Stroudley’s A1 Class Terrier Tank 1872 T-Shirt

Name: Stroudley's A1 Class Terrier Tank 1872 T-Shirt
SKU: 5101
Price: 20.00 GBP
Availability: InStock

£20.00

First in our new series of Legendary Railway Engine T-Shirts is the William Stroudley’s 0-6-0 Terrier Tank. Just 50 were built between 1972 and 1880 but their power, light weight and versatility saw several working into the 1960s and remarkably 10 have survived in preservation – some still in steam though now over 150 years old.

Initially built for passenger services on the Brighton railway’s south London line with frequent station stops, the engine’s design needed to accommodate a light weight combined with rapid acceleration.Much of the track, constructed of lightweight wrought iron rails, was in such poor condition it could not be trusted to support a locomotive weighing more than 25 tons.Designer William Stroudley appears to have relished the challenge of these requirements and produced an engine weighing just over 24 tons whose power and acceleration belied its compact design.this remarkable power to weight ratio explains the survival of so many engines of the class, initially cascaded to light railways in the early years of the twentieth century and surviving in use on British Railways into the 1960s on weight limited lines such as the Hayling Island branch and Newhaven Harbour.All the remaining Terriers finally retired by British Railways in 1963 have ended in preservation – some still in steam after more than 150 years.