Rhymney Railway A class

The Rhymney Railway A class was a group of 0-6-2 tank locomotives introduced in 1910 and designed by the railway's engineer Hurry Riches for heavy coal trains over the short distances between the South Wales pits and the ports. There were five at first, then five more in 1911, three in 1914, two in 1916 and three in 1918, built by Robert Stephenson and Company and Hudswell Clarke; the last eight had Belpaire fireboxes and were classed A1. Together with the earlier M and R classes they were closely related, and when the Great Western Railway absorbed the company in 1923 these modern engines proved a blueprint for its 200 strong 5600 class. Fifteen of the A class were upgraded from 1926 with Great Western boilers, and the Rhymney engines passed to British Railways ownership in 1948.