List of Vale of Rheidol Railway rolling stock

This is a list of past and present rolling stock used on the Vale of Rheidol Railway, a narrow gauge heritage railway, opened in 1902, that runs for between Aberystwyth and Devil's Bridge in the county of Ceredigion, Wales.
The railway was later operated by the Cambrian Railways, Great Western Railway and British Rail before being 'privatised' in 1989 and run as a heritage railway operation.
When first opened, the railway owned two steam locomotives, No 1 Edward VII and No 2 Prince of Wales, along with a third contractor's locomotive No 3 Rheidol. In 1922 the Great Western Railway took over the running of the line and over the next two decades invested heavily in new locomotives and replacement rolling stock.

Locomotives

Steam locomotives

The railway has four steam locomotives for use on passenger trains, three of which were built for the Vale of Rheidol line and have operated on the line ever since.
A Garratt locomotive arrived in 2017 for use on passenger trains and is not prototypical for the line historically.

Image	Number	Name	Builder	Wheel arr.	Year built	Notes	In traffic?
	7	Owain Glyndŵr	Great Western Railway		1923	Hauled the last steam service under British Rail ownership of the line. Withdrawn from traffic in 1997 pending overhaul. Returned to service in October 2018. Carries British Railways Lined Green Livery.	In Traffic
	8	Llywelyn	Great Western Railway		1923	Carries British Railways black livery with 'cycling lion' emblems and 'Llywelyn' nameplates.	In Traffic
	9	Prince of Wales	Great Western Railway		1924	Numbered 1213 from delivery until gaining the No 9 in 1948. Put through Swindon works as an overhaul of the original No 2, but is in fact a complete new locomotive. Carries British Rail Lined Blue Livery.	In Traffic
	60	Drakensberg	Hanomag		1927	NG G13 Garratt locomotive. Arrived at the railway from Schinznacher Baumschulbahn, Switzerland in 2017, and has since undergone overhaul, including the fitting of air brakes. Entered passenger service in 2022.	In Traffic

Diesel locomotives

The steam locomotive fleet is today supplemented by a number of diesel locomotives. Although they lack the power of the steam locomotives, they are available for shunting duties or works trains. No 10 can also operate light passenger trains.

Image	Number	Name	Works number	Builder	Wheel arr.	Year built	Notes	In traffic?
	10	-	BMR002	Baguley-Drewry / Brecon Mountain Railway		1987	Built out of parts from Baguley-Drewry engineering	In Traffic
	11	-	DM1366	Hudswell Clarke		1965	Built for National Coal Board. Rebuilt at Bredgar and Wormshill Railway in 2012 and named Wormshill. Acquired by Vale of Rheidol in 2021	In Traffic
	NG 52	-	721	Andrew Barclay		1987	Built for Ministry of Defence. Previously at Eastriggs.	In Traffic - Works Use Only
	RPM No. 9	-	3124	W. G. Bagnall		1957	Built for Rustenburg Platinum Mines, South Africa.	Under Overhaul

Self propelled engineering plant

The railway has a number of vehicles for permanent way maintenance.

Image	Works Number	Name	Builder	Wheel arr.	Year built	Notes	In Traffic?
	DX68804	Thunderbird 4	Permaquip	2w-2DMR	1985	This light vehicle conveys a team of staff in comfort along with all the tools and equipment required for maintenance work. The vehicle can also be rotated through 180 degrees by means of a hydraulic lift, allowing the P-Way team to turn it so that the cab is always at the front when in motion.	In Traffic
	UGT1	-	Plasser		1986	Plasserail ballast tamper, built in South Africa and moved to the Vale of Rheidol Railway in 1991.	In Traffic
	7495	-	Hunslet / Aberystwyth Locomotive Works		1977. Rebuilt 2007	Rail mounted self-propelled vehicle used to clear lineside vegetation. Designed by Llŷr ap Iolo and built from chassis components from ex MOD Hunslet 4w diesel locomotive No 7495, originally built 1977 2'6" gauge. The McConnel flail head has a purpose built turntable and has a reach of 15 feet and a maximum speed of 7.5 mph.	In Traffic

Former locomotives

No 1, & No 2 ''(later 1212 & 1213)''

The VoR commenced operations with two locomotives constructed by Davies & Metcalfe of Manchester, Nos.1 and 2. These locomotives were given Nos.1212 and 1213 by the GWR when it took over the line on grouping. They were Davies and Metcalfe's first locomotives and a Great Central Railway boilersmith, Thomas Kay, provided expertise in their construction. The contract was given to a company previously inexperienced in locomotive building because Mr. Metcalfe was an Aberystwyth man. The design draws inspiration from the Manning Wardle s on the then-newly opened Lynton and Barnstaple Railway, to which they bear some resemblance. This may be because the Szlumper family was heavily involved in both railways' design and construction.

