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The GWR Rheidol Tanks are a fleet of 2-6-2 T steam locomotives of the Great Western Railway design built between 1923 and 1924. They were designed by the railway's Chief Mechanical Engineer, Charles Collett, for working services on the Vale of Rheidol Railway between Aberystwyth and Devil's Bridge (Pontarfynach).
Prior to the railway grouping in 1923, the Vale of Rheidol Railway was operated by Cambrian Railways. The fleet consisted of two locomotives built by Davies and Metcalfe, supplemented by a Bagnall locomotive.
Shortly after taking control of the line, the GWR realised that the original rolling stock was in a poor state of repair. They built three new locomotives (numbered 7, 8 and 1213) at the GWR's Swindon Works. Number 1213 was later renumbered 9.
It is still possible to find references (in print, and on-line) to the mistaken belief that No. 9 is one of the original Davies & Metcalfe Locomotives, [1] as some websites and books incorrectly perpetuate this myth, [2] having been successfully misled by Swindon Works. [3] The Works were very effective in their coverup, entitling the parts that made up the new No. 1213 as 'spares' in the accounts book, as the GWR Board had only given them leave to build two new locomotives (No. 7 & No. 8). [4] A simple test to prove that No. 9 is actually of the same vintage as No. 7 & No. 8 is to compare the working drawings between it and a Davies and Metcalfe locomotive — Rheidol historian C C Green, who carried out this comparison, stated of all three current locomotives that "mechanically they are identical", and having compared the current No. 9 (the 'new' 1213) with the plans of the original 1213 stated that "no single part" of the original locomotive could possibly have fitted the new one. [5]
In 1946, the GWR began a renumbering of the remaining locomotives inherited from pre-Grouping companies, but since it was only carried out as locomotives received heavy repairs, the process took several years. [6] Under this scheme, the 'new' 1213 was renumbered No. 9 in March 1949. [7] [8]
Along with other ex-GWR locomotives, Nos. 7 and 8 retained their numbers under British Railways ownership, with no. 1213 also initially retaining its number until renumbered in 1949 under the 1946 plan. [8] In June 1956 the three were given the names which they still carry today, being unnamed up to that point; no, 9 received the name Prince of Wales that its predecessor had borne until repainted into Cambrian Railways livery after that company absorbed the locomotive in July 1913. [9] These three locos were the only steam engines to survive in BR's ownership after the end of main line steam traction in August 1968, excluding steam powered cranes which remained in service until 1995. Under the TOPS numbering arrangements introduced at this time they were allocated Class 98 and were nominally numbered 98007–98009, but these numbers were never actually carried on the locomotives. All three locomotives, and the rolling stock, carried standard British Rail 'rail blue' livery until the 1980s, when the locomotives were given more traditional liveries that they had carried in the past.
The locomotives were originally designed to burn coal, however there was a period spanning over thirty years during which the three locomotives were oil fired. Problems with sparks and unreliability of the coal supplied caused British Railways to look to alternative fuels for the locomotives. Locomotive No. 7 was the first to be converted in 1978, followed by No. 8 in 1979 and No. 9 in 1981. [10] This change was later reversed with Locomotive No. 8 returning to coal in 2012 and No. 9 in 2013. [11]
All three Vale of Rheidol tanks are still in service and operating on their original route.
The standard livery is Great Western Railway green and all three locomotives currently carry this livery. The locomotives were named by British Railways in 1956 and currently do not carry their nameplates.
| Image | Number | Name | Year built | Notes | In Traffic? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 7 | Owain Glyndŵr | 1923 | Hauled the last steam service under British Rail ownership of the line. | In Traffic |
 | 8 | Llywelyn [12] | 1923 | In Traffic | |
 | 9 (1213) | Prince of Wales | 1924 | Put through Swindon works during 1923–24 as an overhaul of the original No. 2, but is in fact a complete new locomotive. [13] Numbered 1213 from delivery until gaining the No. 9 in 1949. [7] As of November 2016 the locomotive carries No. 1213 once more. | Awaiting Overhaul |
The steam locomotives of British Railways were used by British Railways over the period 1948–1968. The vast majority of these were inherited from its four constituent companies, the "Big Four".
