| Diana | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Diana at the Vale of Rheidol Light Railway in 2015 | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Diana is a narrow gauge 0-4-0 T steam locomotive. It was built by Kerr, Stuart and Company in 1909, and was delivered to the Kerry Tramway in Mid Wales, in 1917. After varied service in the Welsh slate industry, Diana was purchased by railway enthusiast Graham Mullis in 1964. [1] After many years at a variety of location, Diana was purchased by a Talyllyn Railway volunteer in 2014, and restored to working order in 2015. [2]
Diana was built in 1909 by Kerr, Stuart as part of an order for six 750 mm (2 ft 5 1⁄2 in) gauge locomotives for Mauritius. Although several of the locomotives in the order were sent to Mauritius, Diana wasn’t delivered and stayed at Kerr, Stuart's factory in Stoke on Trent. In 1917, the locomotive was purchased by the Home Grown Timber Committee of the Board of Trade for use on the Kerry Tramway, near Newtown, Powys in Mid Wales. It was regauged to 2 ft (610 mm) and delivered to Kerry, Powys. [1]
The Kerry Tramway closed in 1922, though a short length was retained, and worked by an unknown locomotive, probably Diana. In 1925, Diana was sold to the Oakeley Quarry in Blaenau Ffestiniog, where it worked for the next twenty years. In 1945, it was sold on to the Pen-yr-Orsedd Quarry in the Nantlle Valley, where it and worked until its boiler was condemned in 1950. [1]
In August 1964, Graham Mullis visited Pen-yr-Orsedd. He purchased Diana, which by then was derelict. He moved the locomotive to his private Wychbold Railway at Droitwich. He sold his collection in October 1970, and Diana was purchased by Tony Hills, who moved it to Gilfach Ddu on the Llanberis Lake Railway. In 1972, Diana moved to Hills' new base at the recently opened Brecon Mountain Railway. [1]
At some point, Diana was sold to D. Davies of Clydach near Swansea. It was partly restored by Alan Keef in the late 1990s. Following Davies’ death, Diana was purchased in 2014 by Talyllyn Railway volunteer Phil Mason. [1] Mason completed Diana's restoration to working order at the workshops of the Vale of Rheidol Railway, in Aberystwyth. [2] Restoration of the locomotive was completed in October 2015, [3] and it was launched into service on the Bala Lake Railway at the end of that year. [4] In 2017 the loco was 100 years old and was taken on a tour around some of the UK's railways visiting Statfold Barn , Beamish, The Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland, Apedale, Amerton and Leighton Buzzard. [2] Following the tour, the locomotive underwent minor alterations at Statfold Barn in late 2017. In early 2018, Diana moved to the Amerton Railway.
The Corris Railway is a narrow gauge preserved railway based in Corris on the border between Merionethshire and Montgomeryshire in Mid-Wales.
The Talyllyn Railway is a narrow gauge preserved railway in Wales running for 7 1⁄4 miles (12 km) from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1865 to carry slate from the quarries at Bryn Eglwys to Tywyn, and was the first narrow gauge railway in Britain authorised by Act of Parliament to carry passengers using steam haulage. Despite severe under-investment, the line remained open, and in 1951 it became the first railway in the world to be preserved as a heritage railway by volunteers.
The Narrow Gauge Railway Museum is a purpose-built museum dedicated to narrow-gauge railways situated at the Tywyn Wharf station of the Talyllyn Railway in Tywyn, Gwynedd, Wales.
The Hunslet Engine Company was founded in 1864 in Hunslet, Leeds, England. The company manufactured steam-powered shunting locomotives for over 100 years, and currently manufactures diesel-engined shunting locomotives.
The Glyn Valley Tramway was a narrow gauge railway that ran through the Ceiriog Valley in north-east Wales, connecting Chirk with Glyn Ceiriog in Denbighshire. The gauge of the line was 2 ft 4 1⁄2 in. The total length of the line was 8 1⁄4 miles (13.3 km), 6 1⁄2 miles (10.5 km) of which were worked by passenger trains, the remainder serving a large granite quarry and several minor slate quarries.
