Rhymney Railway R class
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The Rhymney R class was a class of
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 ...
steam locomotive introduced into traffic in 1907 designed by the railway's engineer Hurry Riches. These were substantial sized
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, and weighed ( after rebuilding) and were in length.


History

There were initially three locos in the class augmented to five in 1909. They were built by
Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson FRS HFRSE FRSA DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of his father ...
, though in 1921
Hudswell Clarke Hudswell, Clarke and Company Limited was an engineering and locomotive building company in Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. History The company was founded as Hudswell and Clarke in 1860. In 1870 the name was changed to Hud ...
built four and
Beyer, Peacock and Company Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Openshaw, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson, it traded from 1854 until 1966. The company exported locomotives, ...
contributed a further six. The R class and related 1904-introduced M and 1910 A classes were successful designs ideally suited to hauling heavy coal trains a relatively short distance. In 1926, No 17 was reboilered by the GWR and in this form was visually almost indistinguishable from the
GWR 5600 Class The GWR 5600 Class is a class of 0-6-2T steam locomotive built between 1924 and 1928. They were designed by Charles Collett for the Great Western Railway (GWR), and were introduced into traffic in 1924. After the 1923 grouping, Swindon inherit ...
. Thus the R (and closely related "Stephenson" M class, A, A1 and larger wheeled P classes) were designed for work on the Rhymney Railway, replacing smaller locomotives. When the smaller railway companies were forcibly merged into the GWR, these modern 0-6-2's were in generally good order (some were a few months old) and had proved successful. Collectively they became the blueprint for the 200 strong 5600 class. The design of the 5600 class followed the Rhymney designs quite closely but adopted GWR practice as far as possible, by utilising many
standardized Standardization or standardisation is the process of implementing and developing technical standards based on the consensus of different parties that include firms, users, interest groups, standards organizations and governments. Standardization ...
parts. Included in Collett's innovations was a standard number 2
boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centr ...
which was suitable for the 5600 (and the M and R class Rhymney locomotives), complete with the traditional copper GWR safety valve casing and copper-capped chimney. Some A and P classes were also rebuilt but used the slightly shorter standard number 10 boiler, also to good effect. Five R class locos were upgraded from 1926 onwards. All told sixteen "Stephenson" locos were similarly dealt with between 1926 and 1949.


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 Grouping may refer to: * Muenchian grouping * Principles of grouping * Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system * Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm See also ...
in 1923 and many including seventeen of the Rhymney A, M, P and R's were
rebuilt ''Rebuilt'' is the second and final studio album by the American girl group Girlicious. The album was released on November 22, 2010, by Universal Music Canada. The album draws from the dance-pop genre while infusing hints of R&B. Production init ...
with GWR taper boilers. All the 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 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 ...
, BR numbers 35-83 *
Taff Vale Railway The Taff Vale Railway (TVR) was a standard gauge railway in South Wales, built by the Taff Vale Railway Company to serve the iron and coal industries around Merthyr Tydfil and to connect them with docks in Cardiff. It was opened in st ...
, 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 ...
.


References

*


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


Rail UK database entry for Rhymney Railway R class

Rail UK database entry for Rhymney Railway R1 class



Telford Steam Railway 5619 project



6695
{{GWR absorbed locos 1922 on R Class 0-6-2T locomotives Robert Stephenson and Company locomotives Hudswell Clarke locomotives Beyer, Peacock locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1907 Scrapped locomotives Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Freight locomotives