The Locomotives of the Pembroke & Tenby Railway.

by Graham Davies

The centenary of the take-over of the Pembroke & Tenby Railway by the Great Western Railway occurs on 1st July 1996 when the former company was leased to the latter, 12 months later, the Great Western absorbed the little company through an Act of Amalgamation.

The Pembroke & Tenby Railway handed over seven locomotives, of which all were allocated GWR running Nos., and a stationary engine. With the exception of two locomotives, which were former GWR engines, the remainder were supplied by Sharp, Stewart & Co., of Manchester.

The Pembroke & Tenby owed its beginnings to the South Wales Railway which promoted a branch to Pembroke under its initial Act of 1845 but failed to construct it even after several attempts to do so including extra Acts obtaining powers to re-route the line etc. The local populace had enough when the final Acts of the South Wales were rejected by the Houses, one in each House, and set about forming their own company called the 'South Wales, Pembroke & Tenby Junction Railway' which received its Act on 21st July 1859. The Act authorised the railway to have a Capitol of £80,000 and borrowing powers to one third of its Capitol, £26,600. By October 1859 less than £7,000 had been subscribed to the new venture and by January 1862 the Capitol had not increased significantly to warrant the construction of the line. However, at that time, David Davies was nearing the end of a construction and was looking for further work. William Owen the chairman of the Pembroke company approached Davies and they came to an agreement that Davies and his partner, Ezra Roberts, of Wrexham, would construct the railway and operate it for a period of five years and accept shares as payment, the contract being signed in June 1862.

Davies & Roberts wasted no time and materials are said to have been landed on the south beach at Tenby by the schooner PEMBROKE in September 1862 and work commenced from the Tenby end almost immediately. The works proceeded at a good rate and was sufficiently complete between Pembroke and Tenby to allow the Railway Inspectorate to be called upon to inspect the line for opening and this was done on 24th July 1863 and the line duly opened on 30th July. The section between Pembroke and Pembroke Dock had some heavy engineering works to be done, the embankment across the upper reaches of the Pembroke river and the 460 yard tunnel through Golden Hill. The tunnel is recorded as being opened through on New Year's Eve 1863 and the first an through was Ezra Roberts. This section was duly inspected when ready and was opened on 8th August 1864, although the local paper, the Haverfordwest & Milford Haven Telegraph carried a timetable giving 11th August for the new timetable.

Davies had already operated several railway that he had constructed and had ordered locomotives from Sharp, Stewart in the past and decided to use them again to supply motive power for the Pembroke line. Two delightful but diminutive 2-2-2Ts were ordered and supplied in time for the opening on 30th July 1863 and these bore the works Nos 1410 and 1411 and named MILFORD and TENBY respectively. He had also taken delivery in October 1861 for another contract, a Manning Wardle 0-6-0ST of class I and named LLANDINAM in honour of his birthplace, and this locomotive was used in the construction of the line.

In September 1864, the Pembroke company obtained another Act, this time to extend its line from Tenby to Whitland and as this line would be more steeply graded, Davies decided to order another Sharp, Stewart, this time a standard goods 0-6-0, taking delivery of OWEN in 1865. As the line progressed towards Whitland, Davies saw the needs for colliery traffic and so entered into an agreement with the owner of Moreton Colliery for a private siding into the mine. This was also the site of the first Saundersfoot station where the line crossed the main Tenby - Narberth road. Coal traffic commenced almost immediately the line was able to do so without the need for an inspection. This section to Whitland was completed and inspected in readiness for its opening on 4th September 1866.

To maintain the ammount of traffic being generated, Davies ordered another Sharp, Stewart, this time in the form of their standard passenger 2-4-0 and took delivery of PEMBROKE in June 1866. Both PEMBROKE and TENBY hauled the first passenger service over the new line on the opening day.

By this time also, the Pembroke company had successfully applied to Parliament for another Act, this to extend their line to Carmarthen, where two other standard gauge lines had arrived by virtue of running powers over the Carmarthen & Cardigan Railway. The two standard gauge lines were the Manchester & Milford, to become an ally of the Pembroke company, and the L&NWR. The Pembroke company played their cards close to their chest because they knew that the GWR could not afford the LNWR accessing their territory, and in doing so, managed to include into the Act an Agreement between the Pembroke and GWR companies that on either giving notice to the other, then on payment of £20,000 by the Pembroke company, the GWR would afford running powers to the Pembroke company.

