Power type Steam Build date 1859–1865 | Designer Daniel Gooch Total produced 16 | |
Builder Slaughter, Grüning and Company Serial number 360–368, 411–412, 522, 559, 591–593 | ||
The Eagle class were sixteen 4-4-0 saddle tank broad gauge locomotives operated on the South Devon Railway, Cornwall Railway and associated adjacent railways. They were designed for passenger trains on this steep and sharply curved line but were also used on goods trains when required.
Contents
They were ordered by Evans, Walker and Gooch who were contracted to operate the locomotives for both the railways. They were designed by Daniel Gooch a development of his earlier Comet class with slightly smaller wheels and larger tanks containing 1,100 gallons, a 37.5% increase, and built by Slaughter, Grüning and Company.
From 1 July 1866 the locomotives were bought by the South Devon Railway, after which they were operated as a combined fleet over both railways, but they continued to be accounted to their original owner. On 1 February 1876 the South Devon Railway was amalgamated with the Great Western Railway, the locomotives were given numbers by their new owners but continued to carry their names too.