South Devon Railway Comet class
Encyclopedia
The Comet class were 12 4-4-0
saddle tank broad gauge
locomotives operated on the South Devon Railway
and associated railways. They were designed for passenger trains on this steep and sharply curved line but were also used on goods trains when required.
They were ordered by Evans and Geach who were contracted to operate the railway's locomotives. They were designed by Daniel Gooch
and based on his Bogie class locomotives
built for the Great Western Railway
who had previously operated the South Devon Railway.
On 1 February 1876 the South Devon Railway was amalgamated with the Great Western Railway, the locomotives were given numbers by their new owners but continued to carry their names too.
Six similar locomotives were built for the Vale of Neath Railway
by Robert Stephenson and Company
in 1851. Some of these could be found working on the South Devon lines after the 1876 amalgamation.
4-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels...
saddle tank broad gauge
Broad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...
locomotives operated on the South Devon Railway
South Devon Railway Company
The South Devon Railway Company built and operated the railway from Exeter to Plymouth and Torquay in Devon, England. It was a broad gauge railway built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel-Chronology:* 1844 South Devon Railway Act passed by parliament...
and associated railways. They were designed for passenger trains on this steep and sharply curved line but were also used on goods trains when required.
They were ordered by Evans and Geach who were contracted to operate the railway's locomotives. They were designed by Daniel Gooch
Daniel Gooch
Sir Daniel Gooch, 1st Baronet was an English railway and transatlantic cable engineer and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1865 to 1885...
and based on his Bogie class locomotives
GWR Bogie Class
The Great Western Railway Bogie Class 4-4-0ST broad gauge steam locomotives for passenger train work. The first two locomotives of this class were introduced into service in August/September 1849, with the remainder following between June 1854 and March 1855...
built for the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
who had previously operated the South Devon Railway.
On 1 February 1876 the South Devon Railway was amalgamated with the Great Western Railway, the locomotives were given numbers by their new owners but continued to carry their names too.
Six similar locomotives were built for the Vale of Neath Railway
Vale of Neath Railway 4-4-0ST locomotives
The nine Vale of Neath Railway 4-4-0ST locomotives were broad gauge 4-4-0 saddle tank steam locomotives. The first entered service in 1851 and the last was withdrawn in 1872...
by Robert Stephenson and Company
Robert Stephenson and Company
Robert Stephenson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company founded in 1823. It was the first company set up specifically to build railway engines.- Foundation and early success :...
in 1851. Some of these could be found working on the South Devon lines after the 1876 amalgamation.
Locomotives
- Aurora (1852 – 1878) GWR no. 2099
- Built by Longridge and CompanyR. B. Longridge and CompanyR. B. Longridge and Company was established in 1785 at Bedlington, Northumberland, England. Its proprietor was Michael Longridge who also managed Robert Stephenson's works during the latter's absence abroad...
. Named after the goddess AuroraAurora (mythology)Aurora is the Latin word for dawn, the goddess of dawn in Roman mythology and Latin poetry.Like Greek Eos and Rigvedic Ushas , Aurora continues the name of an earlier Indo-European dawn goddess, *Hausos....
.- Comet (1851 – 1884) GWR no. 2096
- Built by Longridge and Company. On 1 August 1853 it was working an express train when it collided with Ixion which had passed a danger signal at Rattery, DevonRatteryRattery is a village and civil parish in Devon, England, a few miles from Buckfastleigh, Ashburton, and Dartington. The name is often interpreted as a variant of "Red Tree" and is listed in the Domesday Book as Ratreu....
. - The name CometCometA comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
represents a heavenly body, and was reused on a Leopard classSouth Devon Railway Leopard classThe Leopard class were four 4-4-0 saddle tank broad gauge designed for passenger trains but were also used on goods trains when required. They were built by the Avonside Engine Company for the South Devon Railway, but also operated on its associated railways...
locomotive built in 1875.- Damon (1852 – 1876) GWR no. 2101
- Built by the Haigh FoundryHaigh FoundryThe Haigh Foundry was leased in 1835 by E.Evans and T.C.Ryley in Haigh, Lancashire. It had initially been established in the Douglas Valley, in Haigh, circa 1790 by Alexander Lindsay, 6th Earl of Balcarres and his brother Robert as an ironworks and foundry...
, it was named after Damon, a Greek mythological character.- Falcon (1852 – 1878) GWR no. 2102
- Built by the Haigh Foundry. On 13 September 1866 Falcon was working the mail train when it failed to stop at the signal at Plympton so it collided with BrutusSouth Devon Railway Dido classThe eight Dido class locomotives were 0-6-0 saddle tank broad gauge locomotives operated on the South Devon Railway and Cornwall Railway and associated other adjacent railways...
which ran away to PlymouthPlymouth Millbay railway stationPlymouth Millbay railway station was the original railway terminus in Plymouth, Devon, England. It was used for passenger trains from 1849 to 1941.- History :...
. It was named after a bird, the falconFalconA falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....
.- Ixion (1853 – 1878) GWR no. 2105
- Built by Stothert and SlaughterAvonside Engine CompanyThe Avonside Engine Company was a locomotive manufacturer in Avon Street, St. Philip's, Bristol, England between 1864 and 1934. However the business originated with an earlier enterprise Henry Stothert and Company.-Origins:...
