Class C 2-2-2T (1848)

Not all trains on the infant RSR were expresses dashing from one city to the next. There was already a growing network of lesser routes, where speeds were more genteel and loads more modest. For these lines, Maznicek designed this dainty little single-driver, of which some eighty were built between 1846 and 1851. As built, they had, typically, no cabs, just a weather board to cower behind when running forwards and absolutely nothing for going backwards. This was soon remedied, an early example of the RSR's generally benevolent and socially enlightened attitude towards its staff. The class C suffered, like many single-drivers, from loss of adhesion on rough track. Later modifications to the springing alleviated the trouble somewhat but it was soon clear that these little engines had reached their limits. They took quite a battering from the class E 0-4-2Ts of 1853 and by 1860 the relegation of the class A 2-4-0s had finished them off.

Text and graphics © Norman Clubb 2012