Photo:
H.C. Casserley - 314 at Wadebridge 30th May, 1932

Although in 1900 one of the relatively new 02 Class 0-4-4Ts and a 25 year old 0-6-0 tender engine were sent for trials at Wadebridge to find replacements for the Beattie well tanks, the three incumbents were considered superior for the duties particularly for the branches from the Bodmin and Wadebridge main line and they were chosen for further service. In 1902 the three locomotives emerged from Nine Elms Works after thorough overhauls and for a further 18 years they performed their allotted tasks at the South Western's Cornish outpost until, once again, old age began to tell.

In 1920 the boilers of the trio required renewal and the Chief Mechanical Engineer, Mr. Robert Urie, ordered replacements which were fitted at Eastleigh Works to 0298 in December 1921, 0314 in September 1921 and to 0329 in April 1922. Externally, the most noticeable change was the adoption of the Drummond pattern safety valves mounted on the steam dome but the Adams stovepipe chimneys were retained.

0314 kept its donkey feedwater pump with its characteristic flywheel and this is shown clearly in the illustration of the engine shunting in Wadebridge yard.

For another seven years the three Beatties worked the trains of china clay, the goods traffic, shunted the yards and occasionally appeared on passenger trains until by 1930, with more than a half century of service completed, further repairs were necessary. In particular the front end sections of the frames required strengthening and the leading buffer beams, made of timber, needed renewing with steel plate beams. At Eastleigh these very extensive overhauls were put in hand starting with our 0314, which appeared again for service in June 1931. The decision to carry out the renewal work on the Beattie tanks was, once more, taken after trials to find a possible replacement for, in 1928, one of the P Class 0-6-0Ts of the Eastern Section, A558, had been tried but without success. There were simply no suitable engines to take the place of the well tanks and the heavy repairs were therefore carried out on 0298 in May 1933 and on 0329 in September 1935. The appearance of the survivors was altered by fitting Drummond pattern flared top chimneys and in the case of the latter two engines they left Works renumbered 3298 and 3329 respectively. 0314 became 3314 in 1936 under this renumbering scheme of the Southern Railway. The amazingly long life of the three veterans continued through the Second World War and did not come to an end until 1962 when, in September of that year they were, at long last retired and displaced by three small 0-6-0PT, the Great Western Railway's '1368' Class. In British Railway numbering they had become 30587 (3298), 30585 (3314) and 30586 (3329). Thus, after 88 years of service, 67 spent on the Cornish branches from Wadebridge, these three remarkable survivors ended their working lives but as we have related, two have been preserved, 30585 at Quainton and 30587 by British Rail.

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.