Sierra Leone Government 2-6-2 Locomotives in Sierra_Leone

Class 21 (Locobase 6043)

See [] (23 May 2004) for data. Works numbers were 673-675 (departed Hunslet in June 1898), 709-710 in January 1900 and 744-745 in April 1901.

Geoffrey Horsman describes these as the first of a total of 32 locomotives built for the SLR over a 56-year period. Although the others (Locobase 6042) had larger boilers, they were in many respects very similar. All of the Hunslets had Belpaire fireboxes,

Class 28 and 81 (Locobase 6042)

Data from [] (23 May 2004). Geoffrey Horsman wrote that this class was built for the SLR over a period of 51 years and changed very little. (North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway's Russell, Locobase 4822, is another of the same class.). See also "No. 14, ex Sierra Leone Railway No.85." on the Welsh & Llanfair Light Railway website at, [], last accessed 4 March 2021.

The principal difference between #28 (Hunslet #800) and the seven that preceded it was the larger-diameter boiler and greater fuel and water capacity; they all had Belpaire fireboxes. 29-36 were identical (801-803, 826, 834-837) and were sent off between February 1903 and February 1904.

Five years later came 37-41 (1011-1014, 1081), which left the works in October 1909 (first 4) and September 1911. Except for some tweaks they were identical to the earlier batch, as were 42-47 (1145, 1202-1204, 1409-1411) except for having fixed spring gear. 42 was shipped in December 1913, the others in November and December 1919, January 1920, and two in November 1921.

Now we jump ahead 27 years to the next three. These had Ross "pop" safety valves, automatic lubricator, still larger tanks and bunkers (3398-3400, delivered June and July 1947). And the last two came 7 years later (3814-3815) and had roller bearings on the pony trucks. By that time weight had grown to 50,288 lb, in part because of the 1.1 short tons of coal and the 564 US gallons of water on board.

When the SLGR closed in 1974, the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway accepted the SLGR's offer to take the 85 and some coaches. The W&LLR's website description of the 14 underscores its considerable value to the railway: " The leading and trailing trucks, together with a short fixed wheelbase enable it to negotiate the line's sharp curves without difficulty, and it has been a superb performer on the W&L since it first entered traffic here in 1978. "

s. 85 took W&LLR 14, was restored to steaming service in 1977 and ran until 2010. Withdrawn and placed on display at Llanfair , the 14 still awaited a new boiler and an overhaul in 2021.