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 British Rail Class 98 is a Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) classification that has been used to cover all steam locomotives used on the mainline in Britain, but also has a particular usage for the three Vale of Rheidol Railway-design 2-6-2T locomotives that remained in the ownership of British Rail (BR) after the end of mainline steam traction in August 1968. The locomotives on the Vale of Rheidol Railway were the only steam locomotives ever officially to carry the British Rail corporate blue and the double arrow logo.
The Vale of Rheidol Railway is a 1 ft 11+3⁄4 in narrow gauge heritage railway in Ceredigion, Wales, between Aberystwyth and Devil's Bridge; a journey of 11+3⁄4 miles (18.9 km).
The Great Western Railway 3200 Class was a design of 4-4-0 steam locomotive for passenger train work. The nickname for this class, almost universally used at the time these engines were in service, was Dukedog since the locomotives were composed of former Duke Class boilers on Bulldog Class frames. As such they were one of the last standard gauge steam locomotive classes to retain outside frames.
The Great Western Railway (GWR) 4200 Class is a class of 2-8-0T steam locomotives.
The GWR 5101 Class or 'Large Prairie' is a class of 2-6-2T steam locomotives of the Great Western Railway.
The Great Western Railway (GWR) 2884 Class is a class of 2-8-0 steam locomotive. They were Collett's development of Churchward's earlier 2800 Class and are sometimes regarded as belonging to that class.
The Great Western Railway (GWR) 2800 Class is a class of Churchward-designed 2-8-0 steam locomotive.
The Great Western Railway (GWR) 4500 Class or Small Prairie is a class of 2-6-2T steam locomotives.
Aberystwyth railway station is located in the town of Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales; it is served by passenger trains operated by Transport for Wales. It is the terminus of both the Cambrian Line and of the narrow-gauge Vale of Rheidol Railway.
The GWR was the longest-lived of the pre-nationalisation railway companies in Britain, surviving the 'Grouping' of the railways in 1923 almost unchanged. As a result, the history of its numbering and classification of locomotives is relatively complicated. This page explains the principal systems that were used.
The Great Western Railway (GWR) 3000 Class was a class of 2-8-0 steam locomotive consisting of the ex-Railway Operating Division ROD 2-8-0. These were built by North British Locomotive Co. between 1917 and 1918. No examples have been preserved.
The Baldwin Class 10-12-D was a class of narrow gauge 4-6-0PT 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.
Great Western Railway absorbed locomotives gives details of Great Western Railway absorbed locomotives which do not yet have individual pages.
Davies and Metcalfe Ltd is a railway equipment and locomotive manufacturer from Romiley, Manchester, England. It was founded in Aberystwyth in 1878. The company is now owned and run by Richard Charles Metcalfe and they continue to manufacture steam locomotive and traction engine parts from original drawings, as well as modern railway parts worldwide.
The Taff Vale Railway (TVR) O1 class is a class consisting of fourteen 0-6-2T steam tank locomotives, designed by Tom Hurry Riches, which were introduced to the TVR during the period 1894-1897.
Rheidol, formerly named Treze de Maio and Talybont, was a 2-4-0T steam locomotive built by W.G. Bagnall in Staffordshire, England, in 1896. Originally built to a gauge of 2 ft 5+1⁄2 in, it was for a Brazilian sugar plantation, however the order was cancelled before it was exported. The locomotive was then regauged and renamed for the 2 ft 3 in -gauge Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway, in Wales, where it worked from August 1897 until 1899. It was then regauged and renamed a second time for 1 ft 11+3⁄4 in -gauge Vale of Rheidol Railway, in 1900. It worked on the Vale of Rheidol until 1924, when it was scrapped.
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