Rheidol, formerly named Treze de Maio and Talybont, was a steam locomotive built by W.G. Bagnall in Staffordshire, England, in 1896. Originally built to a gauge of, it was ordered to work at a Brazilian sugar plantation, however the order was cancelled before it was exported. The locomotive was later regauged to work on the Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway in Wales before being regauged a second time and moving to the Vale of Rheidol Railway. It operated until 1924, when it was scrapped.
Construction
The locomotive was originally built by W.G. Bagnalls in 1896, following an order for a locomotive for a sugar plantation in Brazil. The locomotive was named Treze de Maio, the date that Brazil had abolished slavery in 1888. It was constructed as a locomotive with outside frames, and fitted with a spark arrestingchimney. It was completed and named by February 1897, but the order was cancelled before the loco was exported. This may have been due to a political uprising in Brazil, though this is disputed by railway historian EA Wade.
The Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway was a short-lived railway built in 1897, operating from Llanfihangel via Talybont to serve lead mines in Mid-Wales. The railway's first locomotive, Victoria, was of an unusual design, and not sufficiently powerful to operate on the railway, and therefore the owners of the line approached Bagnalls to provide a new locomotive urgently. As Treze de Maio was available it was regauged and renamed Talybont, and delivered to the Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway in August 1897, still with its spark arresting chimney. The Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway was not an economic success, and closed in1899, just two years after opening. Talybont was then sold back to Bagnalls.
The Vale of Rheidol Railway is a railway that operates between Aberystwyth and Devil's Bridge, a few miles south of the route used by the Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway. Construction of the line started in 1900, and Talybont was sold to the contractors working on the line, Pethick Bros of Plymouth. The locomotive underwent a second change of gauge, and modification work was also carried out to its cylinders. After completion of the line in 1902, the locomotive was returned to Bagnalls for further modifications, before it was named Rheidol and became the railway's No. 3. It was the line's only loco small enough to work the railway's Harbour Branch. In 1904, the locomotive was fitted with a conventional chimney, and at some point was fitted with a steel cab back. The Vale of Rheidol Railway was taken over by the Great Western Railway in 1923 and the locomotive was allocated the number 1198. Rheidol was withdrawn and scrapped in 1924, having never carried its GWR number.
