South Devon Railway Dido class

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South Devon Railway Dido class
SDR Argo at Swindon 1892.jpg
GWR 2151 Argo at Swindon in 1892 awaiting dismantling following the end of the Great Western Railway's broad gauge services.
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
Builder Slaughter, Grüning and Company
Serial number392–396, 523–524, 558
Build date1860–1864
Total produced8
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 •  Whyte 0-6-0 ST
 •  UIC C n2t
Gauge 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm)
Driver dia.
  • First two: 4 ft 6 in (1.37 m)
  • Remainder: 4 ft 9 in (1.45 m)
Wheelbase
  • First two: 15 ft 5 in (4.70 m)
  • Remainder: 15 ft 4 in (4.67 m)
Water cap1,100 imp gal (5,000 l; 1,300 US gal)
Cylinders Two, inside
Cylinder size
  • First two:16 1⁄2 in × 24 in (420 mm × 610 mm)
  • Remainder: 17 in × 24 in (430 mm × 610 mm)
Career
Operators
Class Dido
NumbersGWR 2143–44, 2148–53
Withdrawn1877–1892
DispositionAll scrapped

The eight Dido class locomotives were 0-6-0 ST broad gauge locomotives operated on the South Devon Railway and Cornwall Railway and associated other adjacent railways. They were designed for goods trains but were also used on passenger trains when required.

Contents

The locomotives were ordered by Evans, Walker and Gooch who were now contracted to operate the locomotives for both the railways. They were built by Slaughter, Grüning and Company.

The locomotives of both railways were operated as a combined fleet by the South Devon Railway after 1 July 1866. On 1 February 1876 the South Devon Railway was amalgamated with the Great Western Railway, the locomotives were given numbers by their new owners but continued to carry their names too.

Four similar locomotives were built for the Vale of Neath Railway in 1861. Some of these could be found working on the South Devon lines after the 1876 amalgamation.

There is some question of identification between some members of this class and the closely related Romulus class, see Sheppard (2008). The earlier Dido locomotives had 16½ in × 24 in cylinders and 4 ft 6 in driving wheels, the later Romulus locomotives had slightly larger cylinders and wheels of 17 in × 24 in and 4 ft 9 in wheels. [1] Sheppard (2008) lists Hebe, Ajax, Brutus, Argo, Atlas, Juno as the Romulus class, along with Romulus and Remus. The Dido class (which Sheppard (2008) describes as the Ada class) consists of Dido and Hero, together with three Llynvi Valley Railway locomotives: Rosa (rebuilt from a 4-4-0 ST ), Ada and Una.

Locomotives

South Devon Railway

Hebe was at Brent on 22 November 1873 when its boiler blew up. It got its name from Hebe, the Greek goddess of youth.
The locomotive was named after Ajax, a Greek hero.
Although a South Devon Railway locomotive, it was originally delivered to work on the Cornwall Railway. On 13 September 1866 Brutus failed while working a goods train. It was left at Plympton while another locomotive took the train on. The mail train failed to stop at the signal and collided with the locomotive standing there, after which it ran away down the line, running through the buffer stop at the Plymouth terminus and ending up in the cloakroom.
The original Brutus was one of Julius Caesar's assassins.
The Roman Juno was worshipped as the queen of their gods.

Cornwall Railway

The name of this locomotive comes from Dido, the Queen of Carthage.
A hero can be an idealized character in mythology or folklore but in this case probably refers to Hero, a priestess of Aphrodite.
The original Argo was the ship that carried Jason and the Argonauts on their adventures.
The original Atlas was a Greek Titan.

Related Research Articles

Locomotives of the Great Western Railway

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 Banking Class were five 0-6-0ST Brunel gauge steam locomotives for assisting ("banking") trains up inclines on the Great Western Railway. Designed by Daniel Gooch, they were tank engine versions of his Standard Goods class, and mainly built at Swindon Works.

The Great Western Railway Premier Class 0-6-0 broad gauge steam locomotives for goods train work. This class was introduced into service between February 1846 and May 1847, and withdrawn between March 1866 and June 1872.

