The Great Western Railway Leo Class was a class of broad gauge steam locomotives for goods train work. This class was introduced into service between January 1841 and July 1842, and withdrawn between September 1864 and June 1874.

These locomotives were the first for the railway with coupled wheels as they were designed as goods locomotives, but they later found use on passenger trains too. All the class were altered to s.

The locomotives were built by three different workshops, each with its own naming convention. The first three came from R and W Hawthorn, who named them after strong animals. The next three were named after volcanoes by Fenton, Murray and Jackson, while the final twelve came from Rothwell and Company carrying the names of the twelve houses of the zodiac.

Locomotives Name Manufacturer SerialNº Built Withdrawn Notes Elephant R. & W. Hawthorn & Co. 319 Buffalo R. & W. Hawthorn & Co. 320 Dromedary R. & W. Hawthorn & Co. 321 Hecla Fenton, Murray and Jackson 35 Hecla: On 24 December 1841 it was involved in a fatal accident in Sonning Cutting near Reading. It was hauling a so-called "baggage train" consisting of both passenger and goods trucks, when it ran into an earth slip in the cutting, killing eight passengers. At the coroner's inquest on the passengers killed the jury returned a verdict of accidental death in all cases and a deodand of one thousand pounds on the engine, tender and carriages. The deodand was later overturned. Stromboli Fenton, Murray and Jackson 36 Etna Fenton, Murray and Jackson 37 Aries Rothwell and Company 66 Taurus Rothwell and Company 67 Taurus: worked the first South Devon Railway train from Newton to Torquay on 18 December 1848. Gemini Rothwell and Company 68 Cancer Rothwell and Company 69 Leo Rothwell and Company 70 Virgo Rothwell and Company 71 Libra Rothwell and Company 72 Scorpio Rothwell and Company 73 Sagittarius Rothwell and Company 74 Sagittarius: worked the first train to on 9 September 1851. Capricornus Rothwell and Company 75 Capricorn: Along with Pisces, worked the first train from to , the temporary terminus of the South Devon Railway at Plymouth on 5 May 1848. Aquarius Rothwell and Company 76 Pisces Rothwell and Company 77 Pisces: Along with Capricornus, worked the first train from Totnes to Laira, the temporary terminus of the South Devon Railway at Plymouth on 5 May 1848.

Notes

References