The Comet class were 12

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

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. They were ordered by Evans and Geach who were contracted to operate the railway's locomotives. They were designed by

Daniel Gooch Sir Daniel Gooch, 1st Baronet (24 August 1816 – 15 October 1889) was an English railway locomotive and transatlantic cable engineer. He was the first Superintendent of Locomotive Engines on the Great Western Railway from 1837 to 1864 and ...

and based on his Bogie class locomotives built for the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

who had previously operated the South Devon Railway. 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. Six similar locomotives were built for the

Vale of Neath Railway The Vale of Neath Railway (VoNR) was a broad gauge railway company, that built a line from Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare to Neath, in Wales, chiefly to transport the products of the Merthyr iron industries to ports on Swansea Bay. The railway foc ...

Robert Stephenson and Company Robert Stephenson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company founded in 1823 in Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne in England. It was the first company in the world created specifically to build railway engines. Famous early locomotiv ...

in 1851. Some of these could be found working on the South Devon lines after the 1876 amalgamation.

Locomotives

* ''Aurora'' (1852 – 1878) GWR no. 2099 :Built by Longridge and Company. Named after the goddess

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

. * ''Comet'' (1851 – 1884) GWR no. 2096 :Built by Longridge and Company. On 1 August 1853, it was working an express train when it collided with ''Ixion'', which had passed a danger signal at Rattery, Devon. :The name ''

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

'' represents a heavenly body, and was reused on a Leopard class locomotive built in 1875. * ''Damon'' (1852 – 1876) GWR no. 2101 :Built by the

Haigh Foundry Haigh Foundry was an ironworks and foundry in Haigh, Lancashire, which was notable for the manufacture of early steam locomotives. Origins Haigh Foundry was established in the Douglas Valley in Haigh around 1790 by Alexander Lindsay, 6th Earl ...

, it was named after Damon, a Greek mythological character. * ''Falcon'' (1852 – 1878) GWR no. 2102 :Built by the Haigh Foundry. On 13 September 1866, ''Falcon'' was working the mail train when it failed to stop at the signal at

Plympton Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down river to Plym ...

so it collided with ''

Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...

'', which ran away to

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 ...

. It was named after a bird, the

falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

. * ''Ixion'' (1853 – 1878) GWR no. 2105 :Built by Stothert and Slaughter. On 1 August 1853, ''Ixion'' was working a goods train from

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

. At

Rattery Rattery is located within the county of Devon only a few miles from the villages Buckfastleigh and neighbouring village Ashburton the name can sometime be seen a variant of Red Tree but is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Ratreu. The origins o ...

the driver ignored a danger signal and collided with a mail train while shunting. ''Ixion'' was badly damaged and was out of use for many months, despite having seen less than five months' work at the time. Named after

Ixion In Greek mythology, Ixion ( ; el, Ἰξίων, ''gen''.: Ἰξίονος means 'strong native') was king of the Lapiths, the most ancient tribe of Thessaly. Family Ixion was the son of Ares, or Leonteus, or Antion and Perimele, or the not ...

from Greek mythology. * ''Lance'' (1851 – 1873) :Built by Longridge and Company. ''Lance'' was written off after it was involved in a head-on collision with another train near

Menheniot railway station Menheniot railway station serves the village of Menheniot in Cornwall, England. It is from via . The station is managed by Great Western Railway, whose local trains serve the station. History The station opened with the Cornwall Railway ...

on the

Cornwall Railway The Cornwall Railway was a broad gauge railway from Plymouth in Devon to Falmouth in Cornwall, England, built in the second half of the nineteenth century. It was constantly beset with shortage of capital for the construction, and was eventu ...

on 2 December 1873. At the time it was providing front-end assistance to a heavy goods train. The name ''

Lance A lance is a spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior or cavalry soldier ( lancer). In ancient and medieval warfare, it evolved into the leading weapon in cavalry charges, and was unsuited for throwing or for repeated thrusting, unlike si ...

'' means a projectile, and was reused on a Leopard class locomotive built in 1875. * ''Meteor'' (1851 – 1881) GWR no. 2098 :Built by Longridge and Company, ''Meteor'' was named after a heavenly body, a

meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as micr ...

. * ''Orion'' (1853 – 1878) GWR no. 2103 : Built by the Haigh Foundry. Named after Orion, a Greek Titan. * ''Osiris'' (1853 – 1873) :Built by Stothert and Slaughter. On 31 October 1853, it was approaching

Totnes railway station Totnes railway station serves the towns of Totnes and Dartington in Devon, England. It was opened by the South Devon Railway Company in 1847. Situated on the Exeter to Plymouth Line, it is measured from the zero point at via Box. History T ...

with a passenger train when it was hit by a goods train which had been unable to stop after descending the incline from

. After withdrawal, ''Osiris'' was taken to

Portreath Portreath ( kw, Porthtreth or ) is a civil parish, village and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is about three miles (5 km) northwest of Redruth. The village extends along both sides of a str ...

where it provided steam for the stationary engine that powered the

cable railway Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

which raised wagons from the harbour up to the

West Cornwall Railway The West Cornwall Railway was a railway company in Cornwall, Great Britain, formed in 1846 to construct a railway between Penzance and Truro. It purchased the existing Hayle Railway, and improved its main line, and built new sections between Pen ...

line. :Named after

Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...

, the Egyptian god of death, the name was reused on a Leopard class 4-4-0ST. * ''Ostrich'' (1852 – 1877) GWR no. 2104 :Built by Fairbairn and Sons, ''Ostrich'' was named after a large African bird, the

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There are ...

. * ''Priam'' (1851 – 1876) GWR no. 2100 :Built by the Haigh Foundry, it was named after

Priam In Greek mythology, Priam (; grc-gre, Πρίαμος, ) was the legendary and last king of Troy during the Trojan War. He was the son of Laomedon. His many children included notable characters such as Hector, Paris, and Cassandra. Etymology Mo ...

, the king of Troy. * ''Rocket'' (1851 – 1877) GWR no. 2097 :Built by Longridge and Company, it was named after a projectile, a

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

References

* * * * * Railway company records at

The National Archives National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...

{{SDR Locomotives Broad gauge (7 feet) railway locomotives 4-4-0ST locomotives

Avonside locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1851