Neil Robinson
Registered

Actually only the very first Double Fairlies had the one firebox and they had trouble steaming. It was assumed the blasts from the two blastpipes interfered with each other resulting in a poor fire.PaulRhB said:I reckon the fireman would prefer a Fairlie too as he only has one fire to worry about![]()
The first Ffestiniog Fairlie was one of, if not the, first to use two fireboxes.
Also some of them were fitted with a Spooner patent gizmo that gave the drivers the choice of separate or combined regulators. This was soon removed as separate regulators proved much better at controlling slips. Indeed I recall one double engine driver saying that he used "top engine" to clean the rails and "bottom engine" to haul the train.