The Neath and Brecon Stephensons were
0-6-2T
T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the modern English alphabet and the ISO basic Latin alphabet. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is derived from the Semitic letters taw (ת, ܬ, ت) via the Greek letter ...
tank locomotive
A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locom ...
s introduced into traffic on the
Neath and Brecon Railway
The Dulas Valley Mineral Railway was incorporated in 1862 to bring coal from the Onllwyn area north-east of Neath to the quays there, and in the following year was reconstituted as the Neath and Brecon Railway. The line was opened as far as Onllw ...
in 1904 from a
Rhymney Railway
The Rhymney Railway was a railway company in South Wales, founded to transport minerals and materials to and from collieries and ironworks in the Rhymney Valley of South Wales, and to docks in Cardiff. It opened a main line in 1858, and a limite ...
design. There were three locos in the class. They were built by
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 locomoti ...
and were almost identical to the successful
Rhymney Railway M class.
Overview of similar classes
In similar vein, the
Brecon and Merthyr Railway used the Rhymney Railway's Stephensons as a blueprint for locomotives (
Brecon and Merthyr 0-6-2T locomotives) built from 1909 to the design of the
Rhymney Railway R class.
The M class and related 1910 introduced R and
A class were successful designs ideally suited to hauling heavy coal trains a relatively short distance. In 1922 the three Neath and Brecon locos were repaired by the GWR and lasted until 1929–1930.
Dimensions
Welsh 0-6-2T types
The railways of South Wales seem to have had a particular liking for the
0-6-2T type. This was because the nature of the work they undertook demanded high adhesive weight, plenty of power with good braking ability, but no need for outright speed, nor large tanks or bunker as the distances from pit to port were short. These Welsh locomotives were taken over by the GWR at the grouping in 1923 and many (but not the N & B locos) were rebuilt with GWR taper boilers. All the similar Rhymney Stevenson derived locos passed into British Railways (BR) ownership in 1948. Others included (with some gaps in numbering):
* Brecon and Merthyr Railway, BR numbers 431-436
* Cardiff Railway, BR number 155
* Rhymney Railway, BR numbers 35-83
* Taff Vale Railway, BR numbers 204-399
For further information on these pre-grouping locomotives see
Locomotives of the Great Western Railway
The first Locomotives of the Great Western Railway (GWR) were specified by Isambard Kingdom Brunel but Daniel Gooch was soon appointed as the railway's Locomotive Superintendent. He designed several different broad gauge types for the growing r ...
.
See also
*
Welsh 0-6-2T locomotives
Welsh 0-6-2T locomotives were a standard steam locomotive of the railways of South Wales. Many of the independent railways used them and, at the grouping of 1923, the survivors passed into Great Western Railway (GWR) stock. The GWR perpetuated t ...
External links
Telford Steam Railway 5619 project 5643 6695Neath and Brecon Stephensons, edited by Alain S Mikhayhu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neath And Brecon Stephensons
Steam locomotives of Great Britain
0-6-2T locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1904
Robert Stephenson and Company locomotives