GWR 1366 Class

GWR 1366 class
File:1368 shunting at Wadebridge Station – 1964 - geograph.org.uk - 6504367.jpg 1368 at Wadebridge in 1964
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Charles Collett Builder GWR Swindon Works Order number Lot 286 Build date February 1934 Total produced 6
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 0-6-0PT  • UIC C n2t Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Driver dia. 3 ft 8 in (1.118 m) Wheelbase 11 ft 0 in (3.353 m) Length 26 ft 2+1⁄4 in (7.982 m) over buffers Width 8 ft 6 in (2.591 m) Height 11 ft 11+5⁄8 in (3.648 m) Axle load 13 long tons 0 cwt (14.6 short tons; 13.2 t) full Loco weight 35 long tons 15 cwt (40.0 short tons; 36.3 t) full Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 2 long tons 3 cwt (2.4 short tons; 2.2 t) Water cap. 830 imp gal (3,800 L; 1,000 US gal) Firebox: ​  • Grate area 10.7 sq ft (0.99 m2) Boiler GWR 1392 Boiler pressure 165 psi (1.14 MPa) Heating surface: ​  • Firebox 73 sq ft (6.8 m2)  • Tubes 715 sq ft (66.4 m2) Superheater None Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 16 in × 20 in (406 mm × 508 mm) Valve gear Allan Valve type Slide valves
Performance figures Tractive effort 16,320 lbf (72.6 kN)
Career Operators GWR » BR Class 1366 Power class GWR: Unclassified, BR: 1F Numbers 1366–1371 Axle load class GWR: Unclassified Withdrawn 1960–1964 Preserved No. 1369 Disposition One preserved, remainder scrapped

The Great Western Railway (GWR) 1366 Class is a class of 0-6-0 pannier tank steam locomotives built in 1934. They were a useful design 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 (alongside the GWR 1500), 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, etc. They were designed to replace the 1392 Class.

Operational history

File:1369 at BFL.jpg

The preserved 1369, seen at Buckfastleigh on the South Devon Railway in 2021.

Originally, five of the six locomotives of the class were allocated to Swindon shed; No. 1371 was originally sent to Llanelly [sic] 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 (although used at Bridgwater) with three 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. It was 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 to Wadebridge 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 to Wenford bridge 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. 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.

Withdrawal

Table of withdrawals

Year	Quantity in service at start of year	Number withdrawn	Locomotive numbers
1960	6	2	1370-1371
1961	4	1	1366
1962-1963	3	0
1964	3	3	1367-1369

Preservation

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

Bibliography

• reprinted in facsimile edition,

External links

• http://www.greatwestern.org.uk/m_in_060_1366.htm
• http://www.southdevonrailwayassociation.org/1369-hist.html