Rheidol (locomotive)

Treze de Maio, Talybont, Rheidol
Talybont (left) with Victoria on the Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway
Type and origin Power type Steam Builder W.G. Bagnall Serial number 1497 Build date 1896 Total produced 1
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 2-4-0T Gauge 2 ft 5 1⁄2 in (750 mm), 2 ft 3 in (686 mm), 1 ft 11 1⁄2 in (597 mm) Driver dia. 2 feet 2 1⁄2 inches (0.673 m) Trailing dia. 1 foot 4 inches (0.41 m) Wheelbase 9 feet 6 inches (2.90 m) Length 16 feet 9 inches (5.11 m) Width 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) Loco weight 10 long tons (10 t) Fuel type Coal Water cap 260 imperial gallons (1,200 l; 310 US gal) Firebox:  • Firegrate area 5 3⁄8 square feet (0.50 m2) Boiler pressure 140 lbf/in2 (0.97 MPa) Cylinders Two, outside
Career Operators Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway, Vale of Rheidol Railway Number in class 1 Numbers 3, 1198 Delivered 1897 Withdrawn 1923 Scrapped 1924

Rheidol, formerly named Treze de Maio and Talybont, was a 2-4-0 T steam locomotive built by W.G. Bagnall in Staffordshire, England, in 1896. Originally built to a gauge of 2 ft 5 ¹⁄₂ in (750 mm), it was ordered to work at a Brazilian sugar plantation, however the order was cancelled before it was exported. The locomotive was later regauged to work on the Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway in Wales before being regauged a second time and moving to the Vale of Rheidol Railway. It operated until 1924, when it was scrapped.

The locomotive was originally built by W.G. Bagnalls in 1896, following an order for a 2 ft 5 ¹⁄₂ in (750 mm) locomotive for a sugar plantation in Brazil. The locomotive was named Treze de Maio (Portuguese for "Thirteenth of May"), the date that Brazil had abolished slavery in 1888. It was constructed as a 2-4-0 T locomotive with outside frames, and fitted with a spark arresting chimney. It was completed and named by February 1897, but the order was cancelled before the loco was exported. This may have been due to a political uprising in Brazil, though this is disputed by railway historian EA Wade.

The Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway was a short-lived 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) railway built in 1897, operating from Llanfihangel via Talybont to serve lead mines in Mid-Wales. The railway's first locomotive, Victoria, was of an unusual design, and not sufficiently powerful to operate on the railway, and therefore the owners of the line approached Bagnalls to provide a new locomotive urgently (Bagnalls also supplied their works number 1510, Hafan, to work the upper section of the tramway). As Treze de Maio was available it was regauged and renamed Talybont, and delivered to the Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway in August 1897, still with its spark arresting chimney.