South Devon Railway locomotive Taurus

Taurus was an 0-6-0 saddle tank broad gauge locomotive operated by the South Devon Railway.

Taurus
Type and origin
Power typeSteam
BuilderAvonside Engine Company
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • Whyte0-6-0ST
Gauge7 ft (2,134 mm)
Driver dia.3 ft 0 in (0.91 m)
Wheelbase12 ft 0 in (3.66 m)
Cylinder size12 1⁄2 in × 16 in (320 mm × 410 mm)
Career
OperatorsSouth Devon Railway,
Great Western Railway
ClassTaurus

It was a very different locomotive to all the other 0-6-0s used on the South Devon Railway. It was much smaller and was normally used on one of the branches, where it would regularly work passenger trains, or on the dockside lines in the Plymouth area. It was built by the Avonside Engine Company and was a saddle tank similar to 2-4-0 Prince.

On 1 February 1876 the South Devon Railway was amalgamated with the Great Western Railway, all its locomotives were given numbers by their new owners but continued to carry their names too. After the gauge conversion on 21 May 1892Taurus was unused for a while but in 1894 it was converted to standard gauge and worked in this form as no. 1326 until 1905.

Locomotive
  • Taurus (1869 – 1892) GWR no. 2170
The name comes from the Greek word for bull and represents a constellation. See Taurus (constellation).

References
  • Reed, P.J.T. (February 1953). White, D.E. (ed.). The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway, Part 2: Broad Gauge. Kenilworth: The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society. ISBN 0-901115-32-0. OCLC 650490992.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Beck, Keith; Copsey, John (1990). The Great Western in South Devon. Didcot: Wild Swan Publications. ISBN 0-906867-90-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Gregory, R H (1982). The South Devon Railway. Salisbury: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-286-2.
  • Waters, Laurence (1999). The Great Western Broad Gauge. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 0-7110-2634-3.
  • Railway company records at The National Archives
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