The Brecon and Merthyr 36 was a class of 0-6-2Tsteam locomotive introduced into traffic in 1909 from a design by the Rhymney Railway's engineer Hurry Riches. There were initially four locos in the class augmented to eight in 1914. They were built by Robert Stephenson and Company and were almost identical to the successful Rhymney Railway R class excepting a round-topped boiler. When rebuilt by the GWR they acquired GWR Belpaire boilers.
The B & M also borrowed from the Rhymney Railway P class for six more engines in two batches of three in 1915 and 1920 loosely known as the 45 class.
Overview of similar classes
No. 434, built as B&M No. 48 in 1921, acquired by the GWR in 1922 as No. 1375 and renumbered 434 by 1950, 25 April 1954.
The Rhymney Railway R class and related 1904-introduced Rhymney Railway M class and 1910 Rhymney Railway A class were successful designs ideally suited to hauling heavy coal trains a relatively short distance. In 1924, Nos 36 & 38 were reboilered by the GWR and in this form were visually almost indistinguishable from the GWR 5600 Class. All but two of the fourteen B & M Stephensons were eventually rebuilt, the last as late as 1947.
Thus the 36 (and larger wheeled 45 class) were designed for work on the Brecon and Merthyr, replacing smaller locomotives. When the smaller railway companies were forcibly merged into the GWR, these 0-6-2T's were in generally good order and had proved successful. Collectively the sixty-five various permutations of the Rhymney Stephensons became the blueprint for the 200 strong 56xx class.
The design of the 56xx followed the Rhymney/Brecon and Merthyr/Neath and Brecon designs quite closely, but adopted GWR practice as far as possible, by utilising many standardized parts. Included in Collett's innovations was a standard number 2 boiler which was suitable for the 5600 (and the M and R class Rhymney locomotives and the B & M 36 class), complete with the traditional copper GWR safety valve casing and copper-capped chimney. Some Rhymney A and P classes were also rebuilt but used the slightly shorter standard number 10 boiler, also to good effect.
These were substantial sized tank engines, and weighed 66tons (62 tons after rebuilding) and were 36' 8" in length.
They had long lives, extended by the rebuilding. The first withdrawal was in 1947 and the last in 1954.
The railways of South Wales seem to have had a particular liking for the 0-6-2T type. This was because the nature of the work they undertook demanded high adhesive weight, plenty of power with good braking ability, but no need for outright speed, nor large tanks or bunker as the distances from pit to port were short. These Welsh locomotives were taken over by the GWR at the grouping in 1923 and many including seventeen of the Rhymney A, M, P and R's were rebuilt with GWR taper boilers. All the Rhymney Stephenson-derived locos passed into British Railways (BR) ownership in 1948. Others included (with some gaps in numbering):
The Rhymney Railway was a railway company in South Wales, founded to transport minerals and materials to and from collieries and ironworks in the Rhymney Valley of South Wales, and to docks in Cardiff. It opened a main line in 1858, and a limited passenger service was operated in addition.
The first Locomotives of the Great Western Railway (GWR) were specified by Isambard Kingdom Brunel but Daniel Gooch was soon appointed as the railway's Locomotive Superintendent. He designed several different 7 ft 1⁄4 in broad gauge types for the growing railway, such as the Firefly and later Iron Duke Class 2-2-2s. In 1864 Gooch was succeeded by Joseph Armstrong who brought his standard gauge experience to the workshops at Swindon. To replace some of the earlier locomotives, he put broad gauge wheels on his standard gauge locomotives and from this time on all locomotives were given numbers, including the broad gauge ones that had previously carried just names.
The BR Standard Class 3 2-6-2T was a class of steam locomotive designed by Robert Riddles for British Railways. It was essentially a hybrid design, the chassis being closely based on and sharing a number of parts with the LMS Ivatt Class 4, and having a boiler derived from a GWR No.2 boiler as fitted to the GWR Large Prairie 2-6-2T and 5600 Class 0-6-2T tank engines.
The Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway (B&MR) was a railway company in Wales. It was originally intended to link the towns in its name. Finding its access to Merthyr difficult at first, it acquired the Rumney Railway, an old plateway, and this gave it access to Newport docks. This changed its emphasis from rural line to mineral artery.
The GWR 5700 Class is a class of 0-6-0 pannier tank steam locomotive built by the Great Western Railway (GWR) and British Railways (BR) between 1929 and 1950. With 863 built, they were the most prolific class of the GWR, and one of the most numerous classes of British steam locomotive.
