The eight ''Dido'' class locomotives were

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

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 ...

and associated other adjacent railways. They were designed for goods trains but were also used on passenger trains when required. 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 Avonside Engine Company was a locomotive manufacturer in Avon Street, St Philip's Marsh, St. Philip's, Bristol, England between 1864 and 1934. However the business originated with an earlier enterprise Henry Stothert and Company. Origins The ...

. 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 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 focus ...

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 . 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. lists ''Hebe'', ''Ajax'', ''Brutus'', ''Argo'', ''Atlas'', ''Juno'' as the Romulus class, along with ''Romulus'' and ''Remus''. The ''Dido'' class (which describes as the ''Ada'' class) consists of ''Dido'' and ''Hero'', together with three

Llynvi Valley Railway In 1861 the Llynvi Valley Railway was opened in Glamorganshire, Wales, to convey mineral products to the Bristol Channel at Porthcawl. It adopted an earlier tramroad, the Duffryn Llynvi and Porthcawl Railway. The Llynvi and Ogmore Railway was o ...

locomotives: ''Rosa'' (rebuilt from a ), ''Ada'' and ''Una''.

Locomotives

South Devon Railway

* ''Hebe'' (Slaughter, Güning & Co. 394 of 1860); GWR no. 2148; withdrawn 1877 : ''Hebe'' was at Brent on 22 November 1873 when its boiler blew up. It got its name from Hebe, the Greek goddess of youth. * ''Ajax'' (SG 395 of 1860); GWR no. 2149; withdrawn 1884 : The locomotive was named after

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

, a Greek hero. * ''Brutus'' (SG 396(?) of 1862) GWR no. 2150; withdrawn 1884 : 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 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 ...

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 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 ...

was one of Julius Caesar's assassins. * ''Juno'' (SG 558 of 1864); GWR no. 2153; withdrawn 1884 : The Roman

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...

was worshipped as the queen of their gods.

Cornwall Railway

* ''Dido'' (SG 392 of 1860); GWR no. 2143; withdrawn 1877 : The name of this locomotive comes from

Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in modern Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (t ...

, the Queen of Carthage. * ''Hero'' (SG 393 of 1860); GWR no. 2144; withdrawn 1887 : A

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...

can be an idealized character in mythology or folklore but in this case probably refers to

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...

, a priestess of

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols include ...

. * ''Argo'' (SG 523 of 1863); GWR no. 2151; withdrawn 1892 : The original

Argo In Greek mythology the ''Argo'' (; in Greek: ) was a ship built with the help of the gods that Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The ship has gone on to be used as a motif in a variety of sour ...

was the ship that carried Jason and the Argonauts on their adventures. * ''Atlas'' (SG 594 of 1863); GWR no. 2152; withdrawn 1885 : The original

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...

was a Greek Titan.

References

* *

Selected bibliography

* * * * * 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 0-6-0ST locomotives

Avonside locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1860