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GWR Dean Experimental Locomotives
During the 1880s and 1890s, William Dean constructed a series of experimental locomotives to test various new ideas in locomotive construction for the Great Western Railway. Locomotives No. 1 This locomotive appeared in 1880 as a 4-4-0T, but was rebuilt in 1882 as a 2-4-0T. It was withdrawn in 1924. No. 7 Number 7 was built in 1886 at Swindon as a tandem compound 2-4-0 with coupled wheels and outside frames. The diameter low pressure cylinders were in front of the high pressure cylinders, the pistons being carried on the same piston rod. Valves for the low pressure cylinders were below, and those for the high pressure cylinders above the cylinders. One set of valve gear drove each pair of valve spindles. This setup proved difficult to access for maintenance, and the locomotive was relegated to minor routes. It was broken up in 1890. The wheel centres were used in building No. 7 of the Armstrong class. No. 8 Number 8 was built in 1886 as a broad gauge convertible 2-4-0 tand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Dean (engineer)
William Dean (8 January 1840 – 24 September 1905) was an English railway engineer. He was the second son of Henry Dean, who was the manager of the Hawes Soap Factory in New Cross, London. William was educated at the Haberdashers' Company School. He became the Chief Locomotive Engineer for the Great Western Railway from 1877, when he succeeded Joseph Armstrong (engineer), Joseph Armstrong. He retired from the post in 1902 and was replaced by George Jackson Churchward. He designed famous steam locomotive classes such as the GWR 3252 Class, Duke Class, the GWR 3300 Class, Bulldog Class and the long-lived GWR 2301 Class, 2301 Class. Apprenticeship He was apprenticed at the age of fifteen to Joseph Armstrong at the Great Western Railway's Wolverhampton Wolverhampton railway works, Stafford Road Works. During his eight-year apprenticeship he attended Wolverhampton Working Men's College in the evening, excelling in mathematics and engineering. Upon completion of his apprentice years ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
St Ives Bay Line
The St Ives Bay Line is a railway line from to in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It was opened in 1877, the last new broad gauge passenger railway to be constructed in the country. Converted to standard gauge in 1892, it continues to operate as a community railway, carrying tourists as well as local passengers. It has five stations including the junction with the Cornish Main Line at . History The St Ives Junction Railway applied for an Act of Parliament in 1845, but as the West Cornwall Railway’s Bill failed in its application for an Act at the same time, the St Ives company withdrew its proposal. A new Act was successfully applied for in 1873 to authorise a St Ives branch line as an extension of the West Cornwall Railway, although by that time this was controlled by the Great Western Railway. It was opened on 1 June 1877, the last new broad gauge passenger railway route to be built in Britain. A third rail was added to the southern section of the line in Oct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Railway Correspondence And Travel Society
The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society (RCTS) is a national society founded in Cheltenham, England in 1928 to bring together those interested in rail transport and locomotives. Since 1929 the Society has published a regular journal ''The Railway Observer'' which records the current railway scene. It also has regional branches which organise meetings and trips to places of interest and an archive & library. It has published definitive multi-volume locomotive histories of the Great Western, Southern and London & North Eastern Railways, and has in progress similar works on the London, Midland & Scottish Railway and British Railways standard steam locomotives. It also has published many other historical railway books since the mid-1950s. On 2 November 2016, the RCTS become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), registered number 1169995. Its new Archive and Library (located within the former station-master's house at Leatherhead station) was opened on 6 October 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brecon And Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway
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. It opened at the Brecon end to a point near Dowlais in 1863, and in 1865 it opened a disconnected section from Rhymney to Newport. In due course the company connected the two sections and reached Dowlais and Merthyr, but had to concede sharing a route with the powerful London and North Western Railway. The B&MR was always short of money, and was notable for its prodigious gradients, but it survived until the grouping of 1923, when it became part of the Great Western Railway. Its network declined steeply after 1945, and passenger operation ceased in 1962. Goods and mineral operation also lost its market, and as of 2020, only a short stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pannier Tank
A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locomotive a tender holds some or all of the fuel, and may hold some water also. There are several different types of tank locomotive, distinguished by the position and style of the water tanks and fuel bunkers. The most common type has tanks mounted either side of the boiler. This type originated about 1840 and quickly became popular for industrial tasks, and later for shunting and shorter-distance main line duties. Tank locomotives have advantages and disadvantages compared to traditional locomotives that required a separate tender to carry needed water and fuel. History Origins The first tank locomotive was the ''Novelty'' that ran at the Rainhill Trials in 1829. It was an example of a ''Well Tank''. However, the more common form ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GWR 3206 Class
