Bristol and Exeter Railway locomotives explained

The Bristol and Exeter Railway locomotives worked trains on the Bristol and Exeter Railway from 1 May 1849 until the railway was amalgamated with the Great Western Railway on 1 January 1876.

The Great Western Railway had leased the Bristol and Exeter Railway from its opening and provided the locomotives up until 1849.

The Bristol and Exeter Railway in turn provided the broad gauge locomotive power on most of the railways with which it had junctions:

• Bristol and Portishead Port and Pier Railway
• Somerset Central Railway
• West Somerset Railway and Minehead Railway
• Devon and Somerset Railway
• Exeter and Crediton Railway

Engineering

The railway established workshops at Bristol Temple Meads railway station in September 1854, the site later being known as Bath Road. Engine sheds were provided at major stations and on some branches including at Taunton railway station and Exeter St Davids railway station.

The engineer was Charles Hutton Gregory until May 1850, when James Pearson was appointed as Locomotive Engineer. He designed several classes of tank engines, including large 4-2-4T locomotives.

Locomotive types

Broad gauge

• 1849 4-2-2 locomotives – 20 passenger locomotives
• 1849 0-6-0 locomotives – 12 goods locomotives
• 1849 Fairfield – a steam railmotor
• 1851 2-2-2T locomotives – 7 small tank locomotives
• 1854 4-2-4T locomotives – 8 locomotives with 9 feet wheels
• 1855 4-4-0ST locomotives – 26 saddle tank locomotives
• 1856 0-6-0 locomotives – 6 goods locomotives
• 1859 4-2-4T replacements – 2 locomotives with 7 feet 6-inch wheels
• 1866 0-6-0ST locomotives – 2 small tank locomotives
• 1868 4-2-4T renewals – 4 locomotives with 8 feet 10-inch wheels
• 1870 2-4-0 locomotives – 10 passenger locomotives
• 1872 0-4-0T locomotives – 2 small well tank locomotives
• 1872 0-6-0 locomotives – 14 Swindon Class goods locomotives purchased from the Great Western Railway
• 1874 2-4-0 locomotives – 3 convertible passenger locomotives
• 1874 no. 110 – a small tank engine, originally built for the South Wales Mineral Railway
• 1874 0-6-0T no. 111

Standard gauge

The Bristol and Exeter Railway operated 28 standard gauge locomotives, all of which became GWR property on 1 January 1876.

• 0-6-0 – 6 built 1867–68: B&E nos. 77–82; GWR nos. 1360–5 Five of these spent a short while between 1870/71 and 1875 working as broad gauge locomotives.
• 2-4-2T – 2 built 1868: B&E nos. 83–84; GWR nos. 1353–4
• 2-4-0 – 3 built 1874–75: B&E nos. 3, 1, 16; GWR nos. 1355–7
• 0-6-0T – 2 built 1874–75: B&E nos. 114–115; GWR nos. 1376–7
• 0-4-0T – 3 built 1875: B&E nos. 93–95; GWR nos. 1378–80
• 0-6-0 – 10 built 1875: B&E nos. 116–125; GWR nos. 1366–75
• 2-4-0T – 2 built 1876: B&E nos. 30, 33; GWR nos. 1358–9

Narrow gauge

The Bristol and Exeter Railway built two 0-4-0WT locomotives in 1874/75 at Bristol – numbers 112 and 113 – for working the 3 feet gauge lines in its ballast quarry at Westleigh, Devon to the main line at . They were renumbered 1381/2 when acquired by the GWR, and following the conversion of the line to standard gauge in 1898, were sold in 1899.

