Power type Steam Build date 1857 UIC class 1'B | Builder George England and Co. Configuration 0-4-0WT | |
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Gauge 4 ft 8 ⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | ||
Shannon is an English steam locomotive, built in 1857 George England and Co. for the Sandy and Potton Railway and now preserved at the Didcot Railway Centre.
History
The locomotive was built in 1857 by George England and Co. of New Cross for the Sandy and Potton Railway, at a cost of £800. In 1862 it was sold to the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) for shunting at Crewe Works and numbered 1104. The LNWR also briefly tried it out on the Cromford and High Peak Railway. It was renumbered 1863 in 1872 and given the name ‘Shannon’.
In 1878 it was sold to the Wantage Tramway for £365 8s 1d where it became No 5, known on the tramway as 'Jane'. After closure of the tramway in 1945 it was purchased for £100 by the Great Western Railway and the name 'Shannon' was reapplied. It was preserved as a static exhibit on Wantage Road railway station until that closed in 1964. In 1965 it was stored on premises of the Atomic Energy Authority but in 1969 it was moved to the Didcot Railway Centre, where it was finally steamed and operated again in October 1969.
No. 5 'Shannon' is part of the UK National Collection of railway locomotives (Object No.1978-7013). In 1975 it took part in the 150th anniversary celebrations of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in steam but had to be retired soon afterwards as cracks were discovered in the firebox.