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Originally, five of the six locomotives of the class were allocated to Swindon shed; No. 1371 was originally sent to Llanelly but when they were taken over by British Railways Western Region in 1948 three of the six had been reallocated to Weymouth for use on the docks there.
In 1950 the situation remained as it had in 1948 while by 1955 one of the locomotives had moved shed allocation from Swindon to
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 ...
(GWR) 1366 Class was a class of 0-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. This was the most common wheel arrang ...
pannier 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 loco ...
s built in 1934. They were a useful design and because of their light weight and short wheelbase and were often used on dockside branches or other lines with sharp curvatures.
History and development
The 1366 class was one of only two pannier tank designs built by the GWR that utilised outside cylinders, although various existing engines inherited by the GWR had pannier tanks and outside cylinders. The 1366 class was developed from the 1361 Class but differed by including a pannier tank rather than a saddle tank,Belpaire firebox
The Belpaire firebox is a type of firebox used on steam locomotives. It was invented by Alfred Belpaire of Belgium in 1864. Today it generally refers to the shape of the outer shell of the firebox which is approximately flat at the top and s ...
, etc. They were designed to replace the 1392 Class.
Operational history
Originally, five of the six locomotives of the class were allocated to Swindon shed; No. 1371 was originally sent to Llanelly but when they were taken over by British Railways Western Region in 1948 three of the six had been reallocated to Weymouth for use on the docks there.
In 1950 the situation remained as it had in 1948 while by 1955 one of the locomotives had moved shed allocation from Swindon to Taunton
Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...
(although actually used at Bridgwater
Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...
) with three still remaining at Weymouth and this in turn continued until 1959. With the move from steam to diesel the first of the class to be withdrawn was 1370 which was withdrawn from Weymouth shed in January 1960 followed by 1371 from Swindon shed in November of that year and then 1366 from Taunton the following February.
However, the three remaining locomotives were offered a new lease of life. No. 1369 was sent via Yeovil
Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somerset's southern border with ...
to Wadebridge
Wadebridge (; kw, Ponswad) is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town straddles the River Camel upstream from Padstow.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 ''Newquay & Bodmin'' The permanent popul ...
and after successful clearance trials had taken place numbers 1367 and 1368 followed, the locomotives being used to replace the Beattie Well Tanks that had run over the Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway
The Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway was a railway line opened in 1834 in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It linked the quays at Wadebridge with the town of Bodmin and also to quarries at Wenfordbridge.Sources use Wenfordbridge and Wenford Brid ...
to Wenfordbridge
Wenfordbridge, or Wenford Bridge, is a hamlet some north of Bodmin and on the western flank of Bodmin Moor, in Cornwall, England, UK. It takes its name from an old granite bridge over the River Camel, and lies on the border between the parish ...
for the previous 87 years. However, dieselisation caught up with them again, and all three were withdrawn in 1964 having operated for just 2 years in Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...
. The final locomotive, 1369, left Wadebridge under its own steam for the Dart Valley Railway on 20 February being the last operational British Railways steam locomotive to be based in Cornwall.
One example, No. 1369, survives on the South Devon Railway.
See also
* GWR 0-6-0PT – ''list of classes of GWR 0-6-0 pannier tank, including table of preserved locomotives''References
;Notes ;Bibliography * reprinted in facsimile edition, * * *External links
* http://www.greatwestern.org.uk/m_in_060_1366.htm * http://www.southdevonrailwayassociation.org/1369-hist.html {{Authority control 1366 0-6-0PT locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1934 Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Shunting locomotives