The Dinorwic Alice Class is a class of eleven

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

steam locomotives built specifically for the Dinorwic Slate Quarry. These locomotives were built by the

Hunslet Engine Company The Hunslet Engine Company is a locomotive-building company, founded in 1864 in Hunslet, England. It manufactured steam locomotives for over 100 years and currently manufactures diesel shunting locomotives. The company is part of Ed Murray & S ...

between 1886 and 1904, and were designed and supplied specifically to work the many galleries of the quarry at

Llanberis (; ) is a village, community and electoral ward in Gwynedd, northwest Wales, on the southern bank of the lake and at the foot of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. It is a centre for outdoor activities in Snowdonia, including walking, mo ...

, North Wales.

History

After earlier experiences with vertical boilered

De Winton De Winton & Co (1854–1901) were engineers in Caernarfon, Wales. They built, amongst other things, vertical boilered narrow gauge locomotives for use in Welsh slate mines and other industrial settings. At least six De Winton locomotives have ...

locomotives, the quarry company decided they needed more powerful locomotives to run on heavier, double-headed rail in chaired track on its more intensively worked quarry galleries. In order to improve transport of cut slate to the mills and waste to the slag tips a standard design of locomotive which was powerful, lightweight and with a short wheelbase was required. In 1870, the quarry placed an order with the

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

for a prototype locomotive. They produced ''Dinorwic'' (works number 51 of 1870), which is a clear precursor to the Alice class. This locomotive proved a success and two further locomotives were ordered in 1877 to an improved design. Hunslet continued to evolve the design, and when the quarry ordered a fourth locomotive in 1886, Hunslet delivered the first of the ''Alice Class'' engines, named ''Velinheli'' (No. 409 of 1886). The class name was derived from the second example of this class of engine to be built, named'' Alice'' later ''King Of The Scarlets'' (No. 492 of 1889). This was done so as to avoid confusion with the Port organisation (Port Dinorwic or

Y Felinheli Y Felinheli (), formerly known in English as Port Dinorwic, is a village and community beside the Menai Strait ( cy, Y Fenai or ''Afon Menai'') between Bangor and Caernarfon in Gwynedd, northwest Wales. History Toponymy Etymologically, its ...

) which was separate from the quarry operation. In total 11 separate locomotives of this class were built for the Dinorwic Slate Quarry with all surviving into some form of preservation. Hunslet's allocated the telegraphic codename VELIN to this class, named after the first locomotive.

Locomotive Information

References

Related Wiki Pages

* The Dinorwic Slate Quarry *

* Preserved Hunslet Narrow Gauge Locomotives

External links

{{commons category, Dinorwic Alice Class
The Quarry Hunslet WebsiteOfficial Launceston Steam Railway WebsiteOfficial Llanberis Lake Railway WebsiteOfficial Narrow Gauge Railway Museum, TywynOfficial Kew Bridge Steam Museum WebsiteOfficial Bala Lake Railway Website
Hunslet locomotives 0-4-0ST locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1886 Industrial locomotives of Great Britain Narrow gauge locomotives of the United Kingdom