The GWR 5600 Class is a class of 0-6-2T steam locomotive built between 1924 and 1928. They were designed by Charles Collett for the Great Western Railway (GWR), and were introduced into traffic in 1924. After the 1923 grouping, Swindon inherited a large and variable collection of locomotives from historic Welsh railway companies, which did not fit into their standardisation programme. GWR boiler inspectors arrived en masse and either condemned the original locomotives or had them rebuilt. The systematic destruction of many examples of locomotives, most still in serviceable condition, followed, but various were worked alongside 5600 Class.
The BR Standard Class 3 2-6-0 was a class of mixed traffic steam locomotive designed by Robert Riddles for British Railways. It was essentially a hybrid design, the chassis being closely based on and sharing a number of parts with the LMS Ivatt Class 4, and having a boiler derived from a GWR No.2 boiler as fitted to the GWR Large Prairie 2-6-2T and 5600 Class 0-6-2T tank engines.
The Great Western Railway (GWR) 4500 Class or Small Prairie is a class of 2-6-2T steam locomotives.
Charles Benjamin Collett was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway from 1922 to 1941. He designed the GWR's 4-6-0 Castle and King Class express passenger locomotives.
The Rhymney Railway M class was a class of 0-6-2T tank locomotive introduced into traffic on the Rhymney Railway in 1904. These were substantial sized tank engines, and weighed 66 long tons and were 36 feet 9 inches (11.20 m) in length.
The Rhymney R class was a class of 0-6-2T steam locomotive introduced into traffic in 1907 designed by the railway's engineer Hurry Riches. These were substantial sized tank locomotives, and weighed 67 long tons and were 37 feet (11.28 m) in length.
The Rhymney Railway A class were 0-6-2T tank locomotives introduced into traffic in 1910 and designed by the railway's engineer Hurry Riches. These were substantial sized tank engines, and weighed 64 long tons and were 35 ft 9 in (10.90 m) in length.
The Rhymney Railway P class was a class of 0-6-2T steam locomotive introduced into traffic in 1909 designed by the Rhymney Railway's engineer C. T. Hurry Riches. These were substantial sized tank locomotives, weighed 60 long tons and were 35 feet 0 inches (10.67 m) in length.
The Neath and Brecon Stephensons were 0-6-2T tank locomotives introduced into traffic on the Neath and Brecon Railway in 1904 from a Rhymney Railway design. There were three locos in the class. They were built by Robert Stephenson and Company and were almost identical to the successful Rhymney Railway M class.
The Port Talbot Railway Stephenson Class were eleven 0-6-2T locomotives introduced into traffic in 1898 designed and built by Robert Stephenson and Company. They predated the somewhat similar but larger Rhymney Railway M class by six years.
Welsh 0-6-2T locomotives were a standard steam locomotive of the railways of South Wales. Many of the independent railways used them and, at the grouping of 1923, the survivors passed into Great Western Railway (GWR) stock. The GWR perpetuated the type in the GWR 5600 Class. The other major railway company in Wales, the LNWR, also had the LNWR Webb Coal Tank Class, though this was grouped into the LMS not the GWR.
The Taff Vale Railway A class was a class of 0-6-2T steam tank locomotives designed by J. Cameron for mixed traffic work and introduced to the Taff Vale Railway (TVR) in 1914. The A class was an enlarged version of the TVR O4 class designed by Tom Hurry Riches in 1907. The A class was the last new class of locomotive to be introduced on the TVR, which had introduced its first 0-6-2Ts in 1885 ; and, with a total of 58 built, was numerically the largest class of tank locomotive on the TVR.
The Taff Vale Railway O4 class was a class of 0-6-2T steam tank locomotives designed by Tom Hurry Riches and introduced to the Taff Vale Railway in 1907. They were rebuilt with taper boilers and superheaters by the Great Western Railway (GWR) from 1924.
Barry Railway Class B1 were 0-6-2T steam tank locomotives of the Barry Railway in South Wales. They were designed by J. H. Hosgood and built by Sharp Stewart, & Co., Vulcan Foundry and Société Franco-Belge. The locomotive, though similar to the B class, differed in having an increased tank capacity of 1,630 gallons compared with the 1,400 gallons of the B class. The purpose of this was to enable them to take a train of empty wagons from Cadoxton Yard to Trehafod Junction without the need to refill the tank.
Barry Railway Class D were 0-8-0 steam tender engines of the Barry Railway in South Wales. They were built to a standard Sharp, Stewart and Company design modified by John Waddington Mann, the Chief Mechanical Engineer for the Swedish & Norwegian Railway. In fact, 20 of these locomotives were ordered by this railway. However the company ran into severe financial difficulty with the result that only one and a half locomotives were paid for by the S&N.
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