Liskeard and Caradon Railway - Locomotives

Locomotives

Ownership of locomotives as between the LLUC and L&CR, and whether they worked on both railways, is uncertain.

• Liskeard was a 0-4-0ST locomotive, probably made by the Bury locomotive company, possibly originally a tender locomotive. She was hired from James Murphy of Newport, South Wales, in 1860 and later purchased. She was sold back to James Murphy in 1866.

• Caradon was a 0-6-0ST supplied new to the railway in 1862 by Gilkes Wilson and Company, works number 138. She had outside cylinders 13in x 24in and 4ft 0in driving wheels. The boiler was of the conventional type with the firebox located between the second and third axles. She was scrapped about 1907.

• Cheesewring was another 0-6-0ST supplied new in 1865, (Mitchell and Smith say "constructed in 1864 for the LCR") also by Gilkes Wilson and Company, works number 195. Again, she had outside cylinders 13in x 24in and 4ft 0in driving wheels but she differed from Caradon in being of the "long boiler" type with the firebox behind the third axle. She was rebuilt in Swindon in 1907 and became GWR number 1311 and was scrapped in 1919. There were no flanges on the centre wheels.

• Kilmar was another long boiler 0-6-0ST supplied new in 1869 by Hopkins Gilkes and Company (successors to Gilkes, Wilson and Co), works number 264. She was similar to Cheesewring but with a shorter tank and modified boiler fittings. Driving wheels were, again, 4ft 0in diameter and cylinders were either 12in x 24in or 14in x 24in (sources disagree; Messenger says 13in x 24in). She became GWR number 1313 (Mitchell and Smith say 1312) and was scrapped in 1914.

• Looe was a 0-6-0ST supplied new in 1901 by Robert Stephenson and Company, works number 3050. She had outside cylinders 16in x 20in and driving wheels 3ft 3in or 3ft 6in diameter (sources disagree). She was found to be too heavy, with a high centre of gravity and a short wheelbase – damaging the track and causing derailments – so she was sold in 1902 to the London and East India Docks Railway (later the Port of London Authority), becoming PLA number 11. She was scrapped in December 1950.

• Lady Margaret was an inside-cylinder 2-4-0T supplied new in 1902 or 1904 by Andrew Barclay and Company. Dimensions were: cylinders 14½in x 22in; driving wheels 4ft 0in; leading wheels 2ft 7½in. She became GWR no 1308 and was scrapped about 1948.

• A Peckett 0-6-0ST was hired in, during the period 1885 - 1886, works number 444; she had 14in x 20 in cylinders and 3ft 6½in driving wheels.

After 1909, various GWR locomotives began to appear on the line, including 1901 and 2021 class 0-6-0PT and, later, 2-6-2T of classes 4400 and 4500. See Locomotives of the Great Western Railway.

Note: not all of the above details are verifiable in available sources, but the primary outline is in Messenger.