1387 as originally built by Avonside. Sister engine to "Trojan."
GWR 1340 "Trojan" as preserved.
The Avonside SS 0-4-0ST is a model of 0-4-0 saddle-tank steam locomotive built by the Avonside Engine Company. Only two of this class was ever built, their work numbers were Avonside 1386 and 1387. Despite their designation as 'SS', 1386 and 1387 were not even true members of their class. Their cylinders came off the standard 'B4' type, and their frames and saddle tanks were 'special' orders. Even 1386 and 1387 had differences of their own, specifically regarding the boiler feed arrangement. 1387 was fitted with two Giffard No. 5 injectors whilst 1386 had one injector and a crosshead feed pump.
Avonside 1386 was sold to Messrs. Dunn & Shute of Newport to work the docks there, where 1387 was purchased by J. & G. Joicey & Co. Ltd. to service Handen Hold Colliery. 1387 was later purchased by the Alexandra (Newport & South Wales) Docks & Railway Company in 1903, which was taken over by the Great Western Railway in 1922. He was numbered 1340 and named "Trojan." Trojan ran in GWR service until 1932 and was sold to the Victoria Colliery Company two years later. She would go jumping around from colliery to colliery till finally being saved for preservation in 1946. 1340 "Trojan" now resides at the Didcot Railway Center in the UK.
As for 1386, sadly she was cut up in the 30's. She also gained a name, "Whitehall," and carried a Joyce plate with the number 457.[1]
Trivia[]
- Contrary to popular belief, the SS Class was *not* a GWR-associated design. Avonside made several generic locomotive designs for use on several railways all across the world, and the SS Class was no exception! "Trojan" himself was a non-standard locomotive on GWR records inherited through the purchase of the Alexandra Docks Railway, only a few modifications from her original Avonside design were made.
- The only other known Avonsides owned by the GWR were B4 0-6-0ST's acquired through the Burry Port & Gwendreath Valley Railway.