The Taff Vale Railway U and U1 classes were 0-6-2T steam tank locomotive operated by Taff Vale Railway, Wales, from 1895. All were still in use when the Taff Vale Railway was acquired by the Great Western Railway in 1922 but were withdrawn from traffic between 1927 and 1931.

Overview

Tom Hurry Riches, the Taff Vale Railway's Locomotive Superintendent brought out 2 similar classes, the U and the U1 for working passenger trains, both 0-6-2Ts. The only difference between the U and U1 class was in the radial wheels which were 3 ft 8+34 in (1.137 m) in the former and 3 ft 1 in (0.940 m) in the latter.

The boilers were identical with those fitted on the N, O and O1 classes but worked at the design pressure of 160 pounds-force per square inch (1.10 MPa), the mixed traffic engines being worked at 150 psi (1.03 MPa), or occasionally 140 psi (0.97 MPa). The main differences from the mixed traffic engines were larger diameter driving wheels, a longer wheelbase and replacing the usual four bar motion with single bar.

Accidents and incidents

  • On 23 January 1911 locomotive No. 193 was hauling a passenger train which was in a rear-end collision with a freight train at Hopkinstown, Glamorgan. Eleven people were killed and five were injured.[1]

Numbering

Year Quantity Manufacturer Serial Numbers TVR Numbers GWR Numbers Notes
1895 8 Vulcan Foundry 1437–1444 191–194, 23, 72, 76 and 77 593, 595–597, 587, 589–591 U class
1896 7 Vulcan Foundry 1458–1464 30, 40, 79, 195–198 602, 588, 592, 598, 599, 603, 600 U1 class

See also

References

  1. ^ Hoole, Ken (1983). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 4. Redruth: Atlantic Books. p. 29. ISBN 0-906899-07-9.
Source
  • Casserley, H. C. & Johnston, Stuart W. (1966). Locomotives at the Grouping 4: Great Western Railway. Shepperton, Middlesex: Ian Allan Limited. p. 80.
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