Locomotives in numerical order

• 1

1849 Broad gauge 4-2-2

1875 Standard gauge locomotive

• 2

1849 Broad gauge 4-2-2

1872 Broad gauge 2-4-0

• 3

1849 Broad gauge 4-2-2

1874 Standard gauge locomotive

• 4

1849 Broad gauge 4-2-2

1871 Broad gauge 2-4-0

• 5

1849 Broad gauge 4-2-2

1871 Broad gauge 2-4-0

• 6

1849 Broad gauge 4-2-2

1870 Broad gauge 2-4-0

• 7

1849 Broad gauge 4-2-2

• 8

1849 Broad gauge 4-2-2

1872 Broad gauge 2-4-0

• 9

1849 Broad gauge 4-2-2

• 10

1849 Broad gauge 4-2-2

• 11

1849 Broad gauge 4-2-2

1874 Convertible 2-4-0

• 12

1849 Broad gauge 4-2-2

1862 Broad gauge 7 feet 6-inch 4-2-4T

• 13

1849 Broad gauge 4-2-2

• 14

1849 Broad gauge 4-2-2

1870 Broad gauge 2-4-0

• 15

1849 Broad gauge 4-2-2

• 16

1849 Broad gauge 4-2-2

1875 Standard gauge locomotive

• 17

1849 Broad gauge 4-2-2

• 18

1849 Broad gauge 4-2-2

• 19

1849 Broad gauge 4-2-2

• 20

1849 Broad gauge 4-2-2

1874 Convertible 2-4-0

• 21

1849 Broad gauge 0-6-0

• 22

1849 Broad gauge 0-6-0

• 23

1849 Broad gauge 0-6-0

• 24

1849 Broad gauge 0-6-0

• 25

1849 Broad gauge 0-6-0

• 26

1849 Broad gauge 0-6-0

• 27

1849 Broad gauge 0-6-0

• 28

1849 Broad gauge 0-6-0

• 29

1849 Fairfield

1859 Broad gauge 7 feet 6-inch 4-2-4T

• 30

1851 Broad gauge 2-2-2T

1876 Standard gauge locomotive

• 31

1851 Broad gauge 2-2-2T

• 32

1851 Broad gauge 2-2-2T

• 33

1851 Broad gauge 2-2-2T

1876 Standard gauge locomotive

• 34

1851 Broad gauge 2-2-2T

1875 Convertible 2-4-0

• 35

1853 Broad gauge 0-6-0

• 36

1853 Broad gauge 0-6-0

• 37

1853 Broad gauge 0-6-0

• 38

1853 Broad gauge 0-6-0

• 39

1853 Broad gauge 9 feet 4-2-4T

1868 Broad gauge 8 feet 10-inch 4-2-4T

• 40

1853 Broad gauge 9 feet 4-2-4T

1873 Broad gauge 8 feet 10-inch 4-2-4T

• 41

1853 Broad gauge 9 feet 4-2-4T

1868 Broad gauge 8 feet 10-inch 4-2-4T

• 42

1854 Broad gauge 9 feet 4-2-4T

1868 Broad gauge 8 feet 10-inch 4-2-4T

• 43

1854 Broad gauge 9 feet 4-2-4T

1871 Broad gauge 2-4-0

• 44

1854 Broad gauge 9 feet 4-2-4T

1870 Broad gauge 2-4-0

• 45

1854 Broad gauge 9 feet 4-2-4T

1870 Broad gauge 2-4-0

• 46

1854 Broad gauge 9 feet 4-2-4T

1870 Broad gauge 2-4-0

• 47

1855 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 48

1855 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 49

1855 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 50

1855 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 51

1855 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 52

1855 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 53

1856 Broad gauge 0-6-0

• 54

1856 Broad gauge 0-6-0

• 55

1856 Broad gauge 0-6-0

• 56

1856 Broad gauge 0-6-0

• 57

1859 Broad gauge 2-2-2T

• 58

1859 Broad gauge 2-2-2T

• 59

1860 Broad gauge 0-6-0

• 60

1860 Broad gauge 0-6-0

• 61

1862 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 62

1862 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 63

1862 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 64

1862 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 65

1867 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 66

1867 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 67

1867 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 68

1867 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 69

1867 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 70

1867 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 71

1867 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 72

