Lynton & Barnstaple 2-4-2 Locomotives in Great_Britain

Class Lyn (Locobase 7623)

Data from []; and DeGolyer, Volume 21, p. 202. See also Southern Railway E-Mail Group's at -- [], first accessed 3 July 2006 (later [], last accessed 11 July 2021.) Works number was 15965 in 1899.

As the L&B prepared to open its line in North Devon in 1898, it realized that the three Manning Wardle 2-6-2Ts then under construction (Locobase 7624) wouldn't be sufficient to handle expected traffic. British builders were struggling with the effects of a lockout of workers who were demanding an eight-hour workday; that contest was settled temporarily in January 1898.

As did other British railways, the L &B turned to a US supplier - in this case Baldwin -- for a little double-ender tank. Its power dimensions and boiler were essentially identical to the three MWs, but it weighed 5 1/4 long tons less. It had a fully enclosed cab and sand domes on either side of the steam dome.

The SEMG notes the Lyn as part of the Southern Railway's acquisition in 1923. Perhaps not surprisingly, "This locomotive, with its American style and manners, was named Lyn but was never fully accepted by the drivers and fitters who looked on it with some suspicion and treated it warily, despite better handling on the tight radii curves due to the shorter wheelbase!"

Unlike most other US locomotives in Britain, the Lyn enjoyed a relatively long career and made its last run in September 1935 when the entire line was sold for dismantling. Lyn was scrapped the following December.