The Bala Lake Railway is a narrow-gauge railway along the southern shore of Bala Lake in Gwynedd, North Wales. The line, which is 4 1⁄2 miles (7.2 km) long, is built on a section of the former standard-gauge Ruabon–Barmouth GWR route that closed in 1965. Another section of the former permanent way is used by the Llangollen Railway. The Bala Lake Railway, which runs on 600 mm -gauge preserved rolling stock, is a member of the Great Little Trains of Wales.
The Penrhyn Quarry Railway first opened in 1798 as the Llandegai Tramway; it became the Penrhyn Railway in 1801 although on a different route. Constructed to transport slate from Lord Penrhyn's slate quarries at Bethesda to Port Penrhyn at Bangor, Wales, the railway was around six miles (9.7 km) long and used a gauge of 1 ft 10 3⁄4 in. The line was one of the earliest narrow gauge railways in the world. It closed on 24 July 1962, being lifted in 1965 when the track was sold to the Ffestiniog Railway.
The Tasmanian Government Railways K class was a class of 0-4-0+0-4-0 Garratt articulated steam locomotives operated by the Tasmanian Government Railways from 1909 – the first Garratt locomotives built.
Kerr, Stuart and Company Ltd was a locomotive manufacturer from Stoke-on-Trent, England.
The Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway was a 2 ft 3 in gauge narrow gauge railway in Cardiganshire in Mid Wales. It ran from Llanfihangel station on the Cambrian Line, through the village of Tal-y-bont and the valley of the Afon Leri, into the foothills of Plynlimon Fawr. It was built to serve the lead mines at Bwlch Glas and stone quarries around Hafan and opened in 1897, closing just two years later. The line was a little over 7 miles (11 km) long and, despite running a short-lived passenger service, it served no communities of more than 100 people.
Russell is a narrow gauge steam locomotive originally built in 1906 for the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (NWNGR), but most famously associated with the original Welsh Highland Railway (WHR), and now based at the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway in Porthmadog.
There have been a number of books written either about, or containing details of the engine, but the succinct parts are detailed below.
There were more than a thousand British narrow-gauge railways ranging from large, historically significant common carriers to small, short-lived industrial railways. Many notable events in British railway history happened on narrow-gauge railways including the first use of steam locomotives, the first public railway and the first preserved railway.
The Kerry Tramway was a 2 ft narrow gauge railway built in 1887 to serve the timber workings and slab quarry to the south of the village of Kerry, near Newtown in mid Wales.
The Baldwin Class 10-12-D was a class of narrow gauge 4-6-0 pannier tank steam locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works (USA) for the British War Department Light Railways for service in France during World War I. They were built in 1916–1917 to 600 mm gauge.
0-4-0VBTChaloner is an example of de Winton's distinctive vertical-boilered design, as used for many years in the North Wales slate quarries. It was built in 1877 at the Union Works in Caernarfon..
Bryngwyn railway station is a former station which was the terminus for passengers on the Bryngwyn Branch of the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways, and later the Welsh Highland Railway. Beyond the station, an incline climbed the slope of Moel Tryfan to serve a series of slate quarries. Those connected by tramways to the incline head included the Alexandra quarry, Moel Tryfan quarry, Fron quarry, Braich quarry and Cilgwyn quarry.
Sir Haydn is a narrow gauge steam locomotive, built by Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works of the Falcon Works, Loughborough in 1878. It operated on the Corris Railway in Wales, until closure in 1948, and since 1951 has operated on the nearby Talyllyn Railway. It has carried the operating number 3 under four successive owners.
Edward Thomas is a narrow gauge steam locomotive. Built by Kerr Stuart & Co. Ltd. at the California Works, Stoke-on-Trent in 1921, it was delivered new to the Corris Railway where it ran until 1948. After that railway closed, the locomotive was brought to the Talyllyn Railway in 1951, then restored, and remains in working order at the heritage railway. It has carried the operating number 4 under four successive owners.