No 3 ''(later 1198)''

No. 3 was a small locomotive, originally built by Bagnall of Stafford for a Brazilian sugar cane plantation in 1896 but never delivered as the order was cancelled, Bagnall regauging the locomotive from to when it was sold to the Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway and named Talybont. In 1903, after the failure of the Plynlimon and Hafan, it was purchased by the VoR, regauged to and renamed Rheidol. The GWR numbered it 1198 in 1923, but it was withdrawn and scrapped the following year, having never carried its GWR number.

No 4

In 1902 the railway's Directors temporarily hired a locomotive from the Ffestiniog Railway. The locomotive sent was Ffestiniog No 4 Palmerston. The following year VoR locomotive No 3 Rheidol was acquired, but a need for a fourth locomotive was still discerned. Palmerston No 4 was therefore hired again from Ffestiniog, and became the regular fourth locomotive for the next twenty years, being hired for several long periods, interspersed with brief home visits to Ffestiniog. The locomotive carried fleet number '4' in reference to its position on its home railway, although the number also matched its position on the Vale of Rheidol, as the fourth locomotive. When the line was acquired by the Great Western Railway, the leased locomotive was no longer required and was returned to Ffestiniog. Palmerston was built in 1864 by George England of New Cross, the fourth of the original four Ffestiniog Railway locomotives and was named after the Prime Minister, Viscount Palmerston. Palmerston returned to the Vale of Rheidol in 2014, hauling a series of special trains during September to celebrate its association with the VoR, and to commemorate both a century of history since the first world war, and 25 years of VoR independent operation.

Coaching stock

Current coaching stock

The Vale of Rheidol Railway has a total of 16 carriages and 1 brake van. All were built by the Great Western Railway at Swindon to replace much older rolling stock built by the Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Company for the opening of the line. Twelve bogie carriages were built for the opening.
All the stock is third class only, unless otherwise stated. All currently carry both their GWR numbers and also their VoR numbers.

Image	GWR No.	BR No.	BR No.	VoR No.	Year built	Builder	Type	Livery	Notes
	4143	M4143W	4143	1	1938	Swindon	Fully Enclosed Third	Chocolate and Cream with GWR Garter Crest	In Traffic
	4144	M4144W	4144	2	1938	Swindon	Fully Enclosed Third	British Railways Carmine and Cream	In Traffic
	4145	M4145W	4145	3	1938	Swindon	Fully Enclosed Third	Chocolate and Cream with GWR Garter Crest	In Traffic
	4146	M4146W	4146	4	1938	Swindon	Fully Enclosed Third	Chocolate and Cream with GWR Shirt Button	In Traffic
	4147	M4147W	4147	5	1938	Swindon	Fully Enclosed Third	Chocolate and Cream with GWR Garter Crest	In Traffic
	4148	M4148W	4148	6	1938	Swindon	Fully Enclosed Third	British Railways Carmine and Cream	In Traffic
	4149	M4149W	4149	7	1938	Swindon	Open Third "Summer Car"	Chocolate and Cream with GWR Garter Crest	In Traffic
	4150	M4150W	4150	8	1938	Swindon	Open Third "Summer Car"	British Railways Crimson and Cream	In Traffic
	4151	M4151W	4151	9	1938	Swindon	Open Third "Summer Car"	Chocolate and Cream with GWR Garter Crest	In Traffic
	4994	M4994W	4734	10	1938	Swindon	Fully Enclosed Third	British Railways Carmine and Cream	In Traffic
	4995	M4995W	4735	11	1938	Swindon	Brake / First Observation	Chocolate and Cream with GWR Garter Crest	In Traffic
	4996	M4996W	4736	12	1938	Swindon	Brake / First Observation	British Railways Carmine and Cream	In Traffic
	4997	M4997W	4737	13	1923	Swindon	Open Third "Summer Car"	British Railways Carmine and Cream	In Traffic
	4998	M4998W	4738	14	1923	Swindon	Open Third "Summer Car"	British Railways Carmine and Cream	In Traffic
	4999	M4999W	4739	15	1923	Swindon	Open Third "Summer Car" - Converted to "Vista Car" in 1985. Out of traffic since approx 1990. Returned to traffic in 2018 as a wheelchair accessible carriage.	Chocolate and Cream with GWR Garter Crest	In Traffic
	5000	M5000W	4740	16	1923	Swindon	Open Third "Summer Car"	Bodywork removed. Out of traffic since approx 1990.	Stored
	137			19	1938	Swindon	Four-wheeled full brake. Constructed new 1938	GWR Shirt Button	In Traffic

Former coaching stock

Image	GWR No.	VoR No.	Year built	Builder	Type	Notes
	135	17	1938	Swindon	Four-wheeled full brake	Constructed new in 1938. Scrapped in 1968.
	136	18	1938	Swindon	Four-wheeled full brake	Constructed new in 1938. Sold to the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway in 1968.

