Sir Haydn (locomotive)
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Sir Haydn at Abergynolwyn railway station
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| Type and origin | |
|---|---|
| Power type | Steam |
| Builder | Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works |
| Serial number | 323 |
| Model | Falcon class |
| Build date | 1878 |
| Total produced | 3 |
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Configuration: |
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| • Whyte | 0-4-2ST, originally 0-4-0ST |
| Gauge | 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) |
| Driver dia. | 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) |
| Wheelbase | 8 ft 3.5 in (2.53 m) |
| Length | 16 ft 6.5 in (5.04 m) |
| Loco weight | 9 long tons 19 cwt (22,300 lb or 10.1 t) (11.1 short tons) |
| Boiler pressure | 160 lbf/in2 (1,100 kPa) |
| Cylinders | Two, outside |
| Cylinder size | 7 1⁄4 in × 12 in (184 mm × 305 mm) |
| Performance figures | |
|---|---|
| Tractive effort | 2,900 lbf (12.90 kN) |
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Operators | |
| Numbers | CR/GWR/BR/TR: 3 |
Sir Haydn is a narrow gauge steam locomotive, built by Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works of the Falcon Works, Loughborough in 1878. It operated on the Corris Railway in Wales, until closure in 1948, and since 1951 has operated on the nearby Talyllyn Railway. It has carried the operating number 3 under four successive owners.
The Corris Railway was a 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) gauge tramway built in 1859, which ran from Machynlleth north to Corris and on to Aberllefenni to serve local slate quarries. Originally, the line was horse-drawn, but three identical 0-4-0 ST locomotives, numbered 1 to 3, were ordered from Hughes' in 1878. Between 1883 and 1900, the locos were fitted with trailing pony trucks, converting each of them into an 0-4-2 ST.
During the 1920s locos 1 and 3 were dismantled, "cannibalised" and rebuilt as a single loco using the best parts of each, with the resultant loco carrying the number 3. As a result, loco No.1 was withdrawn as life expired in 1923; meanwhile No.2 remained intact and available in reserve until 1928. At the end of the 1920s negotiations began to sell the Corris Railway to the Great Western Railway and a report dated 12 October 1929 stated that locos 1 and 2 had been "marked off for some time as scrap"; they were handed over to a local scrap merchant and excluded from the assets taken on when the purchase was completed on 4 August 1930.
In the Great Western period the line was largely dependent on the slate output of Aberllefenni Quarry, which from 6 April 1935 was leased by the local member of parliament, Sir Henry Haydn Jones. His support for rail transport for the quarry's output was critical in keeping the railway open up to and including World War Two; without this support it is likely that the railway would have closed and the locomotives been scrapped. No. 3 was still working when the Corris came under the control of British Railways following nationalisation in 1948, but operation under this organisation proved short-lived as the last train ran on 20 August that year. It then was left under tarpaulin at the rear of the Corris Railway's Machynlleth Station along with the other remaining Corris engine, No. 4.
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Wikipedia