The Great Western Railway (GWR) Bogie Class 4-4-0ST were broad gauge steam locomotives for passenger train work. The first two locomotives of this class were introduced into service in August/September 1849, with the remainder following between June 1854 and March 1855. All but one were withdrawn between October 1871 and 1873, with the final locomotive being withdrawn in December 1880.

GWR Iron Duke Class

The Great Western Railway Iron Duke Class 4-2-2 was a class of 7 ft 1⁄4 in broad gauge steam locomotives for express passenger train work.

The Great Western Railway Sir Watkin Class were 0-6-0T broad gauge steam locomotives. They were designed for working goods trains through to the underground Metropolitan Railway in London. This class was introduced into service between December 1865 and the last was withdrawn at the end of the GWR broad gauge in May 1892. They were all named after directors and senior officers of the railway.

The Great Western Railway Swindon Class 0-6-0 broad gauge steam locomotives for goods train work. This class was introduced into service between November 1865 and March 1866, and withdrawn between June 1887 and the end of the GWR broad gauge in May 1892. The entire class was sold to the Bristol and Exeter Railway between July 1872 and September 1874, where they were numbered 96-109, but returned to the GWR when that railway was absorbed. The locomotives were then renumbered 2077-2090; their names were not restored.

South Devon Railway locomotives

South Devon Railway locomotives were broad gauge locomotives that operated over the South Devon Railway, Cornwall Railway, and West Cornwall Railway in England. They were, at times, operated by contractors on behalf of the railways.

South Devon Railway 0-4-0 locomotives

The South Devon Railway 0-4-0 locomotives were small 0-4-0 broad gauge locomotives operated on the South Devon Railway, Cornwall Railway, mainly on the dockside lines around Plymouth.

The Comet class were 12 4-4-0 saddle tank broad gauge locomotives operated on the South Devon Railway and associated railways. They were designed for passenger trains on this steep and sharply curved line but were also used on goods trains when required.

The Eagle class were sixteen 4-4-0 saddle tank broad gauge locomotives operated on the South Devon Railway (SDR), Cornwall Railway (CR) and associated adjacent railways. They were designed for passenger trains on this steep and sharply curved line but were also used on goods trains when required.

The Gorgon class were six 4-4-0 saddle tank broad gauge locomotives operated on the South Devon Railway, Cornwall Railway and West Cornwall Railway. They were designed for passenger trains on this steep and sharply curved line but were also used on goods trains when required.

The two Remus class locomotives were 0-6-0ST broad gauge locomotives operated by the South Devon Railway, England. They were ordered for working goods trains on the West Cornwall Railway but were also used on passenger trains.

South Devon Railway Leopard class

The Leopard class were four 4-4-0 saddle tank broad gauge designed for passenger trains but were also used on goods trains when required. They were built by the Avonside Engine Company for the South Devon Railway, but also operated on its associated railways. Although designed for easy conversion to standard gauge this was never carried out.

The four Tornado class locomotives were 0-6-0ST broad gauge locomotives operated on the South Devon Railway and associated railways. They were designed for goods trains but were also used on passenger trains when required.

The ten Buffalo class locomotives were 0-6-0ST broad gauge locomotives operated on the South Devon Railway, Cornwall Railway and West Cornwall Railway. They were designed for goods trains but were also used on passenger trains when required.

Vale of Neath Railway 0-6-0ST locomotives were 0-6-0ST steam locomotives for working the heavy goods traffic on the Vale of Neath Railway and its associated lines in Wales. The first of 13 broad gauge locomotives entered service in 1854 and the last was withdrawn in 1886. The remaining four were standard gauge locomotives.

GWR 1076 Class

The 1076 Class were 266 double framed 0-6-0T locomotives built by the Great Western Railway between 1870 and 1881; the last one, number 1287, was withdrawn in 1946. They are often referred to as the Buffalo Class following the naming of locomotive 1134.

Locomotives named Ajax have included:

References

  1. ↑ Sheppard 2008, p. 71.

Selected bibliography

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