GWR 1366 Class

They were a useful design and because of their light weight and short wheelbase and were often used on dockside branches or other lines with sharp curvatures.

1371 was originally sent to Llanelly [sic][2] but when they were taken over by British Railways Western Region in 1948 three of the six had been reallocated to Weymouth for use on the docks there.

[5] With the move from steam to diesel the first of the class to be withdrawn was 1370 which was withdrawn from Weymouth shed in January 1960[2] followed by 1371 from Swindon shed in November of that year[2] and then 1366 from Taunton the following February.

1369 was sent via Yeovil[6] to Wadebridge and after successful clearance trials had taken place numbers 1367 and 1368 followed,[7] the locomotives being used to replace the Beattie Well Tanks that had run over the Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway to Wenfordbridge for the previous 87 years.

The final locomotive, 1369, left Wadebridge under its own steam for the Dart Valley Railway on 20 February being the last operational British Railways steam locomotive to be based in Cornwall.

The preserved 1369, seen at Buckfastleigh on the South Devon Railway in 2021.