The Penrhyn Port Class is a class of three

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

built for the

Penrhyn Quarry Railway The Penrhyn Quarry Railway was a narrow-gauge railway in Caernarfonshire (now Gwynedd), Wales. It served the Penrhyn quarry near Bethesda, Gwynedd, Bethesda, taking their slate produce to Port Penrhyn, near Bangor, Gwynedd, Bangor. The railway w ...

(PQR). These locomotives were built by the

Hunslet Engine Company The Hunslet Engine Company is a locomotive building company, founded in 1864 in Hunslet, England. It manufactured steam locomotives for over 100 years and currently manufactures Diesel engine, diesel Switcher, shunting locomotives. The company ...

between 1883 and 1885 and supplied specifically to work at

Port Penrhyn Port Penrhyn () is a harbour located just east of Bangor in north Wales at the confluence of the River Cegin with the Menai Strait. It was formerly of great importance as the main port for the export of slate Slate is a fine-grained, foli ...

near Bangor, north Wales. They were a variant of the standard Dinorwic Alice Class design.

History

The three locomotives of this class were ordered by the Penrhyn Quarry Railway to replace two vertical boilered

De Winton De Winton & Co (1854–1901) were engineers in Caernarfon, Wales. They built, amongst other things, vertical boilered narrow gauge locomotives for use in Welsh slate mines and other industrial settings. At least six De Winton locomotives have ...

locomotives. The first pair, ''Gwynedd'' and ''Lilian'' were delivered in 1883 and the final locomotive of the class, ''Winifred'' was delivered in 1885. ''Winifred'' worked until July 1964, ''Gwynedd'' until August 1954, and ''Lilian'' until August 1956.

Preservation

All three engines are preserved. ''Gwynedd'' is preserved at the

Bressingham Steam Museum Bressingham Steam & Gardens is a steam museum and gardens located at Bressingham (adjacent to a garden centre), west of Diss, Norfolk, Diss in Norfolk, England. The site has several narrow gauge rail lines and a number of types of steam engines ...

, ''Lilian'' at the

Launceston Steam Railway The Launceston Steam Railway is a gauge narrow gauge railway, in Cornwall, England. The long railway runs from Launceston, Cornwall, Launceston to Newmills, where there is a farm park. It is built on the trackbed of the former standard gauge ...

and ''Winifred'' spent many years in private ownership in the United States before returning to the UK in 2012 to work at the

Bala Lake Railway The Bala Lake Railway ( Welsh: ''Rheilffordd Llyn Tegid'') is a narrow-gauge railway along the southern shore of Bala Lake in Gwynedd, North Wales. The line, which is long, is built on a section of the former standard-gauge Ruabon–Barmouth ...

References

{{reflist 0-4-0ST locomotives Hunslet locomotives Hunslet narrow-gauge locomotives Preserved narrow-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain Railway locomotives introduced in 1883 Industrial locomotives of Great Britain Narrow-gauge locomotives of the United Kingdom