RH&DR No. 6 Samson

No.6 Samson
No.6 Samson preparing for service in May 2022.
Overview -
Propulsion:	Steam
Loco Type:	Tender Engine
Gauge:	15 in
History -
Name:	Samson
Designer:	Henry Greenly
Livery:	Caledonian Blue
Former Liveries:	Prussian Blue
Sibling Locomotives:	No.5 Hercules
Manufacturing Details:
Builder:	Davey Paxman & Co.
(b/n) Builder's No.	16042
Build Date:	1927
Service:
Operator:	Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway Co.
Railway:	Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway (RH&DR)
No.	6
Years in Operation:	1927 - Current
Disposition:	Operational
Wheel Arrangement:
Whyte Notation:	4-8-2+T
Axle No.	7
Cylinders:
Cylinders (Bore & Stroke):	5.25 in x 8.5 in
Operation:
Total Weight:	8 Tons.
Dimensions:
Total Length:	7620mm (25 ft.)

Samson is a blue 4-8-2 freelance "Mountain" type tender steam locomotive.

History

Samson was built in 1927 by the Davey Paxman company and delivered to the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch railway on the 20th of July in 1927 along with No.5 Hercules. From 1931 to 1946, Samson was stored (practically abandoned) at New Romney after the ballast traffic failed to materialize and was used for spare parts. To a point in which after the second world war Samson was derelict but was sent to Hove, Sussex (near Brighton) to be rebuilt and from 1955 operated with a lined black livery.

Then in 1961, Samson received as super-heated boiler. On the 6th of August in 1973, Samson struck a stolen car at St. Mary's crossing with the driver of Samson, Peter Hobson being killed and Samson badly damaged and sent to Leeds, Yorkshire for repairs, it was the first incident in which a driver of the engine was killed at a level crossing. In 1984, Samson was used at a Garden Festival in Liverpool and in 1989, Samson was repainted into Prussian Blue inspired by the Great Eastern Railway blue. Her 2018 major overhaul saw her emerge in Caledonian Blue and loose her smoke deflectors and her classic red piston rods. Samson is currently operational and is using an American Crosby Chime whistle while wearing a Prussian blue livery resembling that worn on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway.

Trivia

• Samson is one of the only locomotives, part of the RH&DR fleet to have been used for spares at one point in it's life time.
• Samson has been out of service the longest out of all RH&DR locomotives apart from The Bug.
• Samson is the fifth RH&DR locomotive to visit the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway.

Gallery