RIVALS TO SENTINEL’S RAILCARS AND LOCOMOTIVES
The Sentinel Waggon Works built its first steam rail cars and geared vertical boiler shunting locomotives in 1923. Their immediate success, particularly the two railcars supplied to the Jersey Railway (which substantially lowered running costs and probably for a time saved the railway from closure) quickly generated more sales. From the start Sentinel capitalised on their success by a vigorous sales campaign including lavish adverts in trade journals such as Locomotive Magazine and the Railway Gazette and a steady flow of catalogues and brochures. Their efforts inevitably attracted the interest of rival engineering firms and this article takes a brief look at the various efforts to compete with Sentinel in this field.
At this time the terrible industrial depression which was to last for many years was just beginning. Richard Garrett & Sons of Leiston, Suffolk had always regarded Sentinel as their principal competitor and in 1922 had already bought a Standard Sentinel steam waggon as an aid to designing their own undertype. In late 1924 Maurice Plane, Garrett’s chief designer, drew up plans for a four-coupled centre cab shunting locomotive using the undertype engine and boiler. Unlike Sentinel although chain drive was employed between the engine unit and rear axle the wheels themselves were coupled by conventional side rods and not chains. Water tanks each carrying 370 gallons were mounted at either end.
The completed design was shown to the LNER Stratford Works manager who in turn passed them on to Nigel Gresley for his comments. Unfortunately Gresley dismissed it as ‘far too small’. This seems to have been based on a misunderstanding as Gresley soon became an enthusiastic customer for the rival Sentinel shunter. Despite this rebuff a catalogue was produced containing carefully shaded drawings implying that a locomotive had actually been built and was in
