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This loco was built for the Watlington & Princes Risborough Railway, then bought by the GWR, where it was numbered 1384. It worked on the Lambourn Valley Railway, was rebuilt at Swindon, then used on the Wrington Vale Light Railway, followed by the Culm Valley branch. Hesperus was bought to replace Walton Park and was similar to the other 2-4-0T Sharp Stewart. Hesperus was involved in an accident in 1934 when a small bridge near the Wharf collapsed taking the engine with it. There were no fatalities and the engine survived though it wasn’t used much afterwards. The photo above was taken before the Hesperus nameplate was added. The Hesperus nameplate is believed to be held by the Colonel Stephens Museum. Driving wheel diameter was 4ft 2in. Christopher Redwood’s book ‘The Weston Clevedon and Portishead Railway’ has scale drawings of Hesperus for modelling. See Books page. A Gauge 1 10 mm scale model is available in kit form - details.
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