Traffic was increasing on the Pembroke line and in 1867, Davies ordered another standard goods from Sharp, Stewart and named the locomotive DAVIES. In turn, the Pembroke company gave the GWR notice and paid over the £20,000 for the running powers to Carmarthen. The GWR accepted the money and built the junctions at Whitland and at the point of departure at Carmarthen and then converted the whole of the up line between the two places. The Pembroke company was furious at this as the monies paid over far exceeded the cost of the works done, but, there was nothing in the Agreement that said otherwise. As such, this was the first conversion of the broad gauge to standard gauge on the Great Western and this gave them valuable experience four years later when they converted the whole of the South Wales main line and again in May 1892 when the remainder of the broad gauge met its demise when the route to Penzance was converted.

The first Pembroke company train to converge over the GWR up line was a freight train mainly of lime. Passenger services was not commenced because the Railway Inspectorate refused to pass the line at the Carmarthen end because the line and junction built by the Carmarthen & Cardigan was not up to standard. The Pembroke company came to the rescue in 1869 when they paid for the works to be brought up to the necessary standard for passenger workings.

The Pembroke company had taken over the running of their railway in July 1870 when Davies & Roberts left. Prior to the GWR converting the whole of the South Wales main line in 1872, the Pembroke company decided they needed further motive power and sent Isaac Smedley the Traffic Manager and Richard Metcalfe to an auction held in Llanelly of surplus locomotives being sold by the Llanelly Railway, and although they put in a bid for a Beyer, Peacock 2-4-0 called VICTORIA of £800. this was £400 less than the reserve price and left empty handed. In need of more motive power, the Board decided to order another Sharp, Stewart, again in the form of a standard goods 0-6-0 and called this engine CAMBRIA which arrived on the line in 1872. This was the year that saw the Pembroke company withdraw from running powers over the line to Carmarthen, merely connecting through coaches onto the tail of Great Western trains.

Davies removed his Manning Wardle by 1870 and this locomotive is known to have been sold to the Carmarthen Iron Company later. Thus the Pembroke company settled down with its locomotives until 1883 when they decided it was time for another engine. As relations with the GWR were very cordial it was decided to approach them to see if they had anything suitable. The GWR came back with the class leader of the 1813 class 0-6-0T and this was purchased for £2,000 in 1883, some nine months after being built by the GWR. On the Pembroke line, this engine became HOLMWOOD and in the following year was joined by yet another GWR enginer, again another class leader, this time a 2-4-0 of the 3201 class and on arriving on the Pembroke line became STELLA after the Chairmans wife.

In 1870, it was decided to number the locomotives as well as giving them names and the following details are given:-

In 1885, TENBY broke its driving axle and was put down as a stationary engine at the works in Tenby. CAMBRIA then became TENBY and remained so until she was withdrawn by the GWR.

TENBY, Sharp, Stewart 2-2-2T Works No: 1411/1863.

The Locomotive Magazine.

TENBY was delivered to the Pembroke & Tenby Railway in readiness for the commencement of services over the first section to be opened, from Tenby to Pembroke, on 30th July 1863. The engine had been ordered by Davies, one of the contractors, together with a sister engine called MILFORD. These two locomtives carried a sterling service and in 1885, TENBY broke a driving axle with no replacements being available, the Board decided to make her into a stationary engine for their works at Tenby. When the stock was inspected by the Great Western Railway Inspector, Ludgate, he valued TENBY as being worthless, and on the Great Western taking over the company, scrapped TENBY almost immediately.

The following dimensions of the two engines are known to be correct on their delivery in 1863:-

MILFORD, Sharp, Stewart 2-2-2T Works No: 1410/1863.

L&GRP 15954.

MILFORD was delivered to the Pembroke & Tenby Railway in readiness for the commencement of services over the first section to be opened, from Tenby to Pembroke, on 30th July 1863. The engine had been ordered by Davies, one of the contractors, together with a sister engine called TENBY. These two locomtives carried a sterling service and MILFORD was rebuilt at the company's workshops at Tenby in January 1890 when she received a new boiler and new cylinders of 13" diameter. When the stock was inspected by the Great Western Railway Inspector, Ludgate, he valued MILFORD at £600, and on the Great Western taking over the company, numbered her 1360. MILFORD did not continue long in service, but not withdrawn until June 1901, and sent to Swindon where she remained intact, as a curiosity, until March 1908 when Churchward decided that she must go, together with NORTH STAR and LORD of the ISLES when Swindon was being modernised. Sir O.H.P. Scourfield wrote of these two small engines 'considering their tiny proportions they were perfect marvels as regards speed and hauling power' and also recalled how he had seen one hold her own alongside the GWR broad gauge locomotive BRUNEL on a level stretch near Carmarthen, and that with a relatively heavier train! The following dimensions of the two engines are known to be correct on their delivery in 1863:-

MILFORD had the following dimensions after her rebuilding:-

PEMBROKE Sharp, Stewart 2-4-0 Works No: 1712/1866 (Order No 490).

