Spa Valley Railway

Spa Valley Railway, West Station, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN2 5QY
Telephone: 01892 537715
Email: enquiriesatspavalleyrailway.co.uk
(Please replace at with the '@' symbol)

(Photo © T. Christian)

GWR 66XX "Taffy Tank" No. 6695

GWR 0-6-02T No. 6695, Built October 1928,
Wheel Arrangement - 0-6-2T
Armstrong Whitworth, Newcastle, England
Power Classification - D - GWR Classification, 5MT - BR Classification
Driving Wheel Diameter - 4ft 7in
Cylinders - 17½in x 24in
Stephenson valve gear
Nominal Tractive Effort - 25,800lbs at 85%
Weight in working order - 68 tons
Boiler Pressure - 200 PSI
Coal Capacity - 3.75 tons
Water Capacity - 1900 Gallons
Route Availability - Red

The class were developed from an 0-6-2 design that existed in South Wales when the railways were absorbed into the Great Western Railway in 1923. The 56XX class was developed in 1924 to replace engines which were severely run down and in need of replacement. The design required a lot of track adhesion rather than speed and so the new engines incorporated small diameter wheels with most of the locomotive's weight being distributed over the driving wheels.

6695 was out-shopped from Armstrong Whitworth's Newcastle works in October 1928 and initially was deployed to Tysley and later Leamington Spa, where it was used to haul suburban passenger trains around Birmingham.

From here the engine moved to freight only work around Wolverhampton in September 1934. When war broke out in 1939, the engine was transferred to work trains in Wales, which is where it spent the rest of its life, until withdrawal on 4th July 1964. It was sold for scrap a month later on 24th August.

The engine was saved from Woodham's Scrapyard in Barry, from where it was preserved by the 5600 Tank Fund in 1978. In May 1979, the engine departed Barry for the Swanage Railway, Dorset. In 1995, the 6695 Locomotive Group was formed to oversee the restoration of the locomotive, which was begun in 1996 at the railway's Herston Works.

In late August 2005, 6695 was transferred to the Swanage Railway, where it saw a return to steam in the September and after a series of trials, the engine returned to traffic in February 2006. Since then the engine has seen intensive service at the Swanage, as well as seeing the occasional visit away to other preserved railways, including the Spa Valley in September 2007, where it lined up alongside Pannier 9466 and our own Jinty 47493.

Livery - Brunswick Green with large BR logo.

Current Status - Visited in September 2007

Return to Stock List