Yeo (locomotive) explained

Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Yeo
Powertype:Steam
Builder:Manning Wardle, Leeds[1]
Serialnumber:1361
Builddate:1898
Leadingdiameter:2feet
Driverdiameter:2feet
Trailingdiameter:2feet
Wheelbase:Coupled: 6feet
Total: 17feet
Length:22feet over buffer beams
Width:6feet
Height:8feet
Locoweight:22.05LT
Fueltype:Coal
Firearea:8.85square feet
Totalsurface:383square feet
Cylindercount:Two, outside[2] outside
Cylindersize:10.5x
Valvegear:Joy
Fleetnumbers:L&B: Yeo,
SR: E759
Locale:Devon, South West England
Lastrundate:29 September 1935
Scrapdate:December 1935

Yeo was one of three narrow gauge steam locomotives built by Manning Wardle in 1898 for the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway. The other two locomotives were named Exe and Taw. Yeo, like all the locomotives on the L&B, was named after a local river with a three-letter name, in this case the River Yeo.

This naming tradition has been continued in the 21st Century, with Lyd (a replica of Lew, the fourth locomotive built to this basic design) operational on the Ffestiniog Railway and the Welsh Highland Railway. It had been intended that Lyd would receive Yeo's original chimney (which survived on a steamroller for 62 years) but it was found to be too corroded for further use.[3]

The naming tradition has also been applied to a Kerr Stuart Joffre class locomotive currently running on the revived L&B, which has been named Axe,[4] and a Maffei locomotive named Sid.[5]

Following the railway's closure in 1935 Yeo was scrapped along with all of the other L&B locomotives except Lew which was exported to South America.[6]

A set of frames for a new Yeo were built by Winson Engineering in 2000 and are currently stored waiting for construction to continue when funds are available.[7]

A gauge model was built by David Curwen in 1978 for the Réseau Guerlédan Chemin de Fer Touristique in Brittany, France. When the line closed, it transferred to the Fairbourne Railway in North Wales.[8]

A gauge model was built by Milner Engineering in 1979 and worked in Buckfastleigh before moving to the Gorse Blossom Railway in 1984.[9]

Notes

  1. Web site: Design, Configuration and Statistics . 762 Club . 5 February 2017.
  2. Web site: Lynton and Barnstaple Locomotives. Southern Email Group's Internet Site . 14 March 2024.
  3. Web site: Lyd . Festipedia . 5 February 2017.
  4. Web site: Axe . Lynton and Barnstaple Railway . 5 February 2017.
  5. Web site: Locomotives . Lynton and Barnstaple Railway . 5 February 2017.
  6. Web site: History . The 762 Club . 5 February 2017.
  7. Web site: Project Yeo . Lynton and Barnstaple Railway . 5 February 2017.
  8. Web site: Engines . Fairbourne Railway . 14 March 2024.
  9. Web site: South Devon Miniature Railway 7 ¼ inch . Miniature Railway World. 5 February 2017.