The Cooke 0-8-2T were two 0-8-2T steam

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 built in 1899 for the Port Talbot Railway (PTR), South Wales. Their PTR numbers were 20 and 21 and they became Great Western Railway (GWR) nos. 1378 and 1379 in 1922. The PTR obtained tenders from six British and three American companies and the winning tender was from the

Cooke Locomotive and Machine Works The Cooke Locomotive and Machine Works, located in Paterson, New Jersey, manufactured steam railroad locomotives from 1852 until it was merged with seven other manufacturers to form American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in 1901. History The firm wa ...

of Paterson, New Jersey, United States. Cooke's

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agents were Thomas W. Ford & Company of Palace Chambers, 9 Bridge Street,

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

. The locomotives were fairly British in appearance, but had some notable characteristics of American locomotive practice, such as

bar frame A locomotive frame is the structure that forms the backbone of the railway locomotive, giving it strength and supporting the superstructure elements such as a cab, boiler or bodywork. The vast majority of locomotives have had a frame structure o ...

s, and the smokebox being a separate piece from the steam chest, the latter being a "saddle" connecting to the cylinders, upon which the former was mounted on top. Both were fitted with new taper boilers at the GWR's

Swindon Works Swindon railway works was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1843 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It served as the principal west England maintenance centre until closed in 1986. History In 1835 Parliament approved the construction of the ...

in 1908.

Performance

The locomotives were required to haul a train of 300 tons up a bank of 1 in 40 at 12 mph and 800 tons up a bank of 1 in 75 at 12 mph. Initially, the locomotives failed to meet these targets but, after some modifications, the required performances were achieved. On coal trains, one 0-8-2T replaced a pair of

0-6-2 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 two trailing wheels on one axle. The type is sometimes kno ...

Ts and this resulted in a significant saving in fuel and labour costs. Coal consumption was 65 lb per mile for a 0-8-2T compared with 94 lb per mile for a pair of 0-6-2Ts.

Further locomotives

The PTR had an option to buy three or five more locomotives from Cooke to the same design but it chose not to exercise this option. Instead, it bought three 0-8-2T from Sharp Stewart of

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in 1901. The two classes are easily distinguishable by their differences in framework and cylinders. The Cooke locomotives' cylinders were of distinctly American design practice, and were mounted horizontally, driving on the second axle, while the Sharp Stewart locomotive cylinders were slightly inclined, driving on the third axle.

References

* * {{GWR absorbed locos 1922 on Port Talbot Railway and Docks Company locomotives 0-8-2T locomotives Cooke locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1899 Scrapped locomotives Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Freight locomotives

Performance

Further locomotives

See also

References