Wagon Fleet

The railway has a number of wagons used for freight / engineering work.

Image	Number	Historic Number	Type	Origin	Notes
	20	34104	4 Wheel - Side Door	Midland Railway Carriage & Wagon Co
	21	34108	4 Wheel - Side Door	Midland Railway Carriage & Wagon Co
	22	34110	4 Wheel - Side Door	Midland Railway Carriage & Wagon Co
	23	34111	4 Wheel - Side Door	Midland Railway Carriage & Wagon Co
	24	8512	4 Wheel Flat - ex Side Door	Midland Railway Carriage & Wagon Co
	25	8510	4 Wheel Flat - ex End Door	Ex Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway
	26	34106	4 Wheel Flat - ex End Door	Ex Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway
	27	8513	4 Wheel Flat - ex End Door	Ex Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway
	28	34124	4 Wheel End Door	Ex Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway
	29	34136	4 Wheel End Door	Ex Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway
	30	34141	4 Wheel End Door	Ex Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway
	31		Rail carrying Bolsters	Ex Bowaters Paper Mill
	33		Bogie Ballast Hopper	Ex South African Railways	SAR Type Y
	34		Bogie Flat	Ex South African Railways	Converted from SAR Type B
	35		Bogie Open Side Door	Ex South African Railways	SAR Type B
	36	SAR No 2888	Bogie Open Dropside	Ex South African Railways	DZ-9
	37	SAR No 2762	Bogie Open Dropside	Ex South African Railways	DZ-10
	38	SAR No 1914	Bogie Open Dropside	Ex South African Railways.	DZ Type.
	39	SAR No 3176	Bogie Brake Van	Ex South African Railways.	NG V-16 Type
	40	38089	Cattle Wagon	Great Western Railway.	Built Swindon Moved to Welshpool & Llanfair 1937. To Ffestiniog in 1960. Returned to Vale of Rheidol in 2014 and re-entered traffic in 2017.

Museum collection

The Vale of Rheidol Railway owns an extensive collection of historic narrow gauge locomotives and rolling stock. Many items were collected by former chairman Peter Rampton and kept out of public view for decades at a farm in Surrey and gained the nickname "Collection X". Many have moved to the Vale of Rheidol, some are stored pending restoration whilst others are on display in the Engine Shed museum at Aberystwyth station.

Museum collection locomotives

Only some these locomotives are available for public viewing.

Steam Locomotives

Builder	Works number	Name	Year built	Wheel arr	Gauge	Number	Type	Notes
A Borsig	5913		1906			3		Built for a brickworks in Belgium
A Borsig	6022	Sotillos	1906			7		Previously at San Miguel Copper Mines, later Hulleras de Sabero, Spain
Arn Jung	1261	Graf Schwerin-Löwitz	1908					Previously at Brecon Mountain Railway, originally operated in East Germany
Avonside	2057	Renishaw No.4	1931				Heilser	Previously at Renishaw Sugar Mills, South Africa
Couilllet	1140	Sabero	1895			1		Previously at Hulleras de Sabero, Spain
Couilllet	1209	Sahelices	1898			2		Previously at Hulleras de Sabero, Spain
De Winton	106	Kathleen	1877				Vertical boiler loco	Previously at Penrhyn Quarry Railway
Decauville	1027		1926			7	'Progress 5T' type.	Previously at Belgian Industries, Pas-De-Calais, France
Falcon	265	Lisboa	1897			27	SAR NG6 Class "Lawley" F4 Type	Previously at Beira Railway, South Africa, later at Buzi sugar refinery, Mozambique
Falcon	266	M'Dundo	1897			28	SAR NG6 Class "Lawley" F4 Type	Previously at Beira Railway, South Africa, later at Buzi sugar refinery, Mozambique
Fowler	10249		1905			6		Previously at Colonial Sugar Refining, Lautoka Mill, Fiji
Fowler	11938		1909			S.S.E 21		Previously at Sena sugar, Mozambique
Fowler	15515		1920			S.S.E 23		Previously at Sena sugar, Mozambique
Henschel & Sohn	16043		1918			102		Previously at Hulleras de Sabero, Spain
Henschel	16073		1918			101		Previously at Hulleras de Sabero, Spain
Henschel	29587		1957			146	SAR NG15	Previously at Avontuur, South Africa. Currently dismantled.
Hudswell Clarke	639	San Justo	1902			4		Previously at Hullera Vasco-Leonesa, Spain. Currently dismantled.
Hunslet	605	Margaret	1894				Small Quarry Hunslet	Previously at Penrhyn Quarry
Kerr Stuart	3114		1918				Wren Class	Previously worked at various locations on construction projects. Worked briefly at a quarry connected to the Ashover Light Railway
Maffei	4766		1916			DFB 968 / 31	Brigadelok	Built for Deutsche Heeresfeldbahn
Manning Wardle	1382	Jubilee 1897	1897					Previouysly at Cilgwyn Slate Quarry, later at Penrhyn Slate Quarry
North British	17111		1906			666	CC Class	Previously South Eastern Railway of India, Parlakimidi Light Railway, India
Sabero		La Herrera	1937			6		Previously at Hulleras de Sabero, Spain. Built there from parts. Currently dismantled.
Société Anglo-Franco-Belge	2668		1951			121	SAR NG15	Previously operated in South Africa
W. G. Bagnall	2029		1916			AK16		Previously worked at the Kalighat Falta Railway, Calcutta, India until 1997. Originally ordered for the Egyptian Delta Light Railways
W. G. Bagnall	2192	Conqueror	1922			3		Previously at Bowaters Paper Railway and Great Whipsnade Railway
W. G. Bagnall	2228		1924			18BG		Previously at Kowloon-Canton Railway / Sha Tau Kok Railway, Hong Kong. In 1928 moved to Victorias Milling Co, Negros Occidental, The Philippines
W. G. Bagnall	2457		1932			38 / 765	Pacific	Previously at Western Railway, Dabhoi Gwalior Railway, India
W. G. Bagnall	2460		1932			41 / 762	Pacific	Previously at Western Railway, Dabhoi Gwalior Railway, India
W. G. Bagnall	2545	Renishaw No.5	1936			5	Meyer	Previously at Renishaw Sugar Mills, South Africa
W. G. Bagnall	2895		1948			RPM No. 2		Previously at Rustenberg Platinum Mines, South Africa

