Rail Album - South Devon Railway Locomotives

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South Devon Railway Locomotives

by Greg Martin

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The South Devon Railway was a broad gauge line constructed by the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the first part of which was opened from Exeter as far as Teignmouth 30th May 1846.

Initially the line was worked on the atmospheric principal, but this form of propulsion was an operational and economic disaster. Arrangements were then made with the Great Western Railway (GWR) to work the line using their locomotives. These locomotives reached the line via the Bristol & Exeter Railway, which was also operated by the GWR.

When the agreement with the GWR ended the company entered into a contract with Messers Geach, Evans & Co to supply locomotives for the line. This arrangement ended 30th June 1866 when the South Devon Railway bought the locomotives from Geach, Evans & Co and began to operate the line themselves.

The situation changed 1st February 1876 when the line was leased to the GWR, and the locomotives passed to them. Amalgamation of the South Devon Railway into the GWR then followed on 1st August 1878.

South Devon Railway Passenger Locomotives

Aurora Class
Built by R B Longridge & Co. Introduced 1852
Driving wheels 5' 9". Cylinders 17 x 24"

Name	Type	GWR Number
Aurora	4-4-0ST	2099
Comet	4-4-0ST	2096
Damon	4-4-0ST	2101
Eagle	4-4-0ST	2106
Elk	4-4-0ST	2107
Falcon	4-4-0ST	2102
Ixion	4-4-0ST	2105
Meteor	4-4-0ST	2098
Orion	4-4-0ST	2103
Ostrich	4-4-0ST	2104
Priam	4-4-0ST	2100
Rocket	4-4-0ST	2097

Etna Class
Built by Rothwell & Co. Introduced 1855
Driving wheels 5' 6". Cylinders 17 x 24"

Name

Type

GWR Number

Etna

4-4-0ST

2132

Hecla

4-4-0ST

2133

-not known-

4-4-0ST

Scrapped

-not known-

4-4-0ST

Scrapped

Hector Class
Built by Slaughter, Grunning & Co. Introduced 1860
Driving wheels 5' 6". Cylinders 16½ x 24"

Name

Type

GWR Number

Antelope

4-4-0ST

2114

Cato

4-4-0ST

2118

Castor

4-4-0ST

2121

Dart

4-4-0ST

2119

Gazelle

4-4-0ST

2110

Giraffe

4-4-0ST

2112

Hawk

4-4-0ST

2108

Hector

4-4-0ST

2117

Lion

4-4-0ST

2113

Lynx

4-4-0ST

2109

Mazeppa

4-4-0ST

2111

Pollux

4-4-0ST

2120

Tiger

4-4-0ST

2116

Wolf

4-4-0ST

2115

Zebra Class
Built by Avonside & Co. Introduced 1866
Driving wheels 5' 9". Cylinders 17 x 24"

Name

Type

GWR Number

Gorgon

4-4-0ST

2122

Pluto

4-4-0ST

2123

Sedley

4-4-0ST

2124

Sol

4-4-0ST

2125

Titan

4-4-0ST

2126

Zebra

4-4-0ST

2127

Unnamed Class
Built by Avonside & Co. Introduced 1875
Driving wheels 5' 9". Cylinders 17 x 24"

Name

Type

GWR Number

Lance

4-4-0ST

2130

Leopard

4-4-0ST

2128

Osiris

4-4-0ST

2131

Stag

4-4-0ST

2129

Unnamed Class (Supplied secondhand by GWR)
Built by Sharp, Stewart & Co. Introduced 1861
Driving wheels 5' 2". Cylinders 17 x 24"

Name

Type

GWR Number

Heron

4-4-0ST

2134

Magpie

4-4-0ST

2135

South Devon Railway Goods Locomotives

Unnamed Class (Supplied secondhand by GWR)
Driving wheels 4' 6" (two locos), 4' 9" (two locos)

Name

Type

GWR Number

Goliath

0-6-0ST

2141

Samson

0-6-0ST

2142

Tornado

0-6-0ST

2139

Volcano

0-6-0ST

2140

Dido Class (Supplied secondhand by Llynvi Railway)
Built by Slaughter, Grunning & Co.
Driving wheels 4' 9". Cylinders 16½ x 24"

Name

Type

GWR Number

Ada

0-6-0ST

2146

Rosa

0-6-0ST

2145

Una

0-6-0ST

2147

Dido Class
Built by Slaughter, Grunning & Co (later Avonside Engine Co).
Driving wheels 4' 9". Cylinders 17 x 24"

Name

Type

GWR Number

Ajax

0-6-0ST

2149

Argo

0-6-0ST

2151

Atlas

0-6-0ST

2152

Brutus

0-6-0ST

2150

Dido

0-6-0ST

2143

Hebe

0-6-0ST

2148

Hero

0-6-0ST

2144

Juno

0-6-0ST

2153

Remus

0-6-0ST

2154

Romulus

0-6-0ST

2155

Bulkeley Class (Supplied secondhand by GWR)
Built by Avonside Engine Co. Introduced 1865
Driving wheels 4' 6"

Name

Type

GWR Number

Bulkeley

0-6-0T+ST

2157

Fowler

0-6-0T+ST

2158

Saunders

0-6-0T+ST

2159

Unnamed Class
Built by Avonside Engine Co. Introduced 1872
Driving wheels 4' 9". Cylinders 17 x 24"

Name

Type

GWR Number

Achilles

0-6-0ST

2165

Buffalo

0-6-0ST

2160

Camel

0-6-0ST

2162

Dragon

0-6-0ST

2164

Dromedary

0-6-0ST

2166

Elephant

0-6-0ST

2161

Emperor

0-6-0ST

2167

Hercules

0-6-0ST

2163

Python

0-6-0ST

2168

Vulcan

0-6-0ST

2169

Unnamed Class (Acquired with West Cornwall Railway)

Name

Type

GWR Number

Penwith

0-4-0

2136

Unnamed Class (Acquired with West Cornwall Railway)
Built by West Cornwall Railway at Carn Brea. Introduced 1865
Driving wheels 4' 9"

Name

Type

GWR Number

Redruth

0-6-0

2156

Ethon Class (Secondhand from GWR)
Driving wheels 5' 0". Cylinders 16 x 24"

Name

Type

GWR Number

Stromboli

0-6-0ST

2138

Unnamed Class
Avonside Engine Co. Introduced 1869
Driving wheels 3' 0". Cylinders 12½ x 16"
Used on the Ashburton branch

Name

Type

GWR Number

Taurus

0-6-0ST

2170

Unnamed Class
Avonside Engine Co. Introduced 1869

Name

Type

GWR Number

Prince

2-4-0ST

2137

South Devon Railway Dock Shunting Locomotives

Unnamed Class

Name

Type

GWR Number

Goat

0-4-0WT

2174

King

0-4-0WT

2171

Owl

0-4-0WT

2172

Weasel

0-4-0WT

2173

Unnamed Class
Avonside Engine Co. Introduced 1874
Driving wheels 3' 0". Cylinders 14 x 18"

Name

Type

GWR Number

Crow

0-4-0ST

2177

Jay

0-4-0ST

2179

Lark

0-4-0ST

2178

Raven

0-4-0ST

2175

Rook

0-4-0ST

2176

Tiny

0-4-0ST

2180