''Dolgoch'' is a

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 structu ...

0-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven. The wheels on the earliest four-coupled locomotives were ...

well tank A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water storage tanks, tanks, instead of a more traditional tender (rail), tender. Most tank engines also have Fuel bunker, bunkers (or fuel tank ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

. It was built by Fletcher, Jennings & Co. and is one of the oldest locomotives still in active service. It was delivered to the

Talyllyn Railway The Talyllyn Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Talyllyn) is a narrow gauge preserved railway in Wales running for from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1865Drummond 2015, page 17 ...

in 1866Boyd 1988 and continues to run on this railway to this day. ''Dolgoch'' holds an important place in railway preservation history as it was the only serviceable locomotive on the

when it became the first preserved railway to be operated by volunteers, in 1951. ''Dolgoch'' kept the railway going during this first season.

Design

The design is unusual for an 0-4-0. It has a long wheelbase and the driving axle is behind the

firebox Firebox may refer to: *Firebox (steam engine), the area where the fuel is burned in a steam engine *Firebox (architecture), the part of a fireplace where fuel is combusted *Firebox Records Firebox Records was a Finnish record label based in S ...

in a layout similar to a

Crampton locomotive A Crampton locomotive is a type of steam locomotive designed by Thomas Russell Crampton and built by various firms from 1846. The main British builders were Tulk and Ley and Robert Stephenson and Company. Notable features were a low boiler and l ...

. This prevents the use of a conventional

valve gear The valve gear of a steam engine is the mechanism that operates the inlet and exhaust valves to admit steam into the cylinder and allow exhaust steam to escape, respectively, at the correct points in the cycle. It can also serve as a reversing g ...

layout which is driven from the rear axle. Instead, the

Allan valve gear The Stephenson valve gear or Stephenson link or shifting link is a simple design of valve gear that was widely used throughout the world for various kinds of steam engines. It is named after Robert Stephenson but was invented by his employees. ...

is driven from the leading coupled axle and doubled back to connect to the valve rods. ''Dolgoch'' has two water tanks - the main well tank between the frames and a smaller back tank at the rear of the cab.

History

The locomotive was renamed ''Pretoria'' between about 1900 and 1914 in celebration of the relief of the township of

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

by Lord Roberts during the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

. It then reverted to the original name ''Dolgoch''. For most of the Railway's life, names were painted only on the North side of the locomotives. Polished brass nameplates have only been carried in preservation. In early 1945, ''Dolgoch'' was sent to the Atlas Foundry in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

to be overhauled. At this time the railway's only other locomotive, '' Talyllyn'', was so worn out it could not be safely operated and services on the railway were suspended. ''Dolgoch'' returned to service in September 1945, with new displacement cylinder lubricators mounted on each side of the smokebox, a new chimney, repaired inner firebox and a retubed boiler. Around 1949, ''Dolgoch''s boiler was patched, and on 26 August 1949, ''Dolgoch'' cracked its frame in an accident, which resulted in its driver being dismissed from the company. ''Dolgoch'' was the only operable locomotive from 1945 until 1952, when Edward Thomas was restored for use. Between 1954 and 1963, ''Dolgoch'' underwent a major overhaul.

In fiction

The fictional locomotive ''

Rheneas This article is about the characters that have appeared in the books of ''The Railway Series'' by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry and Christopher Awdry. Unless otherwise stated on this page, the technical notes come from actual notes laid out by Wilbert ...

'' in ''

The Railway Series ''The Railway Series'' is a series of British books about a railway known as the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first published in May 1945 by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. Twen ...

'' by the Rev. W. Awdry is based on this engine.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Talyllyn Railway Talyllyn Railway locomotives Individual locomotives of Great Britain Preserved narrow gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain 0-4-0WT locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1866 Fletcher, Jennings locomotives