Taw (locomotive)

Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Taw
Type and origin Power type Steam Builder Manning Wardle, Leeds Serial number 1363 Build date 1898
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 2-6-2T Gauge 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in (597 mm) Leading dia. 2 ft 0 in (0.610 m) Driver dia. 2 ft 9 in (0.838 m) Trailing dia. 2 ft 0 in (0.610 m) Wheelbase Coupled: 6 ft 6 in (1.981 m) Total: 17 ft 9 in (5.410 m) Length 22 ft 4 in (6.81 m) over buffer beams Width 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) Height 8 ft 11 in (2.72 m) Loco weight 27.25 long tons (27.69 t; 30.52 short tons) Fuel type Coal Firebox: ​  • Grate area 8.85 sq ft (0.822 m2) Heating surface 383 sq ft (35.58 m2) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 10.5 in × 16 in (267 mm × 406 mm) Valve gear Joy
Career Operators Lynton and Barnstaple Railway, Southern Railway Numbers L&B: Taw, SR: E761 Locale Devon, South West England Last run 29 September 1935 Scrapped December 1935

Taw was the name of a Manning Wardle 2-6-2T locomotive which was built in 1898 for Lynton and Barnstaple Railway. Taw was scrapped in 1935

Taw, like all the locomotives on the L&B, was named after the River Taw, a local river with a three-letter name.

The tradition of naming L&B steam locos after local rivers continues into the 21st Century, with Lyd, a replica of Lew (the fourth locomotive built to this basic design), operational on the Ffestiniog railway and the Welsh Highland Railway

A 7.25 inch gauge version of Taw was built by J. Horsfield in 1999 and runs on the Eastleigh Lakeside Railway.

Closer to the L&B, the railway's trust currently owns one steam locomotive - renamed Axe - which, although it did not serve on the historic L&B, has been restored for use on the new line, currently based at Woody Bay.