the springs is taken to the underside of the slide bars and these springs give even better stability to the engine because they are additional to the normal inside bearings and springs. A second quest pursued by Joseph Beattie was fuel economy but the design features relevant to this objective disappeared years ago because they were rather expensive to maintain. The fire boxes on the original boilers were designed to burn coal without smoke instead of the dearer coke but the complicated divided firebox with twin firehole doors was not retained by William Adams.

Another speciality of Beattie was feedwater preheating by using waste heat from exhaust steam. On the side of the boilers of the engines when built there was a concentric pipe parallel with the handrail. Exhaust steam passed through the central pipe while feed water circulated through the annular jacket. Engines built before 1868 had donkey pumps located on the left hand side of the engine between the splashers but later batches were fitted with crosshead operated reciprocating pumps.

The well tanks were in many respect of advanced design and were soundly constructed; hence the long life they spent on their original duties and the importance of preserving the two remaining examples of Victorian engineering skill.

Reference:
The Centenary of the Beattie Well Tank at Quainton, Quainton Railway Society, 1974

Notes:
The text in this Quainton Railway Society publication was written in 1974 and so does not reflect events in the 40+ years since publication. The text and photographs are repeated verbatim from the original publication, with only a few minor grammar changes but some clarifying notes are added as deemed necessary.  The photos from the original publication are provided as scans in this internet version of this long out of print publication.