Our Trains

Built December 1950 in Swindon
Withdrawn British Railways 1965

The 'Manors' were the smallest and lightest of the Great Western Railway's 4-6-0 and were built for use on secondary lines such as the North Wales Cambrian Coast. The original design for the Manors was made in 1938, but there was an order for ten more to be built in 1950. 7827 is an example of the later batch and, though un-mistakably a GWR 4-6-0, it is actually a British Railways locomotive.

In 1966 Lydham went to Woodhams yard in Barry and was rescued in 1970 and went to Newton Abbot for restoration. 7827 made a return to service in 1973, ready for the first main season of the then Torbay Steam Railway, now the Dartmouth Steam Railway & River Boat Company. Lydham's claim to fame is that it once hauled the royal train in the late 1950's, with its sister, 7828 Odney Manor.

Lydham Manor re-entered service in 2024 in an authentic British Railways passenger green livery.

Built December 1951 in Swindon
Withdrawn British Railways 1966

The British Railway 4-6-0 standard class 4 was built for use on the Western, Midland and Southern regions of the recently nationalised rail network. They were extremely versatile mixed traffic locos, frequently used on passenger duties.

75014 was allocated to a number of Midland region sheds during its short life and 1964 saw it allocated to Shrewsbury from where it was withdrawn and sent to Barry scrap yard in December 1966. In Barry scrap yard for fourteen years, it rotted and donated parts to other locos, until it was bought as a wreck in 1981. A four man syndicate based on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway brought it back to steam in 1994. The syndicate decided to sell the loco in 2002 and the Dartmouth Steam Railway & River Boat Company were fortunate to become the new owners. Although only arriving in 2002, the locomotive's boiler certificate expired in 2004 and the loco received a major overhaul, especially to the boiler, requiring many new parts, including a complete new boiler barrel. The overhaul took many years eventually seeing a return to service in December 2016. Braveheart is now a mainstay to the services on the Dartmouth Steam Railway.

75014 will be withdrawn from service at the end of 2025 for a second major overhaul.

Built December 1924 in Swindon
Withdrawn British Railways 1963

The 4200 class numbered 105 in total, having reached 4299, the final six locos were numbered 5200 to 5204, and the last of the class receiving the number 4200 in February 1923. Demand for this class of locomotive continued to grow, the new Chief Mechanical Engineer for the Great Western Railway was now C B Collett, and he modified the design of the 4200 class.

5239 entered service on 31st August 1924 and delivered to Neath, where it was based for its entire working life. With the gradients of the Paignton-Kingswear line, this type of loco was chosen to be restored. Following inspection of the 2-8-0`s available, 5239 was chosen and left the scrapyard in June 1973, being the 42nd loco to be saved. Also, as it was the first of this type to be preserved was relatively complete. It re-entered service in 1978 and following a competition that year, was named Goliath the following season. Apart from periods of maintenance and major refurbishment, 5239 has been a stalwart of Dartmouth Steam Railway services.

4247 was built at Swindon in 1916 with a recorded cost of £2,918. It was delivered new to South Wales where it spent all it`s working life, except when it was moved to St Blazey in Cornwall between late 1952 until 1957 when it returned to South Wales.

Following full restoration 4247 returned to steam in 2001. It worked on many heritage railways until an agreement was signed which saw the Bodmin & Wenford Railway become its permanent base. At the end of 2018, 4247 was taken out of service for major overhaul and the 4247 Preservation Society and the Dartmouth Steam Railway signed an hire agreement which will see it based in Devon for 20 years.

Following major refurbishment at the East Somerset Railway it will be delivered to Devon in mid-June. Following trials it will be in service for the 2025 high season.

Built December 1920 in Swindon
Withdrawn British Railways 1964

This class of locomotive was designed for use on heavy coal trains in the Welsh valleys, although two of the class were allocated to St. Blazey in Cornwall for china clay traffic. 4277 was based at Aberbeeg for most of its working life being withdrawn from there in 1964 and sent to Barry scrapyard. For 22 years 4277 lay rusting in Barry scrapyard near Cardiff until it was rescued in June 1986 and restored to full working order in private ownership.It has been used on many heritage railways around the country since then.The PDSR bought the loco in 2008 after a major overhaul from its original owner for exclusive use on the railway. 4277 is the sister of another of our locos, 5239 Goliath.

4555 was built at Swindon and started its working life in 1924 at Tyseley depot. It was built with outside steam pipes, enlarged bunker and improved superheating unlike earlier members of the class which were modified later.

In the 1960's, 4555 worked occasionally on the Dart Valley branch and headed the last BR freight train on the line in 1962. It was purchased, in working order, for preservation straight from BR service in1965 and was the first engine to arrive on the newly preserved line in 1965. She hauled the official opening train on the Dart Valley Railway with Dr Beeching aboard in 1969.

This class of tank locomotive was built for suburban and local passenger duties throughout the Great Western system. The class is known as the 5101 class, and is a Collett development of the Churchward 1903 3100 class.

4110 was introduced in October 1936, initially allocated to Severn Tunnel Junction to be used for banking duties through the Severn Tunnel. It soon moved to work in the Midlands around Birmingham and Wolverhampton until the early 1960s when a transfer saw it in the West Country, then South Wales. Its last move was back to Severn Tunnel, from where it was withdrawn in May 1965 and sent as scrap to Woodhams yard in Barry.

It remained in the scrapyard until May 1979, becoming the 100th loco to leave. However, all plans to rebuild 4110 have not materialised, and it has changed ownership a number of times, but little major restoration has occurred and it is still basically in scrapyard condition. The loco was brought still in scapyard condition in 2019 by the Dartmouth Steam Railway. Following storage at Kingswear the loco was transferred to the East Somerset Railway where it has received a full overhaul and is now in service with the East Somerset Railway.

3803 is a member of the 2884 class of locomotives. Designed for long distance heavy freight trains throughout the Great Western Railway.

3803 entered service in January 1939, initially being allocated to Tyesley in Birmingham it moved around various depots ending its service life based at Severn Tunnel Junction Shed in South Wales from  January 1960 until being withdrawn in July 1963 (having covered 726,770 miles). It was sold for scrap following withdrawal and was moved to Woodhams yard in Barry on 1st November 1963.

Exactly 20 years later on 1st November 1983, 3803 departed the scrapyard going to the Dart Valley Railway at Buckfastleigh. Following a time in storage, a lengthy restoration overhaul saw 3803 return to steam in 2005, working on the South Devon Railway and on hire to other heritage railways and saw another 10 years of service. Early in 2022, 3803 was sold to Dartmouth Steam Railway and a full overhaul is currently being carried out in our workshop at Churston.