Template:Featured picture/September 2010

Prince is (probably) the third of the first four locomotives. It is now numbered No.2, but there is doubt about the order of building and numbering of the first four England engines. It was delivered to the FR in January 1864. These locomotives were worked hard, before the arrival of Taliesin, they were coming in for a 2 week period of maintenance every quarter. In this period they would replace brake blocks, brasses and cotter pins in the crank pins as well as replacing some of the firebars. In 1878 Prince had its chimney knocked off and that of Mountaineer was put on. By May 1881 Prince was in a poor state with the boiler pressure restricted to 110lbs. It had a major refit with a 'sham' cast iron tank fitted on top of the side tanks to increase the weight to ten tons and improve adhesion in wet weather, a new weather board, new sandboxes, new cylinders and the boiler retubed. The locomotive played a major role in the history of the WHR, hauling the first train from Dinas to Porthmadog in 1923, and regularly performing on both lines in the 1920s and 1930s. Prince is temporarily out of use as the boiler certificate expired in May 2010. He can be seen during the summer of 2010 at the Severn Valley Railway, in The Engine House, Highley. Photo credit: Chris Jones Recently featured: The Coalition – Lyd – Upnor Castle