Barry Railway Class L

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Barry Railway Class L
BR → GWR
Delivered	1914
Withdrawn	1926
Disposition	All scrapped

Barry Railway Class L were

from Rhymney and New Tredegar on the Brecon and Merthyr, from Rogerstone Yard on the Great Western and from Neath Junction, also on the Great Western. They were also to be seen occasionally pulling the suburban service to Cardiff.

Design fault

One characteristic of the locomotive was a design fault that caused it to derail. The problem would only occur when the locomotive was travelling smokebox-first over facing hand-operated

which could be found on facing points on the main line. At its worst, the result could be derailment, one example being that of No 147 which when entering Barry Sidings with a coal train from Coity, ended up on its side. Less severe but nonetheless serious damage could also be sustained. If the balancing pipe between the side and bunker tanks became fractured, the tanks would lose water rapidly, and the fire would have to be dropped to prevent a boiler explosion. In practical terms, the crews would usually solve the problem by having the fireman hold on to the point lever while the driver took the locomotive through the point extremely slowly. Several engineering solutions were attempted both on the locomotive and on the track to overcome the problem, but never fully successfully.

Withdrawal

The locomotives passed to the

ownership and none have been preserved.

Numbering

Year	Quantity	Manufacturer	Serial numbers	Barry numbers	GWR numbers	Notes
1914	10	Hawthorn Leslie	3038–3047	139–148	1347–1355, 1357

References

• The Barry Railway (reprint with addenda and amendments), Barrie, DSM, Oakwood Press (1983), pp199–200
  ISBN 0853612366
• Rails to Prosperity – The Barry & After 1884–1984, Miller, Brian J, Regional Publications (Bristol) Ltd (1984), p19
  ISBN 0906570174
• The Barry Railway – Diagrams and Photographs of Locomotives, Coaches and Wagons, Mountford Eric, R, Oakwood Press Headington (1987), p19
  ISBN 0853613559
• The Vale of Glamorgan Railway, Chapman, Colin, Oakwood Press Usk (1998),
  ISBN 0853615233
• The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway – Part Ten, Absorbed Engines, 1922–1947, Reed, P.J.T. et al,
  The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society
  (1966) pp K48-K49
• Great Western Absorbed Engines, Russell, JH, Oxford Publishing Company (1978), pp 47–48 SBN: 902888749