PEMBROKE was delivered in June 1866 as part of an order (490) for three 2-4-0s which had been placed by Davies to be shared between the P&T and the M&M both of which railways he had constructed and were operating on behalf of the directors. Originally two of these 2-4-0s were ordered for the P&T but only PEMBROKE was delivered. The other 2-4-0 for the P&T was to be called OWEN but it appears to have swapped names with LADY ELIZABETH and the nameplates attached to one of the 0-6-0s ordered and delivered to the P&T in 1865. On the P&T PEMBROKE became No 3 and on take-over by the GWR became their No 1361. It also appears that she was the only locomotive to stray far from her home territory by being used on the Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway which the GWR were operating on behalf of that company. Withdrawn from Didcot in April 1902, she travelled to Swindon and was quickly cut up in June 1902.

The main dimensions of PEMBROKE were on delivery:-

PEMBROKE was taken in hand in August 1887 and rebuilt as shown in the photograph which dates c 1897 when she was on the D&NS, in fact the photograph shows her at Newbury.

On her rebuilding the following dimensions are known:-

On the take-over in 1896, PEMBROKE was stationed at Whitland. According to the RC&TS publication 'The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway, Part Three - ABSORBED ENGINES, 1854 - 1921' PEMBROKE had 103 tubes after rebuilding in 1887, but however, on inspection by Ludgate, the GWR Inspector reported her as having 156 tubes of brass.

OWEN, Sharp, Stewart 0-6-0 Works No: 1589/1865 (Order No 480).

OWEN was delivered in May 1865 as part of an order (480) for four 0-6-0s which had been placed for the Manchester & Milford Railway for which Davies had been constructing and operating on behalf of the directors. In fact it is thought that both LADY ELIZABETH and GENERAL WOOD (1596) were delivered together at Pencader on the Manchester & Milford. However, Davies had also placed an order for the Pembroke line (489) for three similar 0-6-0s and yet another order (490) for three 2-4-0 passenger locomotives. Eventually, Davies and Sharp, Stewart agreed to some amendments and the eventual outcome was somewhat complex and was further complicated by the uncertainty in which Davies switched engines between the two companies. Later, two of the 2-4-0s were delivered, these being PEMBROKE and OWEN. PEMBROKE was delivered to the Pembroke line in 1866, but OWEN appears to have swapped names with LADY ELIZABETH and moved to the Pembroke line, thus creating some confusion as to what each company owned. It is known that OWEN was accepted by the Pembroke company with no further ado and remained on that company's stock books until the GWR take-over in 1896.

L&GRP 15753

The main dimensions of OWEN were on delivery:-

In 1872, numbers were added to the engines and OWEN became No: 4. She was taken in hand in August 1888 and rebuilt as shown in the photograph which dates c 1895. On take-over by the GWR she was allocated running No: 1362 and withdrawn from service in January 1899 and cut up in March 1902. On her rebuilding the following dimensions are known:-

At the time of take-over in 1896, OWEN was stationed at Pembroke Dock and is thought not to have strayed far from her native soil.

DAVIES, Sharp, Stewart 0-6-0 Works No: 1844/1867 (Order No 489).

DAVIES was delivered in 1867 as part of an order (489) for three 0-6-0s which had been placed by Davies but only one ran on the P&TR. In size it was identical to OWEN. In 1872, DAVIES

became No. 5 and was rebuilt at the Tenby works in January 1893. At the take-over, DAVIES was under repair at the workshops in Tenby for an unspecified repair.

On delivery the dimensions were:-

On take-over by the GWR she was allocated running No: 1363 and withdrawn from service in May 1899 and cut up by October 1899. On her rebuilding the following dimensions are known:-

CAMBRIA (later TENBY), Sharp, Stewart & Co. 0-6-0.

HOLMWOOD (ex GWR 1813) 0-6-0ST (rebuilt as 0-6-0PT).

STELLA (ex GWR 3201 class, 2-4-0).

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