. On 1 August 1853 Ixion was working a goods train from ExeterExeter St Davids railway stationExeter St Davids station is the most important of seven National Rail stations in the city of Exeter in southwest England. Today the station is owned by Network Rail and operated by First Great Western.-History:...
to PlymouthPlymouth Millbay railway stationPlymouth Millbay railway station was the original railway terminus in Plymouth, Devon, England. It was used for passenger trains from 1849 to 1941.- History :...
. At Rattery the driver ignored a danger signal and collided with a mail train while shunting. Ixion was badly damaged and was out of use for many months, despite having seen less than five month's work at the time. Named after IxionIxionIn Greek mythology, Ixion was king of the Lapiths, the most ancient tribe of Thessaly, and a son of Ares, or Leonteus, or Antion and Perimele, or the notorious evildoer Phlegyas, whose name connotes "fiery". Peirithoös was his son...
from Greek mythology.- Lance (1851 – 1873)
- Built by Longridge and Company. Lance was written off after it was involved in a head-on collision with another train near Menheniot railway stationMenheniot railway stationMenheniot railway station serves the village of Menheniot in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The station is operated by First Great Western.- History :The station opened with the Cornwall Railway on 4 May 1859...
on the Cornwall RailwayCornwall RailwayThe Cornwall Railway was a broad gauge railway from Plymouth in Devon to Falmouth in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The section from Plymouth to Truro opened in 1859, the extension to Falmouth in 1863...
on 2 December 1873. At the time it was providing front-end assistance to a heavy goods train. The name LanceLanceA Lance is a pole weapon or spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior. The lance is longer, stout and heavier than an infantry spear, and unsuited for throwing, or for rapid thrusting. Lances did not have tips designed to intentionally break off or bend, unlike many throwing weapons of the...
means a projectile, and was reused on a Leopard classSouth Devon Railway Leopard classThe Leopard class were four 4-4-0 saddle tank broad gauge designed for passenger trains but were also used on goods trains when required. They were built by the Avonside Engine Company for the South Devon Railway, but also operated on its associated railways...
locomotive built in 1875.- Meteor (1851 – 1881) GWR no. 2098
- Built by Longridge and Company, Meteor was named after a heavenly body, a MeteorMETEORMETEOR is a metric for the evaluation of machine translation output. The metric is based on the harmonic mean of unigram precision and recall, with recall weighted higher than precision...
.- Orion (1853 – 1878) GWR no. 2103
- Built by the Haigh Foundry. Named after OrionOrion (mythology)Orion was a giant huntsman in Greek mythology whom Zeus placed among the stars as the constellation of Orion....
, a Greek Titan.- Osiris (1853 – 1873)
- Built by Stothert and Slaughter. On 31 October 1853 it was approaching Totnes railway stationTotnes railway stationTotnes railway station serves the towns of Totnes and Dartington in Devon, England. It is situated on the Exeter to Plymouth line and is operated by First Great Western...
with a passenger train when it was hit by a goods train which had been unable to stop after descending the incline from RatteryRatteryRattery is a village and civil parish in Devon, England, a few miles from Buckfastleigh, Ashburton, and Dartington. The name is often interpreted as a variant of "Red Tree" and is listed in the Domesday Book as Ratreu....
. After withdrawal, Osiris was taken to PortreathPortreathPortreath is a civil parish, village and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is situated approximately three miles northwest of Redruth....
where it provided steam for the stationary engine that powered the cable railwayCable railwayA cable railway is a steeply graded railway that uses a cable or rope to haul trains.-Introduction:...
which raised wagons from the harbour up to the West Cornwall RailwayWest Cornwall RailwayThe West Cornwall Railway was a railway company in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, formed in 1846 to operate the existing Hayle Railway between Hayle and Redruth and extend the railway to Penzance and Truro....
line. - Named after OsirisOsirisOsiris is an Egyptian god, usually identified as the god of the afterlife, the underworld and the dead. He is classically depicted as a green-skinned man with a pharaoh's beard, partially mummy-wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive crown with two large ostrich feathers at either side, and...
, the Egyptian god of death, the name was reused on a Leopard class 4-4-0STSouth Devon Railway Leopard classThe Leopard class were four 4-4-0 saddle tank broad gauge designed for passenger trains but were also used on goods trains when required. They were built by the Avonside Engine Company for the South Devon Railway, but also operated on its associated railways...
.- Ostrich (1852 – 1877) GWR no. 2104
- Built by Fairbairn and SonsWilliam Fairbairn & SonsWilliam Fairbairn and Sons, was an engineering works in Manchester, England.-History:William Fairbairn opened an iron foundry in 1816 and was joined the following year by a Mr. Lillie, and the firm became known as Fairbairn and Lillie Engine Makers, producing iron steamboats.Their foundry and...
, Ostrich was named after a large African bird, the OstrichOstrichThe Ostrich is one or two species of large flightless birds native to Africa, the only living member of the genus Struthio. Some analyses indicate that the Somali Ostrich may be better considered a full species apart from the Common Ostrich, but most taxonomists consider it to be a...
.- Priam (1851 – 1876) GWR no. 2100
- Built by the Haigh Foundry, it was named after PriamPriamPriam was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and youngest son of Laomedon. Modern scholars derive his name from the Luwian compound Priimuua, which means "exceptionally courageous".- Marriage and issue :...
, the king of Troy.- Rocket (1851 – 1877) GWR no. 2097
- Built by Longridge and Company, it was named after a projectile, a rocketRocketA rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
.