The 3206 or Barnum Class consisted of 20 locomotives built at Swindon Works for the Great Western Railway in 1889, and was William Dean's most successful design. Numbered 3206–3225, they were the last GWR locos built at Swindon with "sandwich" frames (outside frames consisting of timber between two sheets of steel). Alterations They underwent various alterations during their working lives, such as thicker tyres giving slightly larger wheels, the gradual adoption of cylinders with a stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ..., and larger diameter boilers of various sorts, as was usual at this period. Between 1910 and 1915, some of the class received taller chimneys resembling those of the Dean Singles. Use The Barnums were "express mixed traffic engines" and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swindon Railway Station
Swindon railway station is on the Great Western Main Line in South West England, serving the town of Swindon, Wiltshire. It is down the line from the zero point at and is situated between and on the main line. It is managed by Great Western Railway, which also operates all the trains. Being roughly halfway between the English and Welsh capitals of London and Cardiff, it is an important junction, where the former Great Western Railway line to and , the main line to , and the South Wales Main Line via diverge. It is approximately from the central bus station and the town centre. It is served by GWR services from Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads, Cheltenham Spa via Gloucester, , and the rest of South Wales, and to . History The main line of the Great Western Railway (GWR) was built and opened in stages. Construction began in late 1835, and by the end of August 1840 the line was open between and (later known as Challow), also between Bristol and Bath. The se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth's early history extends to the Bronze Age when a first settlement emerged at Mount Batten. This settlement continued as a trading post for the Roman Empire, until it was surpassed by the more prosperous village of Sutton founded in the ninth century, now called Plymouth. In 1588, an English fleet based in Plymouth intercepted and defeated the Spanish Armada. In 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers departed Plymouth for the New World and established Plymouth Colony, the second English settlement in what is now the United States of America. During the English Civil War, the town was held by the Roundhead, Parliamentarians and was besieged between 1642 and 1646. Throughout the Industrial Revolution, Plymouth grew as a commercial shipping port, handling ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torbay And Brixham Railway
The Torbay and Brixham Railway was a broad gauge railway in England which linked the Dartmouth and Torbay Railway at Churston railway station, Devon with the important fishing port of Brixham. It was a little over two miles long. Never more than a local branch line, it closed in 1963. Construction In the middle of the nineteenth century Brixham was an important fishing port, but as railways were constructed they were slow to reach the town. The South Devon Railway (SDR) opened its line to Newton Abbot—the station was called simply ''Newton'' at first—on 31 December 1846, and to a Torquay station—now renamed Torre—on 18 December 1848. It was some time before the line was extended, and it fell to a nominally independent company, the Dartmouth and Torbay Railway (D&TR) to build from Torre to Brixham Road station, later renamed , opening to there on 1 April 1861. The station at Brixham was high above the town and two miles distant, and the D&TR was focused on reaching D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Highworth
Highworth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, England, about northeast of Swindon town centre. The 2011 Census recorded a population of 8,151. The town is notable for its Queen Anne and Georgian buildings, dating from its pre-eminence in the 18th century. It also has a 13th-century church, St. Michael's. Etymology The root ''High'' references the geography of the town, as it sits on a hill above the Upper Thames Valley. The suffix ''-worth'' is derived from the Gothic ''𐍅𐌰𐍂'', which is transliterated as ''warō'' in Old English and as ''worth'' in Middle English. It means "those that care for, watch, guard, protect, or defend". History Highworth is on a hill in a strategic position above the Upper Thames Valley, and seems to have been occupied almost continuously for 7,000 years. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book as 'Wrde', which derives from the Old English word 'worth' meaning enclosure. The prefix 'High', owing to it being situated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Looe Valley Line
The Looe Valley Line is an community railway from Liskeard to Looe in Cornwall, United Kingdom, that follows the valley of the East Looe River for much of its course. It is operated by Great Western Railway. History The Looe Valley Line was opened as the Liskeard and Looe Railway on 27 December 1860 from a station at Moorswater, a little west of Liskeard, to the quayside at Looe, replacing the earlier Liskeard and Looe Union Canal. At Moorswater it connected with the Liskeard and Caradon Railway which conveyed granite from quarries on Bodmin Moor. Passenger services commenced on 11 September 1879, but the Moorswater terminus was inconvenient as it was remote from Liskeard and a long way from the Cornwall Railway station on the south side of the town. On 15 May 1901 the railway opened a curving link line from Coombe Junction, a little south of Moorswater, to the now Great Western Railway station at Liskeard. The section from Coombe Junction to Moorswater was closed to passeng ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
