GDAWR №2
Grand-Duchess Alexandra Western Railway №2 was an 0-4-2 tender engine built in 1876 by Sharp, Stewart & Co. of Manchester, England.
№2 was one of three 0-4-2 tender engines purchased by the GDAWR from Sharp, Stewart for the opening of the railway and were of a standard, mixed traffic design. The trio arrived at Dolbury in April 1876 and ran test trains for two weeks before the railway opened, №2 hauled the Mayor of Carswell's saloon as part of her train. She was used thereafter as the primary goods engine as she was the stronger of the trio of 0-4-2s. By 1885, however, №2 was relegated to local trains as three stronger locomotives had arrived to replace the near decade old 0-4-2s. №s 1 & 3 were sent to the northern division sheds whereas №2 was kept in the south to run the mixed trains from Dolbury and the occasional through goods train to the junction station with the South Western Railway at Dalcraig-In-Cotesbury.
In 1889, №2 was one of three engines that were used to construct the line to the city of Attledon which she was later allocated to along with the newly arrived №s 10 & 11. For this she was temporarily loaned to the contractor () to use along with two of their own locomotives. She was used to bring ballast, rails and building materials to where they were needed while the two E. B. Wilson - built tank engines owned by the contractor were used to shunt the wagons into the temporary sidings for storage. After construction was finished №2 was the primary goods engine on the line while №s 10 & 11 were used on passenger trains. №2 would rarely venture outside of her new line, only leaving for repairs and maintainance. It was while on this line, she would be involved in a crash after a horse and cart passed over a level crossing while she was approaching at speed.
In 1916, №2 was dismantled for use as a spare parts donor to keep the other two 0-4-2s in operational condition. Her boiler was fitted to №1 in 1917 and parts of her frames were combined with №3's after an accident in late 1918 which left №3 with bent frames. №2's remains were broken down on site in February 1919 and were transported to a scrap yard by rail. №2's tender was converted to a fuel tanker to transport fuel for the petrol donkey engine that operated the winch system at Eastbridge Ironstone Quarry. Her tender now survives in this modified condition at the Whitchurch & Longwood Preserved Railway.
Sharp, Stewart & Co., Manchester, England
Works №: 2601/1876
Works №: 2601/1876
Creation Date
1876
Decommission Date
1916
Destruction Date
1918 (remains scrapped)
Owning Organization
Comments