Spa Valley Railway

Spa Valley Railway, West Station, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN2 5QY
Telephone: 01892 537715
Email enquiries@spavalleyrailway.co.uk

(Photo ©M. Dives)

LB&SCR A1X Terrier No. 662 Martello

Dimensions as rebuilt to A1X Class.
LB&SCR A1X 'Terrier' 0-6-0T Built 1875,
Brighton Works, England
Wheel Diameter - 4ft 0in
Length - 26ft 0½in (12ft wheelbase)
Cylinders - 14in x 20in
Inside Stephenson valve gear
Tractive Effort - 7,650lbs at 85% boiler pressure
Weight in working order - 28 tons 5cwts
Boiler Pressure - 150 PSI

Emerging as No. 62 from Brighton Works in 1875, Martello was allocated to New Cross shed where it operated in the South East area of London. Despite being superseded by bigger locomotives, Martello stayed at New Cross until the mid 1890s, where it moved to the Wimbledon branch. In 1909, the engine received 14inch cylinders and had all the condensing apparatus removed. In 1912, the engine was converted to an A1X and later sent to Littlehampton shed.

When taken over by the Southern Railway, all LB&SCR engines were given the letter B in front of their numbers. This occurred when Martello was shedded at our very own Tunbridge Wells West shed. It then moved onto Fratton shed and a spell working on the Hayling Island branch. In 1931, it became 2662 before another number change to 32662, when it was overhauled at Brighton in 1949.

After overhaul, Martello saw another period of service at Fratton before leading a nomadic existence at various locations across the South East, including the Kent and East Sussex branch. In 1963, the loco returned to Fratton, to operate the Hayling Island branch where it was one of three Terriers to work the branch on its final day, on 2nd November 1963. Shortly after, Martello was withdrawn, having run 1,505,955 miles in its life.

The engine was then overhauled at Eastleigh and purchased for static display at Butlins Holiday Camp at Ayr, where it arrived in October 1964. In 1971, Martello moved to Bressingham and was returned to working order in 1975, the year of its centenary. Martello was then sold to the museum in 1992. In late 2003, the decision was taken to overhaul the Terrier again, to celebrate the refurbishment of the museum's demonstration line. The engine was completely stripped down with work centring on the boiler, which received new platework and a new tubeplate, which was completed in late 2004. The rest of the overhaul was completed in August 2005 and Martello steamed for its 130th birthday in the August.

Since then, Martello has visited a number of railways including the North Norfolk, Kent and East Sussex, Lavender Line, and visited the Bluebell in November 2006, for its Terrier Gala, which saw 5 Terriers in operation together.

Chances are that both Martello and our own Terrier Sutton, met at numerous times throughout their careers, especially on the Hayling Island branch, which Sutton worked for many years.

Martello visited the railway in June and July 2006 when it proved itself quite capable of hauling three Mark 1 coaches and helped out the locomotive fleet at the time. Its visit culminated in a days operation with resident Jinty, which had returned to traffic that day. The engine made another successful visit in June and July 2007.

Livery - Marsh Brown and Umber with 'LBSC' Lettering

Current Status - Visited from June to July 2006 and 2007

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