South Devon Railway Buffalo class

Infobox Locomotive
name="Buffalo"
powertype=Steam
whytetype=0-6-0ST
driversize=4 ft 9 in
wheelbase=15 ft 5 in
cylindersize=17 in dia × 24 in stroke
railroad=South Devon Railway,
Great Western Railway
railroadclass=Buffalo
gauge=7 ft 0¼ in
builder=Avonside Engine Company

The ten Buffalo class locomotives were 0-6-0 saddle tank broad gauge locomotives operated on the South Devon Railway, Cornwall Railway and West Cornwall Railway. They were designed for goods trains but were also used on passenger trains when required.

These locomotives were built by the Avonside Engine Company and designed for easy conversion to standard gauge after the broad gauge was converted on 21 May 1892.

The locomotives of the three railways were operated as a combined fleet by the South Devon Railway but each was accounted to the railway that ordered it. 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.

Locomotives

outh Devon Railway

* "Achilles" (1873 - 1892) GWR no. 2165:Converted to standard gauge and worked in this form as no. 1324 until 1905 when it was sold to the South Wales Mineral Railway and became their no. 7, later returning to the Great Western Railway and running as no. 818 until finally withdrawn in 1932. The locomotive was named after Achilles, a Greek hero.
* "Buffalo" (1872 - 1892) GWR no. 2160:This locomotive was converted to standard gauge and worked in this form as no. 1320. It was named after an animal, the buffalo.
* "Camel" (1872 - 1892) GWR no. 2162:This locomotive was converted to standard gauge and worked in this form as no. 1322. It was named after an animal, the camel.
* "Dromedary" (1873 - 1892) GWR no. 2166:This locomotive was converted to standard gauge and worked in this form as no. 1325. It was named after a species of camel, the dromedary.
* "Elephant" (1872 - 1892) GWR no. 2161:This locomotive was converted to standard gauge and worked in this form as no. 1321. It was named after an animal, the elephant.
* "Python" (1874 - 1892) GWR no. 2168:Converted to standard gauge and worked in this form as no. 1318. Rather than being named after a snake, "Python" was named after the Greek mythological creature, the Python.
* "Vulcan" (1874 - 1892) GWR no. 2169:"Vulcan" worked the last train on the Falmouth branch on 20 May 1892 before it was converted to standard gauge. The locomotive itself was also converted to standard gauge and worked in this form as no. 1319. The locomotive was named after Vulcan, a Roman god.

Cornwall Railway

* "Dragon" (1873 - 1892) GWR no. 2164:Converted to standard gauge and worked in this form as no. 1323. The locomotive was named after the dragon, a kind of mythological animal.
* "Emperor" (1873 - 1892) GWR no. 2167:Converted to standard gauge and worked in this form as no. 1317 until 1905 when it was sold to the South Wales Mineral Railway and became their no. 6, later returning to the Great Western Railway and running as no. 817 until finally withdrawn in 1926. "For other uses of the name, see Emperor (disambiguation)."
* "Hercules" (1872 - 1889) GWR no. 2163:The locomotive was named after Hercules, a Roman hero.

References

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* Railway company records at The National Archives