Internal Combustion locomotives and Bogie Tender

Builder	Works number	Name	Year built	Wheel arr	Gauge	Number	Type	Notes
Dick Kerr			1918			18	Diesel	Previously at Nemours Sand Quarry, France
Ruston Proctor	50823		1915				ZLH Paraffin Mechanical	Previously at Cotton Powder Company Believed to be the oldest narrow gauge internal combustion loco in the British Isles
Statfold Barn Railway		Model T Ford	TBC				Replica Sandy River Inspection Vehicle	Previously at the Beeches Light Railway

Henschel	11854/25		1917				Bogie Tender to run with Feldbahn locomotives	Previously at Sablieres de Nemours, France

Museum collection coaching stock

The railway owns a number of historic carriages from other railways.

No.	Year built	Builder	Notes
F68	1909	Metropolitan Carriage & Wagon Co.	Former Isle of Man Railway - Restored by Vale of Rheidol Railway
N40	1879	Swansea Carriage & Wagon	Former Manx Northern Railway No 1- Third Class.
N51	1879	Swansea Carriage & Wagon	Former Manx Northern Railway No 14 - Third Class.
		Sabero	President's Saloon. Previously at Hulleras de Sabero, Spain

Visiting locomotives

The following locomotives have visited the railway in the past.

Image	Number	Name	Builder	Wheel arr.	Year built	Notes
	4	Palmerston	George England		1864	Hired from the Ffestiniog Railway on various occasions between 1912 and 1923. Returned to the Vale of Rheidol in 2014 and operated a number of special trains to Devil's Bridge.
		Mountaineer	ALCO		1917	Hired from the Ffestiniog Railway during September 1986.
	1158	Diana	Kerr Stuart		1917	Restored in Vale of Rheidol Workshops. Steamed in 2015 for first time since 1950. Operated passenger services between Aberystwyth and Capel Bangor during "The Forgotten Engines" gala.
	364	Winifred	Hunslet		1885	Visited Vale of Rheidol Railway in 2015 for "The Forgotten Engines" gala. Operated passenger services between Aberystwyth and Capel Bangor. Normally resident at Bala Lake Railway.
	921	Sybil Mary	Hunslet		1906	Visited Vale of Rheidol Railway in 2015 for "The Forgotten Engines" gala. Operated passenger services between Aberystwyth and Capel Bangor. Normally resident at Statfold Barn Railway.
	2066	Ogwen	Avonside		1933	Visited Vale of Rheidol Railway in 2015 for "The Forgotten Engines" gala. Static display only.
	2067	Marchlyn	Avonside		1933	Visited Vale of Rheidol Railway in 2015 for "The Forgotten Engines" gala. Operated on demonstration line at Aberystwyth. Normally resident at Statfold Barn Railway.
	707	Britomart	Hunslet		1899	Visited Vale of Rheidol Railway in 2017 for the Roaring 1920s and 30s event.