1867 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 73

1867 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 74

1867 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 75

1866 Broad gauge 0-6-0ST

• 76

1866 Broad gauge 0-6-0ST

• 77

1867 Convertible 0-6-0 locomotive

• 78

1867 Convertible 0-6-0 locomotive

• 79

1867 Convertible 0-6-0 locomotive

• 80

1867 Convertible 0-6-0 locomotive

• 81

1867 Convertible 0-6-0 locomotive

• 82

1867 Convertible 0-6-0 locomotive

• 83

1868 Standard gauge 2-4-0 locomotive

• 84

1868 Standard gauge 2-4-0 locomotive

• 85

1873 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 86

1873 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 87

1873 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 88

1873 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 89

1873 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 90

1873 Broad gauge 4-4-0ST

• 91

1872 Broad gauge 0-4-0T

• 92

1874 Broad gauge 0-4-0T

• 93

Standard gauge locomotive

• 94

Standard gauge locomotive

• 95

Standard gauge locomotive

• 96

1872 ex-GWR Swindon Class broad gauge 0-6-0 Shrewsbury

• 97

1872 ex-GWR Swindon Class broad gauge 0-6-0 Hereford

• 98

1873 ex-GWR Swindon Class broad gauge 0-6-0 Chester

• 99

1873 ex-GWR Swindon Class broad gauge 0-6-0 Windsor

• 100

1873 ex-GWR Swindon Class broad gauge 0-6-0 London

• 101

1873 ex-GWR Swindon Class broad gauge 0-6-0 Bristol

• 102

1873 ex-GWR Swindon Class broad gauge 0-6-0 Gloucester

• 103

1873 ex-GWR Swindon Class broad gauge 0-6-0 Birmingham

• 104

1874 ex-GWR Swindon Class broad gauge 0-6-0 Wolverhampton

• 105

1874 ex-GWR Swindon Class broad gauge 0-6-0 Bath

• 106

1874 ex-GWR Swindon Class broad gauge 0-6-0 Newport

• 107

1874 ex-GWR Swindon Class broad gauge 0-6-0 Reading

• 108

1874 ex-GWR Swindon Class broad gauge 0-6-0 Oxford

• 109

1874 ex-GWR Swindon Class broad gauge 0-6-0 Swindon

• 110

1874 ex-South Wales Mineral Railway broad gauge tank locomotive

• 111

1874 Broad gauge 0-6-0T

• 112

1874 3 feet gauge locomotive for Westleigh Quarry

• 113

1874 3 feet gauge locomotive for Westleigh Quarry

• 114

1874 Standard gauge 0-6-0T locomotive for the Culm Valley Light Railway

• 115

1875 Standard gauge 0-6-0T locomotive for the Culm Valley Light Railway

• 116

1875 Standard gauge 0-6-0 locomotive

• 117

1875 Standard gauge 0-6-0 locomotive

• 118

1875 Standard gauge 0-6-0 locomotive

• 119

1875 Standard gauge 0-6-0 locomotive

• 120

1875 Standard gauge 0-6-0 locomotive

• 121

1875 Standard gauge 0-6-0 locomotive

• 122

1875 Standard gauge 0-6-0 locomotive

• 123

1875 Standard gauge 0-6-0 locomotive

• 124

1875 Standard gauge 0-6-0 locomotive

• 125

1875 Standard gauge 0-6-0 locomotive

References

• Book: Reed, P.J.T. . The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway, Part 2: Broad Gauge . The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society . 0-901115-32-0 . White . D.E. . February 1953 . Kenilworth . 650490992 .
• Book: Reed, P.J.T. . White . D.E. . The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway, part three: Absorbed Engines, 1854-1921 . December 1956 . . Kenilworth . 0-901115-33-9 .
• Book: MacDermot, E T . History of the Great Western Railway, Volume 2 . Great Western Railway . 1931 . London .
• Book: Messenger, Michael . The Culm Valley Light Railway . . 1993 . Truro . 0-906294-29-0.
• Book: Waters, Laurence . The Great Western Broad Gauge . Ian Allan Publishing . 1999 . Hersham . 0-7110-2634-3 . registration .